Daly, 68, Calls It Quits in Orlando

Chuck Daly quit as coach of the Orlando Magic on Monday after a season in which his team was upset by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs.

Daly, who coached two NBA champions in Detroit, was in the final year of a three-year contract worth $5 million annually.

“This is a finale for me in coaching,” Daly said in Orlando, Fla. “The mind is willing but the flesh is weak.”

He said the Magic’s playoff elimination in four games and tensions with star Penny Hardaway didn’t play a role in his decision. Hardaway’s future with the team is unclear and he plans to become a free agent this summer.

“It’s time. It’s as simple as that,” Daly said.

Daly, 68, said that after too many trips this season in which he was traveling at 3 a.m., he decided it was time to leave coaching.

He will stay as a consultant to Magic General Manager John Gabriel.

“What that amounts to, I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t think anybody in this room knows that.”

Daly’s contract included a clause that gave him the option to continue coaching at $5 million per season, accept a position as a club consultant for $200,000 or leave Orlando for another job.

Gabriel said he would begin his search for a new coach in weeks. He praised Daly for his leadership and his willingness to try blend older and younger players.

“He pushed us to get better each and every day and his contributions will live on in this organization,” Gabriel said.

Orlando missed the playoffs in Daly’s first year, but this season tied for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Daly, who led the Pistons to titles in 1989 and 1990, was hired by the Magic in June 1997 and had a 74-58 regular-season record in two seasons.

Daly has a career regular-season record of 638-437 in 13 years. In 12 playoff appearances, his teams went 75-51.

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The Chicago Bulls, who have the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NBA draft, also will have the 16th pick, courtesy of a trade with the Phoenix Suns.

The deal earlier this season that sent center Luc Longley to the Suns for Mark Bryant, Martin Muursepp and Bubba Wells, included the stipulation that the Bulls would get the worst of Phoenix’s two first-round draft picks this year or the Suns’ first-round pick in 2001.

Phoenix was to have picked ninth and 16th.