Don Nelson, the second-winningest coach in NBA and Dallas Mavericks history and one of basketball’s greatest innovators, died Sunday in Frisco, Texas, his family confirmed.
Nelson, 86, moved from his longtime home in Maui to Frisco early this year, but suffered a stroke about three weeks ago, his family said. He recently was placed in hospice care and had been surrounded by family and longtime NBA friends.
Those same people, and several hundred friends of admirers, gathered on June 15 at Gilley’s in Dallas, where Nelson received the James Naismith Family Legacy Award during a Sports Power Brokers Event.
“I feel great,” a beaming Nelson said that night. “I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the room. I’ve had a life in which I coached and played and general managed in the league for almost 50 years.
“It’s good to be back in Texas,” added Nelson, who coached the Mavericks from 1997 to 2005.“I moved back here about six months ago and I’m having the time of my life.”
“Nellie” aptly received a standing ovation after rising to the dais to accept the award from Naismith’s great-granddaughter, Margaret Naismith Yonker.
“Today,” Nelson said, again smiling, “I feel a lot of love in this room.”
Nelson stood 6-foot-6, but few if any figures in basketball history built a more varied, towering legacy than Nelson – as a player, general manager and coach.
His 2,398 games coached are second-most in NBA history, behind Lenny Wilkens’ 2,487. Nelson’s 1,335 victories are second-most in history, behind the 1,390 wins of his former assistant and most noted protege, longtime San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
Nelson was voted NBA Coach of the Year in 1982-83 and 1984-85 (Milwaukee) and 1991-92 (Golden State).
He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2012. During the NBA’s 75th anniversary season of 2021-22, Nelson was named one of the 15 greatest coaches in league history.
As a player with the Boston Celtics, he won NBA championships in 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974 and 1976.
In Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals, he hit one of the most famous shots in playoff history, with the Celtics clinging to a one-point lead and his free-throw-line jumper bouncing high off the back of the rim and through the hoop.
His 32-season coaching career spanned on-and-off from 1976 to 2010, with stops in Milwaukee, Golden State (twice), the Knicks and Dallas, the latter of which he served as general manager and coach from 1997 to 2005.
Along with his 339 wins in Dallas, second-most in Mavericks history behind Rick Carlisle’s 555, Nelson’s greatest legacy is his June 24, 1998, draft night acquisitions of future Naismith Hall of Famers Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash.
Nowitzki, naturally, was among the attendees of June’s Sports Power Brokers event at Gilley’s.
“Don the legend; happy to be here for him,” Nowitzki said that night. “He was obviously the guy that jump-started my career.
“He gave me a lot of confidence. His way of seeing basketball, with the whole mismatch and shooting, just played into my hands. I’ve always said if I would have had another coach, if I would have gone to another team, things could have worked out a lot differently.
“Nellie was just the perfect coach for me, to start my career here.”
Nelson was born on May 15, 1940. Coincidentally, the Mavericks would be founded exactly 40 years later, on May 15, 1980.
Part of Nelson’s Mavericks legacy is the fact he brought in his son, Donnie, as an assistant coach in 1998. Donnie was instrumental in the Mavericks focusing on Nowitzki leading into the 1998 draft.
Donnie ultimately rose to succeed Don as general manager, and in 2018 drafted Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson.