Isiah Thomas says Pistons briefly fired Chuck Daly during 1985-86 season

https://www.mlive.com/pistons/2023/07/isiah-thomas-says-pistons-briefly-fired-chuck-daly-during-1985-86-season.html

Updated: Jul. 18, 2023, 9:50 p.m.|
Published: Jul. 18, 2023, 9:45 p.m.

By Kory Woods | kwoods@mlive.com

The late Chuck Daly is a revered coach in Detroit sports and the NBA. But he almost didn’t have the opportunity to leave his mark.

According to Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas, The Pistons briefly fired Daly during the 1985-1986 season following a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 11, 1986.

During an appearance on the “Bad Boys & Beyond” podcast with Keith Trudeau and Mike Payton, Thomas discussed his time at Indiana University, his NBA career, and more. Around the 24-minute mark, Thomas revealed the untold story of his bond with Daly and the unexpected firing.

“I’ll tell you a story here that not many people know, that hasn’t been told. You know, Chuck Daly was fired from the Detroit Pistons,” Thomas said. “And I’ll never forget, Jack McCloskey (former Pistons general manager) fired him. This was early in the season. We had lost 15 out of 19. I’m not sure what year it was. It could’ve been '86.”

Thomas accurately recalled the 1985-86 NBA season, where the Pistons suffered 15 losses in 19 games from Nov. 30, 1985, to Jan. 11, 1986.

“I’ll never forget. I drove to Mr. D’s (former Pistons owner Bill Davidson) house. And I said, ‘We’re making a huge mistake,’ and he goes, ‘What do you mean?’ and I go, ‘This isn’t the coach’s fault.’ I said, ‘We don’t have the type of talent to compete the way everybody thinks we should, and if we lose this coach, I don’t think we’ll ever win here.”

Despite the team’s struggles, Thomas believed in Daly’s coaching abilities and reached out to him after his dismissal.Meeting at a McDonald’s on Orchard Lake, Thomas and Daly discussed a potential return to the team.

Following the their meet-up, Davidson informed McCloskey that the team would be rehiring Daly. The decision proved to be the right one for the Pistons, as Daly led them to their first two NBA championships, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers, respectively, in back-to-back NBA Finals (1989 and 1990).