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Don Nelson dies at 86: Tributes pour in for one of NBA's all-time winningest coaches originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The NBA world is mourning longtime head coach Don Nelson, who died Sunday at the age of 86, his family announced.
Nelson spent 31 seasons as an NBA head coach, including 11 seasons with the Bucks, another 11 with the Warriors across two different stints and eight years with the Mavericks. Nelson also had a brief one-year stop with the Knicks in the 1990s.
While he never reached the NBA Finals as a head coach, Nelson engineered 13 different 50-win seasons and won five championships as a player with the Celtics in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Here's more to know about Nelson and his passing on Sunday.
Don Nelson dies at 86
Nelson died Sunday morning at the age of 86, his family announced.
"On Sunday morning our beloved husband, dad, grandfather and great-grandfather Don Nelson peacefully went to be with the Lord, surrounded by his loving family," the statement read. "Throughout his last week, friends and family encircled him with love, sharing the blessing of his friendship and revisiting treasured memories."
The family did not release a cause of death, but The Dallas Morning News reported Nelson suffered a stroke three weeks earlier and had been placed in hospice care. Nelson moved from Hawaii to Frisco, Texas earlier in 2026.
Nelson's coaching career ended in 2010, after a second stint with the Warriors that included a historic first-round upset of the top-seeded Mavericks. Nelson previously coached the Mavericks to a 60-win season in 2002-03, and he oversaw some of the most successful stretches in Bucks and Warriors history before those franchises' recent successes.
Here's a look at where Nelson ranks among the all-time wins leaders in NBA history.
NBA winningest coaches of all time
Nelson ranks second all-time in coaching wins. He retired with the record, which was later surpassed by legendary Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
| Rank | Coach | Wins |
| 1 | Gregg Popovich | 1,390 |
| 2 | Don Nelson | 1,335 |
| 3 | Lenny Wilkens | 1,332 |
| 4 | Jerry Sloan | 1,221 |
| 5 | Pat Riley | 1,210 |
| 6 | Doc Rivers | 1,194 |
| 7 | George Karl | 1,175 |
| 8 | Phil Jackson | 1,155 |
| 9 | Larry Brown | 1,098 |
| 10 | Rick Adelman | 1,042 |
Three of the 10 winningest coaches in NBA history have died in the last year, as Lenny Wilkens passed away in November while Rick Adelman died in June. Popovich, Pat Riley and the recently retired Doc Rivers rank as the winningest living coaches.
Don Nelson tributes
The Warriors called Nelson "one of the most innovative and influential coaches in NBA history."
In a statement, Warriors coach Steve Kerr called Nelson a "true innovator."
Stephen Curry, coached by Nelson as a rookie, also paid tribute with a statement on Sunday:
Luka Doncic called it a "sad day for basketball" with the news of Nelson's death.
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