Don Nelson stated his criticism for his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, in trading away star player Luka Doncic in February.
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13 Nov 2000: A close up of Head Coach Don Nelson of the Dallas Mavericks as he looks down during the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. The Mavericks defeated the Clippers 90-76.
FormerDallas Mavericks head coach and basketball Hall-of-Famer Don Nelson made his stance clear on the team tradingLuka Doncic.
Speaking in Oklahoma City afterreceiving the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, Nelsoncriticized his former team for trading their star player. He wore Doncic’s Jordan brand sneakers during the press conference, stating it was ‘in protest’ of the move sending the 26-year-old to theLos Angeles Lakers.
“As a matter of fact, I want everybody to know I’m wearing Luka’s shoes, his new shoes from Nike, just got on the market. I’m wearing them in protest for the trade from Dallas,”Nelson said on Sunday. “I think it was a tremendous mistake by the Dallas franchise to trade him, and I want everybody to know that.”
Nelson coached the Mavericks from 1997 to 2005 and is second in all-time wins in NBA history.
Nelson Against the Mavericks’ Doncic Trade
The 85-year-old clarified his view on the move and stated that a team should never trade away their top talent.
“If you look at the players I’ve had over the years, Dirk (Nowitzki) and (Sidney) Moncrief and all the rest of them that I’ve coached,” Nelson said. “My philosophy was always to honor the great players, not trade them away, but to add pieces to that player and make him and your franchise the best that it could be.”
While the dejection of the fanbase after the trade has somewhat fizzled out after Dallas landed thefirst pick in the 2025 NBA Draft,Nelson was still unhappy with the move.
During his time in Dallas, Nelson coached Steve Nash, Michael Finley, and Nowitzki, and led the team to four consecutive 50-win seasons.
His Stance Holds Weight
Moreover, Nelson reiterated his opinion that teams shouldn’t trade away star players. From his time with theBoston Celtics in the 1960s to his final stint coaching theGolden State Warriors in the late 2000s, he was surrounded by numerous Hall of Fame players, coaches, and executives.
“Because I learned from the best. I played a year for Red Auerbach. I played under him for Tommy Heinsohn and Bill Russell,” Nelson said. “And his philosophy was when you have a great player, Bill Russell, (John) Havlicek, Sam Jones, you never lose that player. You keep him for a lifetime. You put his number up and you honor that player and that’s been my philosophy.”
As a player, Nelson won five championships with the Celtics during their legendary runs in the 1960s and 70s. His No. 19 jersey was retired by the team and hung in the rafters of the Boston Garden in 1978.
While coaching, Nelson’s influence only grew in the league.He helped create multiple trends including thenow famous and still-used ‘Hack-a-Shaq’ strategyto put poor free throw shooters at the line.
Nelson’s 1,335 total coaching wins are the second most in NBA history, only behind formerSan Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. He was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year three times and won seven consecutive division titles with the Milwaukee Bucks.
In addition, he reached the NBA Playoffs a total of 18 times as a coach and is one of just two coaches ever to have at least 250 total wins with multiple teams. Nelson coached in the league for 31 seasons and wasenshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.