Don Nelson
 |
||
|
||
| Player information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Donald Arvid Nelson | |
| birthday | 15th May 1940 (age 80) | |
| place of birth | Muskegon , Michigan , United States | |
| size | 198 cm | |
| position | Small forward | |
| college | University of Iowa | |
| NBA draft | 1962, 19th Pick , Chicago Zephyrs | |
| Clubs as active | ||
1962–1963 Chicago Zephyrs 1963–1965 Los Angeles Lakers 1965–1976 Boston Celtics
|
||
| Clubs as coaches | ||
| 1976–1987 Milwaukee Bucks 1988–1995 Golden State Warriors 1995–1996 New York Knicks 1997–2005 Dallas Mavericks 2006–2010 Golden State Warriors
|
||
Donald Arvid Nelson (born May 15, 1940 in Muskegon , Michigan ) is a retired American basketball coach and player. As a player, Nelson was active for the Chicago Zephyrs , the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics , with whom he won the championship five times. As a trainer, he supervised the Milwaukee Bucks , Golden State Warriors , New York Knicks , Dallas Mavericks . He also coached the US national team at the 1994 Basketball World Cup .
Player career
Nelson was active in the NBA from 1962 to 1976 , including the years from 1965 with the Boston Celtics . There he was as a solid substitute player an important relief on the forward positions and was able to achieve a double-digit point average per game eight years in a row (1967-75). In total, Nelson won five NBA championships with the Celtics.
Coaching career
Don Nelson's first club were the Milwaukee Bucks , which he coached from 1976 to 1987. In the ten years the Bucks managed seven times more than 50 victories in the regular season. In 1983 and 1985, Nelson received the NBA Coach of the Year Award .
From 1988 to 1995 he was the coach of the Golden State Warriors , where he was voted Coach of the Year for the third time in 1992. In 1994 he won the gold medal with the " Dream Team II " at the Basketball World Cup in Canada . After an argument with Chris Webber , he left the Warriors and trained the New York Knicks from July 1995 to March 1996 , where he had problems with the players despite relatively good results.
From 1997 Nelson coached the Dallas Mavericks and managed with them more than 50 wins in four consecutive years, but without reaching the final round. On March 19, 2005 Nelson resigned as a coach. From August 30, 2006 he coached the Golden State Warriors for the second time, which in 2007 under his direction for the first time in 13 years again reached the playoffs. There they beat, seeded eight, the former Nelson team of the Dallas Mavericks seeded 4-2, but were eliminated in the second round against the Utah Jazz .
In a 1996 poll of sports journalists to mark the 50th anniversary of the NBA, Nelson was named one of the top 10 NBA coaches of all time . With 1,335 wins, he is the most successful coach in league history in this regard. On April 7, 2010, he replaced the previous record coach Lenny Wilkens (1,332). In contrast to his playing career, when Nelson had won five championship titles with Boston, he did not reach a championship or a finals in his 31 years as a coach. On September 7, 2012, Nelson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame .
Reputation as a trainer
Nelson is known for his unconventional approach. In the course of his coaching career, he repeatedly put players in positions for which they seemed unsuitable due to their anatomy and skills. He also experimented with tactical line-up and is considered to be the inventor of the point forward position . With the Hack-a-Shaq tactic, he developed a tactic that relies on the targeted use of deliberate fouls. Don Nelson's teams are often said to play run-and-gun basketball on offense and tend to neglect defensive work.
See also
Web links
- Don Nelson in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame . On: Hoophall website; Springfield, MA, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018 (in English).
- Don Nelson - player profile on basketball-reference.com
- Profile on the official website of the NBA (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ NN: Top 10 Coaches in NBA History ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2010 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. On: NBA website, New York 2017; accessed on June 17, 2017 (in English)
- ↑ Sources: Keith Smart to coach Warriors on espn.com, accessed October 23, 2010
- ↑ Basketball Hall of Fame: Don Nelson inducted
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Nelson, Don |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Nelson, Donald Arvid (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American basketball coach and player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 15, 1940 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Muskegon , Michigan |