R.I.P. Don Nelson

travisbickle

All-Conference
Jan 4, 2022
529
1,605
93

Some broken hearts never mend.

RIP you gentle giant and may you always be on Tulsa Time looking down on us from heaven.
 

GoneFishin916

Junior
Oct 30, 2025
248
360
63
My favorite coach ever. Met him twice and had good conversations both times (first time he was with Mavs; second time with Warriors). He remembered who I was. He also drafted Steph Curry, so he knew greatness. Too bad he did not win a title as a coach. He was a guy that if he liked you, great, but if he did not, it was miserable. He was a very large man with a gruff voice, but fairly down to earth when I talked to him. He lost a bunch of weight after he got out of coaching. He did have a fairly large belly when I saw him. Loved him with the Mavs and We Believe Warriors
 

AustinTXCat

Hall of Famer
Jan 7, 2003
53,895
318,794
113
RIP Don Nelson and "Nellie Ball". Run TMC was fun to watch in my late teenage years.
Dirk Nowitzke on Don Nelson:

"In my second game ever in the NBA -- obviously I wasn't a defensive presence -- he wanted me out there in the game but he didn't have anybody for me to guard," recalled the 7'0" Nowitzki. "So he let me guard [5-foot-3] Muggsy Bogues for a couple possessions. He said, 'Just stand there in the paint and wave at him. He doesn't want to shoot.'"

Heh.
 

Smeegs

All-Conference
Nov 19, 2025
1,115
3,172
113
He was certainly an innovative coach who wasn’t afraid to play lineups and schemes that no other coach dared try.

For example, term “small ball” first originated from Don Nelson’s teams. As did the term “point forward”, as he was first to coach to use forwards in a point role. And on defense he was known for intentionally creating wacky mismatches (such as having a small guard defend the center spot), which seemed insane on the surface, but would work because it would mess with the head of his opponent and cause them to divert the ball away from their stars and toward less talented scorers.
 
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