The NBA and former players including Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash paid tribute to Don Nelson, a Hall of Famer and five-time NBA champion who also ranks as the second winningest coach in league history. Nelson died on Sunday at age 86.
As a player, Nelson won five championships with the Boston Celtics between 1965 and 1976, during a 14-season career that also included stints with the Chicago Zephyrs and the Los Angeles Lakers.
On the bench, he coached the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks over 31 seasons. He finished his coaching career with a record of 1,335 wins and 1,063 losses, a mark surpassed only by Gregg Popovich, who has 1,390 wins.
Nowitzki and Nash pay tribute
German forward Dirk Nowitzki and Canadian guard Steve Nash, both of whom credited Nelson as a defining figure in their careers, shared emotional farewells.
Nowitzki said Nelson had not only drafted him but believed in him, seeing things in his game before Nowitzki realized he could do them himself. He said he did not think his career would have unfolded the way it did without Nelson as his first coach giving him the freedom to play his own way, adding thanks for everything and calling him a legend.
Nowitzki, who became an NBA champion with Dallas in the 2010-2011 season, was selected in the draft while Nelson served as the Mavericks' coach and general manager.
Nash said there were countless ways to describe Nelson, calling him a coach, a teacher, an innovator and a free spirit, and saying what always inspired him was that Nelson saw things differently from everyone else, unafraid to go against the grain. Nash said he was one of the things Nelson saw differently, recalling that when he made his first All-Star Game, Nelson was not surprised at all and looked at him as if to ask whether he believed it now, since Nelson was the one who had gotten him there. Nash thanked Nelson, the coach he played the most with and who shaped him, for seeing something in him that he did not even believe in himself.
Nash, who also shared a bench with Nelson in Dallas, said the coach praised him repeatedly for his team-first style of play, telling ESPN that Nash could have scored like Steph Curry if he had wanted to, and revealing that he had to force Nash to shoot more.
Silver hails Nelson's legacy
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke of Nelson's significance and impact on the game throughout his career.
Silver said Nelson revolutionized NBA basketball through his boldness, ingenuity and deep conviction, spending nearly 50 years in the league. He said Nelson won five championships as a player with the Boston Celtics before building one of the most successful and pioneering coaching careers in league history, bringing an unmistakable personality to everything he did, and that his impact on the sport would be felt for generations.
Other figures, including Spanish forward Pau Gasol and businessman Mark Cuban, the former Mavericks owner, also wished Nelson eternal rest, calling him a legend.
