Basketball Hall of Fame member Don Nelson died at age 86 on Sunday, his family announced. The former player and coach won five NBA titles as an athlete and earned three Coach of the Year awards.
According to NBA reporter Marc Stein, Nelson's family said in a statement that on Sunday morning their beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather passed away peacefully to be with the Lord, surrounded by his family.
Nelson ranks second in NBA history for regular season coaching victories with 1,335 wins, trailing only Gregg Popovich. During a 31-year coaching career, he led the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, and Dallas Mavericks before retiring in 2010 after his second tenure with Golden State.
Playing career and Boston Celtics honors
As a player, Nelson competed in 14 NBA seasons, spending 11 of those years with the Boston Celtics, where he won five championships. The Boston franchise retired his number 19 jersey in 1978.
He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. In June 2025, the National Basketball Coaches Association awarded Nelson the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contributions to the sport.
Coaching career and Golden State tribute
Although Nelson never won an NBA championship as a head coach, he achieved major success across several franchises. He guided the Milwaukee Bucks to seven consecutive Central Division titles and spent eight seasons coaching the Dallas Mavericks, helping build the team into a title contender.
Nelson also led Golden State to the playoffs twice, orchestrating one of the biggest postseason upsets in league history in 2007 when the Warriors eliminated the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round.
In a statement, Golden State called Nelson one of the most innovative and influential coaches in NBA history and an iconic figure in Warriors history. The franchise added that he was a true basketball visionary who saw the game differently and was never afraid to challenge conventional thinking, helping shape the sport for future generations of players and coaches.
