As a Pistons fan, I have to respect the legacy of Chuck Daly. He’s almost the last “real” coach the franchise has had other than Larry Brown’s two-and-done and the Rick Carlisle/Flip Saunders years. But apparently, one Cavaliers fan wasn’t so high on Daly. The AP reports that the FBI investigated a “series of threatening letters” sent to Daly from 1989-90.
Back, then the Pistons were the “Bad Boys” and were actually very good. The team included Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, and the human formerly known as Dennis Rodman. They were hated for their physical style of play. A Cavaliers fan must’ve shared that sentiment because he mailed a number of threats from Cleveland and Royal Oak, Michigan. Here are a few excerpts from the letters:
“God made me realize that YOU, not Laimbeer, Mahorn or any of the others are the one possessed by (Satan),” the author wrote in the one-page handwritten letter addressed to “Mr. Chuck Daly.”
Another letter, this one typewritten and postmarked Royal Oak, Mich., on Feb. 16, 1990, also was addressed to Daly and claimed the Pistons didn’t “know the meaning of the word ‘sportsmanship’” and would “pay dearly.”
I can pretty much picture Steve Buscemi writing that then putting some lipstick on while he strokes his rifle. Daly must not’ve been fazed by the threats because Joe Dumars said that he’d “never heard of them.”
Tags: bad boys, basketball, chuck daly, detroit pistons, fbi, letters, NBA, threats
