#19 Don Nelson, “Nellie,” Small Forward, 1965-1976
Born in Muskegon, Michigan in 1940, Don Nelson attended the University of Iowa from 1959 to ‘62, where he made Third Team All-American in his final year. He was drafted 17th overall by the Chicago Zephyrs (now the Washington Wizards) in 1962. He moved to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1963, and reached the NBA Finals with the team in 1965, but lost to the Boston Celtics.
Nelson became a Celtic himself later that year, winning a title against the Lakers in 1966, and two more against them in 1968 and ‘69. Nelson scored a key basket towards the end of the deciding game of the ‘69 series, helping to secure another title for Boston. He spent much of his career in Boston as the team’s sixth man, following in the footsteps on Frank Ramsey and John Havlicek. After a rough couple of years following Bill Russell’s retirement in 1969, Nelson and the Celtics got back on track, winning two more championships; in 1974 Against the Milwaukee Bucks, and in ‘76 against the Phoenix Suns, capping off his career with a fifth title.
His career highs include 15.4 points per game in 1969-70 and shooting a league-leading 54% from the field in 1974-75. He scored a career high 40 points in a win against the San Diego Rockets in February 1970. Despite mostly coming off the bench, Nelson currently sits at 14th all time among Celtics players in points. He retired as a player in 1976, and his number “19” was retired by the Celtics in 1978.
He was far from done with basketball though, becoming head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks in 1976. He won Coach of the Year in 1983, the same year the Bucks swept the Celtics in the second round of the playoffs. Unfortunately for Nelson, the Bucks were eliminated the next round by the eventual champion Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics got their revenge the following year, defeating the Bucks in the Conference Finals in five games on their way to another title. Nelson won Coach of the year for the second time in 1985, despite being swept by the 76ers in the semifinals. In 1986, the Bucks were swept by the Celtics in the Conference after Nelson made the mistake of saying he was a better, smarter coach than the Celtics’ K.C. Jones.
Nelson left the Bucks after losing to the Celtics in the playoffs again in 1987, joining the Golden State Warriors in 1988. Although he never made it past the second round of the playoffs at Golden State, he won his third coach of the year award in 1992. He also coached Team USA to a Gold Medal at the 1994 FIBA World Championships in Canada. In 1995-96, Nelson moved on to the New York Knicks, but was fired that March due to disagreements with management. From 1997 to 2005, Nelson coached the Dallas Mavericks, who made it as far as the Conference Finals in 2003, losing to the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in six games. Nelson returned to coaching the Warriors from 2006 to 2010, although they only made the playoffs in his first year back. Don Nelson is one of only three coaches to win Coach of the Year three times, the others being Pat Riley and Greg Popovich. He also coached the Western Conference All-Star Team twice, in 1992 and 2002. Don Nelson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2012, and it’s likely only a matter of time before he’s inducted as a coach
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