championships, records, innovation and a lasting impact on the way basketball is played.
Nelson was more than a successful coach. He was an innovator who repeatedly challenged the established ideas of his era.
From his championship years in Boston to his unconventional Warriors teams and his work with the Mavericks, Nelson left his mark on virtually every part of the basketball world he entered.
His 1,335 coaching victories remain among the highest totals in NBA history, but statistics only tell part of his story.
His greater legacy is visible in the strategies that continue to shape the modern game.
As players, coaches, teams and fans remember him, Don Nelson will be remembered as one of basketball’s great thinkers, a five-time champion as a player, a three-time Coach of the Year and one of the winningest coaches the NBA has ever seen.
The Don Nelson dies at 86 news marks the passing of an extraordinary basketball life, but his influence on the NBA is likely to remain visible for generations.
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