Background
The son of Rudy Hackett, Daniel was born in Forlimpopoli (Forlì-Cesena), but grew up in Pesaro.
The son of Rudy Hackett, Daniel was born in Forlimpopoli (Forlì-Cesena), but grew up in Pesaro.
He attended high school at Saint John Bosco of Bellflower. He studied at the University of Southern California, playing college basketball since his freshman year as the University of Southern California Trojans" point guard, with whom he played in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament three times.
Standing at 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in), he can play both the point guard and shooting guard positions. On November 17, 2007, Hackett had his first triple double with the Trojans", putting on the score sheet 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. After going undrafted in the 2009 National Basketball Association Draft, Hacket signed a one-year deal with Benetton Treviso of the Italian Serie A. In July 2010, he signed a two-year deal with Scavolini Pesaro.
In 2012, he signed a two-year deal with the Italian team Montepaschi Siena.
In his first season with the team, he was named, both Italian League Finals and Italian Cup most valuable player. Also, in his first career Euroleague season, he averaged 7.2 points, 3 assists, and 2.3 rebounds over 22 games.
On December 24, 2013, he signed a three-year deal with Emporio Armani Milano. On June 19, 2015, he parted ways with Milano.
On July 15, 2015, Hackett signed a two-year contract with the Greek club Olympiacos.
Hackett was a member of the senior men"s Italian national basketball team at the EuroBasket 2011, in Lithuania. He was also a member of the Italian national team that took part in EuroBasket 2015, which started on 5 September.