Nelson, second-winningest NBA coach, dies at 86 — SkimNews
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- Don Nelson died Sunday at 86, his family said, surrounded by loved ones after a final week in which friends and family "encircled him with love" and revisited memories
- Nelson finished 1,335-1,063 over 31 seasons coaching the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors (twice), New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks, retiring as the NBA's all-time winningest coach before Gregg Popovich surpassed him in March 2022
- Nelson pioneered "Nellie Ball," a fast-paced, small-ball style built on speed and mismatches that Warriors coach Steve Kerr said is "still felt today," with "so much of what is now commonplace in the modern NBA" traceable to Nelson's approach
- Nelson won five NBA championships as a Boston Celtics player across 11 seasons, had his No. 19 retired in 1978, and earned three Coach of the Year awards (1983, '85, '92) — but never reached the NBA Finals as a head coach
- Nelson pushed Golden State to draft Stephen Curry with the No. 7 pick in 2009 and orchestrated Dallas's 1998 draft-day deals for Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash, hiding Nowitzki at his son Donnie's home for a week before the draft to keep other teams from scouting him
- Nelson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 and received the 2025 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, where he wore Luka Doncic's signature sneakers to the ceremony and called the Mavericks' Doncic-to-Lakers trade a "tremendous mistake"
- Nelson retired to a 22-acre farm in Maui, where he told HBO in 2019 he grew flowers, coffee and cannabis, and opened his rental properties to families displaced by the deadly 2023 Maui wildfires
Why it matters: Nelson's small-ball, pace-and-space philosophy was adopted across the league after his retirement, and his draft fingerprints — Curry in 2009 and Nowitzki in 1998 — produced two franchise-altering careers. Even after leaving the bench, he remained outspoken, publicly calling the Mavericks' Doncic trade a "tremendous mistake" at his 2025 lifetime achievement ceremony.
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