Dan Peterson is, for basketball and beyond. But instead of saying: «I am legend», he lets loose a life-long list of thanks that begins with «teachers and coaches» and ends, but only because we stop him, with «my wife Laura». The summary, on the threshold of 90 years, on January 9, says more than the string of names: «At every step there is someone who gives you something important. I am indebted to so many people, in basketball, but also outside, on TV, in advertising, where I would never have imagined: without opportunities and without confidence you can’t go anywhere.”
Where was Dan Peterson, as a coach, between the “tough” Ettore Messina and the “calm” Carlo Ancelotti?
«I wasn’t a great player and it was my luck: I admired my players because they knew how to do what I couldn’t do, I’m grateful to them and to the Chilean national team that I coached in 1972-73 and who acted as a bridge for me with Europe. When you are a coach you have to be demanding and at the same time inspire trust, I think I was halfway between Messina and Ancelotti, more towards Ancelotti. Brazil hit the jackpot by taking him: even when he played he was a Swiss army knife who solved all the problems. Today he trains like this.”
Is the American accent nature or habit?
«(Laughs): in Chile no one understood from my Spanish accent that I was American. Out of laziness I didn’t write Italian. When I commented on the NBA on TV, however, they made me understand that they liked me to exaggerate a little.”
NBA vs Europe, is it really another basketball?
«In the NBA, the public participates happily. If you see Serbia-Montenegro, however, there is a climate of thermonuclear war. In Europe the game is more collective, in the NBA more individual. I enjoy European basketball more, where the referees are more rigorous and the game is full court, while in the NBA you’re only looking for three-pointers and dunks, Larry Bird’s dribble-stop-and-shoot is almost no longer seen.”
He left the field at 51, he would do it againwell? “No. With Olimpia I was at the top (three championships, Italian Cups, two European Cups) I didn’t want to hear: “Peterson is sold out, he lost because he advertises on TV”. In order not to hold the company hostage, I decided quickly. If I had taken a vacation, maybe I would have continued. I made peace with myself in 2010, when I agreed to return for Olimpia in difficulty: there I mended the tear in my heart. I had loved the Meneghin team, D’Antoni, Gallinari (father). I wasn’t sure I would be able to recreate that relationship with others and instead it worked again with the team of Mordente and Mancinelli.”
What relationship does it have with the city of Milan?
«I am in love with the Brera district, the Duomo, the Art Nouveau buildings, City life, stiupèndo! It’s not true that there is little greenery. I think a show at La Scala is a once in a lifetime experience. I arrived there in 1978 and I consider Milan the New York of Europe. I am fond of it, I am proud of my places: if I were to return to live in the United States I would go to Evanston (Chicago) where I grew up. I stayed in Milan because Laura, to whom I am happily married, worked here, in America I return to see my four children with whom I am always in contact thanks to technology.”
Has the Internet really shortened the distances for those who have family members far away?
«A lot, and then after all it’s a 7-8 hour flight from Milan to New York, it takes longer to go by train to Bari: I take advantage of all the technology possible, and this helps. My children are good and always answer me. If I find myself in difficulty with some IT gimmick, I ask the youngest one who works in the technology sector, he is 48 years old. I ask the older one for help with the research, he has a degree in chemistry and physics from the University of Tennessee: I say he is a CSI (crime scene investigator) but he scolds me when he hears me say this: “Don’t say I’m a CSI, I’m a simple chemist”. His job is to do laboratory tests for Aids, Covid and drugs. My daughter has three degrees: botany, marine science and marine biology, she is an expert on algae. Every now and then she tells me that seven percent of algae are harmful and I get scared. We are always in close contact.”
You talked about La Scala, are you passionate about opera?
«A funny story: Angelo Cattaneo, Olimpia’s masseur, in the early 1980s, told me during training: “Coach, we need to complete your cultural growth” (Peterson has a degree in Education and a master’s degree in Sports Business). “Catteneo, what do you say?”. The truth is that he loved the opera and knowing that a former basketball player was in charge of the ticket office on the stairs, he thought: if he calls Peterson he will certainly find two tickets for him and the other will be for me. He pounded me until I gave in and we saw Simon BoccanegraI enjoyed it. Once, Pavarotti was supposed to sing and the night before they had booed him. I thought: oh God, he must be shy, dejected… Pavarotti entered the scene by opening a door with a gesture that would blow off its hinges, with a very resolute walk, bom bom bom, a smile from here to here. He seemed to say: I am Pavarotti, I rock the world. He gave a standing ovation performance.”
His music, however, is different. Do you still play the guitar?
«I’m out of practice, I’m afraid of making mistakes. I only make chords, I would no longer be able to make an arpeggio with the plectrum. I love almost all music, especially folk, bluegrass, rock, country, I went to Nashville, the Scala of country, to see Bill Monroe: perfection. I’m jealous of the skill of great guitarists, if I see them then I feel bad for a week. I found a video on YouTube on how to do the attack of Lovesick blues by Hank Williams. I picked up the guitar and tried with great difficulty: but the dream never dies, inside me there is always the hope that one day I will be as good as Eric Clapton.”
Speaking of perfection, does the perfect basket exist?
«In sport, more than perfection, what counts is making the minimum number of errors. As a coach I look at the game critically, but I always have ready applause for those who play with simplicity and effectiveness. I’m involved with Bologna and Milan, if they play against me I shouldn’t watch, but I love basketball too much and I want to see everything.”
What is it like to have a fellow pope?
«I am Protestant but very proud of Leo My wife is Catholic and dreams of an audience with him. Since I understand that he is witty, if it ever happens to me, I will have to say to him: “Your Holiness, I’m so sorry, but he’s really on the wrong team”, always be clear with great affection. And then I would tell him that my father took me and my brother to see the Cubs, which we liked because they were stronger at the time, only later did we discover that he was an illegal Sox fan: in all families there is a black sheep. Where I come from, Cubs fans rented a giant sign along the highway, they put a photo of the Pope on it with the words “White Sox, not even a Pope from Chicago can save them”, because of how bad they are.”
He said: “If you have worked your way up, you appreciate the results more”. What result did you appreciate the most?
«I trained at the Naval Academy, where you could enter if you weren’t over 1.92 metres, we played and won matches in which the tallest of my starting five was shorter than the shortest of the opponents: when you win matches like this where you go further because everyone gives their all, the level doesn’t matter. And then I had the satisfaction of seeing one of my men become the best player in the history of the naval academy until Dave Robinson came in and then broke all the records. Chile had played 14 matches against Uruguay, losing all of them, we played four in four months and won them all, then Chile didn’t beat Uruguay again for 50 years. With Virtus, the scudetto in Varese in 1972, the scudetto in Milan in ’82 against Pesaro who had beaten us 110-65 points in the first leg during the season. And then the grand slam with Milan 1986/87: we needed a difference of 32 points with Aris, to get through and go to the final round, we won by 34: the most important match of my career. Off the pitch they elected me to the Fiba hall of fame, we had the ceremony here in Milan, a truly emotional thing and a great honour.”
Dan Peterson with the personalized Armani scarf
What sport would you recommend to a child grandchild?
«I no longer like that parents choose: I think that especially as children it is right to try more than one sport and that the children’s wishes are respected, there is no rush to specialize: a bit of football, a bit of volleyball, a bit of athletics. I was born and raised 400 meters from Lake Michigan, my father wanted both my brother and I to learn to swim early, I think it’s very important because it saves lives. As long as you’re a child, sport should just be fun, there are parents who think I’ll sign him up for tennis because he’ll become Jannik Sinner and I’ll become rich.”
Does this risk exist?
“Of course, but it’s not a good idea.”
