Don Nelson - Coaching History

Coaching History

Nelson took over the reins as general manager and head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks in 1976 and began to show what would later become his signature style of wheeling and dealing players. He made his first trade of Swen Nater to the Buffalo Braves and turned the draft pick he received into Marques Johnson, who had a solid career with the Bucks. In 1980, he sent off an underachieving Kent Benson to the Detroit Pistons for Bob Lanier. Perhaps his most publicized deal came before the 1984–85 season when he dealt Johnson, Junior Bridgeman, Harvey Catchings, and cash to the San Diego Clippers for Terry Cummings, Craig Hodges, and Ricky Pierce. And, in 1986, he would deal Alton Lister to the Seattle SuperSonics for Jack Sikma. In the midst of his constant re-toolings, he earned NBA Coach of the Year honors in 1983 and 1985. His Bucks teams in the 1980s were consistently among the NBA's best, but each year they would end up being eliminated in the playoffs by either a Larry Bird-led Boston Celtics team or the Julius Erving-led Philadelphia 76ers.

It was also in Milwaukee where Nelson became known for his unorthodox, innovative basketball philosophy. He was known to have introduced the concept of the point forward – a tactic wherein small forwards are used to direct the offense. In Nelson's tenure with the Bucks, he used 6–5 small forward Paul Pressey for the role. This enabled Nelson to field shooting guards Sidney Moncrief and Craig Hodges or Ricky Pierce at the same time without worrying about who would run the offense. In his offensive half-court sets, he would also put a center who wasn't a threat on offense, like Lister or Randy Breuer, at mid-court instead of near the basket to keep a shot-blocking center like the Utah Jazz's Mark Eaton away from the basket to make him less of a threat on defense. This system created a lot of mismatches and enabled Nelson to lead the Bucks to Central Division championships and playoff berths for most of the 1980s. He would leave Milwaukee after ten seasons, seven with over 50 wins.

After a year's hiatus, Nelson then became Coach and Vice President of the Golden State Warriors, and was named NBA Coach of the Year a third time. In Golden State, he instilled a run-and-gun style of offense. Again using an unconventional lineup which featured three guards (Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway and Sarunas Marciulionis) and two forwards (Chris Mullin and the 6–8 Rod Higgins at center), Nelson led the Warriors to many winning seasons and playoff berths despite an under-sized lineup. He continued to retool his lineup and drafted talent such as Chris Webber and Latrell Sprewell. It was during this time that he reached the peak of his fame, due to his style of offense enabling Hardaway, Richmond, and Mullin (also known as Run TMC) to emerge as premier players. After four winning seasons, he left Golden State following a prolonged public dispute with Webber and a 14–31 start.

He was invited to coach the Dream Team II at the 1994 FIBA World Championship in Toronto. He accepted and led them to the Gold Medal.

In 1995, Nelson would begin his stint with the Knicks, which lasted from July 1995 until March 1996. Despite coaching the Knicks to a respectable 34–25 record, Nelson had many personal problems with the players: e.g., he tried to convince management to trade Patrick Ewing in order to be in a position to make an offer to rising free agent Shaquille O'Neal. He also favored a more up-tempo style of offense, sharply contrasting the hard-nosed defensive style of play that the Knicks had employed under Pat Riley.

Nelson was named Head Coach and General Manager of the Dallas Mavericks in 1997, and led them to four consecutive 50-win seasons. The trio of Steve Nash, Michael Finley, and Dirk Nowitzki became the foundation for their dramatic turnaround. In Dallas, Nelson created an offensive powerhouse in which every player could score at any time. However, lacking interior defense – as the front court with Raef LaFrentz, Shawn Bradley and Nowitzki was weak in the paint – they never reached the NBA Finals.

One notable result of Nelson's tenure at the helm of the Mavericks was the introduction of the "Hack-a-Shaq" defense to the NBA.

On March 19, 2005, Nelson stepped down as Dallas' Head Coach, naming Avery Johnson as his successor. Nelson retained his job as Dallas' GM until after the season, when he named his son, Assistant GM Donnie Nelson, as his replacement. The Mavericks reached the NBA Finals in 2006.

On August 29, 2006, the Warriors bought out Mike Montgomery's contract and hired Nelson to take over the team again. By this time, Mullin, a longtime favorite of Nelson's, was the team's general manager. Nelson's Warriors won their final five regular season games and qualified for the 2006–07 playoffs.

Nelson faced his old team, the Mavericks, in the first round of the playoffs. The Mavs had the NBA's best record, and were a trendy pick to win their first NBA title. However, in one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history, Nelson coached the 8th-seeded Warriors to victory over the top-seeded Mavericks in six games. The Warriors went on to lose to the Utah Jazz.

A season later, Nelson led the Warriors to their most wins since 1993–94. However, in a Western Conference where all eight playoff teams won 50 games, they missed the playoffs by two games. The next two seasons saw the Warriors plunge back into mediocrity.

On September 23, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, citing numerous sources close to the Warriors, reported that Nelson had decided to resign as head coach. This was later confirmed by the San Francisco Chronicle, which reported that new owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber wanted "a young, up-and-coming coach" to help revive the Warriors' fortunes. Longtime assistant Keith Smart succeeded Nelson as coach. Nelson in February 2011 said on Bay Area radio station KNBR that he was fired. "I talked to (Lacob) on the phone before I got fired, and I was really impressed. I was a little surprised with the way things happened, but I think it is for the best for everybody."

On September 7, 2012, Nelson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.