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Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Last year, Joseph Bien-Kahn penned
the definitive Don Nelson profile for
The Believer.
In it, Nelson contemplated his mortality, as excerpted below.
“Then he tells me a story,” Bien-Khan wrote. “A couple days earlier, he’d woken up early, around 4 a.m., and went out onto his patio. He was watching the stars, but then looked down to read something on his phone. His eyes went out of focus and he looked up again and started feeling dizzy. ‘I asked myself, Am I dying?’ he remembers. ‘Is this how it’s going to be?’
“Nellie was off-kilter, but he felt a sense of euphoria too. ‘I believe that when you die, there’s a lot of good thoughts that go through your brain on your way to that process,” he continues. ‘It’s not necessarily an unhappy situation.’
“Thirty seconds later, the feeling had passed. He was back on his patio, under the island night sky, with a rumor of the Pacific Ocean, still dark, in the distance. ‘It didn’t happen, but it would have been a wonderful experience if I’d had to go through it,’ Nellie tells me. ‘If that’s the way it’s gonna go, I’d be all right.'”
Nelson, 86, died peacefully on Sunday, Aug. 9.
“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 Nelson family said in a statement, per
ESPN. “Throughout his last week, friends and family encircled him with love, sharing the blessing of his friendship and revisiting treasured memories.”
Nelson spent 45 of his 86 years in the NBA, 14 as a player and 31 as a head coach. He won five championships as a forward for the Boston Celtics, and then
he became the NBA’s all-time winningest coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, and Dallas Mavericks. Nelson now sits second on that list behind Gregg Popovich.
Nelson walked away from coaching — and, subsequently, public life — in 2010, and
he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
But even as he enjoyed his twilight years in Hawaii, Nelson’s impact on the basketball world ran deep, as evidenced by the outpouring of tributes. See how the sports media reacted below.
It’s a sad day for basketball with the passing of Don Nelson.
I have so much respect for him and everything he did for the game, especially the way he believed in international players. I’m grateful for the time I spent with him.
Thinking of the entire Nelson family today. I…
pic.twitter.com/GqIobWNB9i
— Luka Dončić (@lukadoncic)
August 9, 2026
Don Nelson at the 2025 NBA Finals:
“I’m wearing Luka’s new shoes from Nike and I’m wearing them in protest for the trade from Dallas. I think it was a tremendous mistake by the Dallas franchise to trade him”
Legend!
pic.twitter.com/T1H29Fnc3f
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24)
August 9, 2026
In 2019, Don Nelson was asked what he was up to after his retirement.
He gave a simple answer.
Rest in peace to a legend of the game.
pic.twitter.com/0UZAB0NweB
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais)
August 9, 2026
RIP to the one of a kind Don Nelson, a coaching maestro whose innovations from the point forward (Paul Pressey), to Run-TMC, to small ball fives, to 7-6 Manute Bol shooting 3s, made his teams fun to watch and cover – decades after his outstanding playing days w/the Celtics.
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— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc)
August 9, 2026
One of the first NBA games I ever saw in person, Don Nelson punted a basketball. The crowd went nuts. We all freaking loved it. RIP to a king.
pic.twitter.com/PaoFsJtfpj
— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher)
August 9, 2026
A basketball innovator. A Mavericks legend. An impact that will never be forgotten.
We mourn the passing of former Mavericks head coach Don Nelson and celebrate a life that left an incredible mark on our franchise and the game of basketball.
Rest in peace, Nellie.
#MFFLpic.twitter.com/BcLDKkIEO7
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs)
August 9, 2026
Statements from several members of the Warriors past and present on the passing of Don Nelson
https://t.co/dsCBLcQkm4
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater)
August 9, 2026
Don Nelson coached the Bucks and Warriors (twice) as well as the Knicks (briefly) before his time in Dallas, but make no mistake. When it came to Xs and Os, Nellie was a 24/7/365 maverick.
In tribute to Nelson and today’s very sad news, I wrote this piece reflecting on the years…
https://t.co/SOns2RSzLk
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine)
August 9, 2026
“Don Nelson was a true innovator whose influence on the game of basketball is still felt today. He consistently challenged conventional thinking, experimented with different lineups and styles of play, and saw possibilities in the game that others often did not. So much of what…
pic.twitter.com/LnO8tl2aBl
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors)
August 9, 2026
RIP to Don Nelson, gone at 86, a major figure in the history of the NBA as a player and a coach. Will always remember
@scottostler going to Hawaii to check in on Nellie in retirement, where he’d become an avid pot smoker.
https://t.co/rvsLAsIAD5
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde)
August 9, 2026
I grew up a kid in Dallas, watching Don Nelson stand on the Mavericks sidelines. He was the first coach I knew by name. I fell in love with basketball watching his Michael Finley, Steve Nash and Dirk led teams.
May your soul rest in paradise coach Nelson.
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https://t.co/LVevfKN9GX
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho)
August 9, 2026
Nellie… You didn’t just draft me. You believed in me. You saw things in my game before I ever realized I could do them. I’ve said it a million times and I will always say it: I don’t think my career could have turned out how it did without you being my first coach and giving me…
— Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41)
August 9, 2026
Don Nelson spoke to me in 2023 about Dirk Nowitzki’s HOF nod, the Mavs’ efforts to secure Nowitzki in the 1998 NBA Draft & why he sat him with a knee injury during part of the 2003 Western Conference Finals.
https://t.co/uPZ5F5NUzMhttps://t.co/OoY2r6OdEN
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina)
August 9, 2026
So great of the Giants to hold a minute of silence for Mike Wagaman along with Don Nelson today. The team has been marvelous, setting up two tribute areas for Wags in the press box and welcoming his son, also Mike, and Wags’ ex-wife and best friend Loretta . So much love to them.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser)
August 9, 2026
Stephen Curry’s statement on the passing of Don Nelson:
“One of the big reasons I was drafted by the Warriors was because of Don Nelson. The story is he never liked rookies, but from Day 1 he challenged me and gave me an opportunity to be my best self on the court. He taught me…
pic.twitter.com/akIkC9Qnlr
— Sam Esfandiari (@samesfandiari)
August 9, 2026
— TheWarriorsTalk (@TheWarriorsTalk)
August 9, 2026
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Hall of Fame head coach Don Nelson.
pic.twitter.com/CAhGYhAUXo
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks)
August 9, 2026
The entire Knicks organization is saddened to hear of the passing of Basketball Hall of Famer and former Knicks head coach, Don Nelson. Our deepest condolences go to his family and friends.
pic.twitter.com/rXyC36B7ML
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks)
August 9, 2026
RIP Nellie
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— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver)
August 9, 2026
Hearts are heavy at the Nasmith Basketball Hall of Fame as we remember Don Nelson, who left an indelible mark on the sport of basketball as a player, coach, and general manager.
Nellie is still the only person to win multiple NBA championships as a player and then win over 1,000…
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— Basketball HOF (@Hoophall)
August 9, 2026
Remembering Coach Nellie
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3x NBA Coach of the Year (’83, ’85, ’92)
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1,335 Coaching wins (2nd all-time)
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One of three coaches to win 1,300+ games
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2x NBA All-Star Game head coach (’92, ’02)
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Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer
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5x NBA Champion (as a player)
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1x…
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— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports)
August 9, 2026
Hit em long and straight, my friend.
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RIP Nellie
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pic.twitter.com/bYIPjk2oEX
— George Karl (@CoachKarl22)
August 9, 2026
Nellie almost brought me to Dallas in 2002 when I was a restricted free agent. We’d nod and check in with each other here and there over the years after that. It was always love.
As far as hoops, he saw stuff on a basketball court that the rest of us wouldn’t catch onto for…
— Michael Redd (@MichaelRedd_)
August 9, 2026
My favorite Don Nelson story. RIP
pic.twitter.com/fH2Sl4IEqi
— Cj (@LakerCj)
August 9, 2026
Here’s classic
@scottostler column on Nellie, from Maui in 2018:
https://t.co/5tZ1iap3Df via
@sfchronicle
— Ron Kroichick (@ronkroichick)
August 9, 2026
When Don Nelson graduated from Iowa in 2012, KCRG-TV9’s John Campbell spoke to him about his time as a Hawkeye.
Nelson’s junior year, Iowa was ranked. Then, the other 4 starters became academically ineligible. Nelson remained, and nearly beat #1 Ohio State
https://t.co/7aBakTKPI7pic.twitter.com/6XGsy7ucHm
— KCRG Sports (@KCRG_Sports)
August 9, 2026
NBA legend Don Nelson passes away at 86. Full coverage at
https://t.co/jnqE8btG6w#Mavs#Celticspic.twitter.com/iNyzfLgynQ
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports)
August 9, 2026
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement today regarding the passing of Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Don Nelson:
pic.twitter.com/EGpWLyte2y
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR)
August 9, 2026
RIP Don Nelson. 2nd most NBA coaching wins ever. Genius of a mad scientist. Saw talent nobody else saw. Tried things nobody had the vision or guts to try. Did more with less. As player won 5 rings in Boston. NBA lifer. “Nellie” was beloved.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless)
August 9, 2026
Don Nelson was one of the most innovated coaches in NBA history with the 2nd most wins EVER!
His career as a player often gets overshadowed. In arguably the most Star Studded Game 7 in NBA Finals History (1969) with Wilt, West, Baylor, Russell, Hondo and Sam Jones it was Nellie…
https://t.co/weR1c7SXqE
— David Shepard (@SheponAir)
August 9, 2026
RIP Don Nelson, one of the most colorful NBA characters of all time. Here’s a paragraph from “Moses and the Doctor” from when Nelson coached the Milwaukee Bucks in 1983 and kept getting thwarted in the postseason by the Philadelphia 76ers.
pic.twitter.com/brIYqQN33w
— Luke Epplin (@LukeEpplin)
August 9, 2026
Don Nelson’s success as a Hall of Fame Coach is so vast, that it could overshadow his playing career, but it would be a mistake to do so. A favorite of Red Auerbach’s, “Nellie” was a tough and reliable all-around player whose tenacity and ability to “think the game” was on full…
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— Boston Celtics (@celtics)
August 9, 2026
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Sports media world reacts to death of NBA legend Don Nelson appeared first on
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