The Clippers made a large number of changes this summer, and there's no question which one was the saddest -- the organization had to appoint a new team doctor after Tony Daly passed away in September.
Daly, a world-renowned orthopedic surgeon and the Clippers' team physician since they moved from San Diego to Los Angeles in 1984, had been battling prostate cancer for the last six years. More than 500 family members and friends attended funeral services for him on Sept. 10 in Beverly Hills. "Tony's accomplishments in his profession have been many, his contributions to the Clippers endless," Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling said in a prepared statement. "First and foremost though, the way his unique personality lifted everyone he met is what will be most remembered and most missed."
Dr. Steven Shimoyama, who has been on the Clippers' medical staff, will succeed Daly as the team physician.
Despite his condition and his chemotherapy sessions, Daly was a fixture at Clippers home games all the way through the 2007-08 season, when the cancer accelerated and he was visibly weaker.
As his two sons pointed out at their father's service, Daly treated non-athletes with the same devotion and care as the famous athletes he aided. But as his obituary pointed out and family members spoke passionately about, Daly's work extended well past treating basketball players.
At the time of his death, he was the director of sports medicine at the Diagnostic and Intervention Sports Care and Orthopedics Center in Marina del Rey.
Daly was the team doctor for Team USA's miracle 1980 hockey team, which upset the Soviet Union on the way to winning the gold medal. He was Team USA's doctor for the basketball team at the 1976 Olympics and the medical director for FIFA at the 1994 World Cup in Los Angeles. At the 1984 Olympics, held in Los Angeles, Dr. Daly was the medical director for the L.A. Olympic Organizing Committee.
