Eric Musselman appeared on Colin Cowherd’s show on Thursday. The segment lasted nearly 25 minutes, so the USC basketball coach was able to cover a lot of ground.
Musselman reflected on a lot of different people and moments from his decades-long coaching career. One of his foremost basketball mentors was legendary coach Chuck Daly, known primarily as the head coach who guided the Detroit Pistons to two NBA championships and led the 1992 United States Olympic “Dream Team” to a gold medal.
Musselman recalled something specific about Daly’s coaching methodology. He told Cowherd that Daly wouldn’t micromanage his practice sessions. He would instead delegate them to his assistant coaches so that the assistants would vocally instruct and communicate with his players. The reasoning for that move, Musselman explained, was that Daly wanted his players to literally hear different voices. He wanted various people to speak in the process of coaching and communication which unfolded on a daily basis. Daly reasoned that if he himself was the one always talking to his players, his players might tune him out because they might get tired of hearing the same voice all the time. By letting his assistants talk and communicate a lot, Daly was able to save his own voice for the specific times when his leadership and insight mattered most. It’s a fascinating revelation, and a great look inside the mind of a brilliant basketball coach.
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