Don Nelson, Hall of Fame NBA coach and five-time Celtics champion, dies at 86

A half-century in the NBA

Don Nelson, who died on Sunday at 86, spent nearly 50 years in the NBA as a player and coach, building a legacy that shaped the modern game. His family said he passed peacefully on Sunday morning, surrounded by loved ones.

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 Golden State Warriors, who employed Nelson for more than a decade across two stints, also announced his death on social media. Nelson had received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Basketball Coaches Association in June 2025.

Five rings in Boston

Nelson played 14 NBA seasons, 11 of them with the Boston Celtics, where he won five championships in 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974 and 1976. The Celtics retired his number 19 jersey in 1978. He was an undersized small forward, twice waived by NBA teams before joining Boston in 1965, but he became a key bench contributor with a reliable jump shot. His most famous moment as a player was a game-winning basket in the 1969 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

From the bench to the sideline

Nelson had never coached at any level when Bucks coach Larry Costello recruited him as an assistant in 1976. When Milwaukee started the 1976-77 season 3-15 and Costello resigned, owner Jim Fitzgerald offered Nelson the head job. Nelson recalled his hesitation at his 2012 Hall of Fame induction.

I said, 'Jim, I'm not ready to be a head coach.' And Fitz said to me: 'Give it a try. If it doesn't work out at the end of the year, we'll talk about it.' Eleven years later, I was still there.

Nelson spent 11 seasons in Milwaukee, winning seven consecutive Central Division titles and reaching three conference finals. He was named NBA Coach of the Year three times, in 1983, 1985 and 1992.

Nellie Ball

Nelson's up-tempo, positionless style, dubbed "Nellie Ball," found its fullest expression with the Golden State Warriors, whom he joined in 1988. He assembled the "Run TMC" lineup of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin, a small-ball unit that prioritized speed and shooting. His first Warriors stint ended in turmoil: a rift with rookie Chris Webber led to Webber's trade, and Nelson resigned under pressure in February 1995. He was then fired midway through the 1995-96 season with the New York Knicks after a 34-25 start, when Patrick Ewing rebelled after learning Nelson sought to trade him for Shaquille O'Neal.

In Dallas, Nelson coached eight seasons and helped build the Mavericks into contenders. He and his son Donnie, who joined as assistant coach in 1998, persuaded a 20-year-old Dirk Nowitzki to leave Europe for the NBA and developed Steve Nash into one of the league's top point guards. Nelson missed 21 games starting in December 2000 to recover from prostate cancer surgery. In his second stint with Golden State, he engineered a first-round upset of top-seeded Dallas in 2007, one of the signature moments of his coaching career. He also coached the United States Dream Team II to a world championship in Toronto in 1994.

A record surpassed

Nelson retired from coaching in 2010 with 1,335 regular-season wins and 1,063 losses across 31 seasons and 18 playoff appearances. On April 10, 2010, he passed Lenny Wilkens to become the league's winningest coach. Gregg Popovich surpassed him in March 2022 and now holds 1,390 wins. Nelson is one of two coaches in NBA history with at least 250 wins for three different franchises: Milwaukee, Dallas and Golden State. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said Nelson's influence remains visible in today's game.

Don Nelson was a true innovator, whose influence on the game of basketball is still felt today. He constantly challenged conventional thinking, experimented with different lineups and styles of play, and saw possibilities in the game that others often did not. Much of what is now commonplace in the modern NBA can be traced back to the way Nellie approached the game.

Nash, who played for Nelson in Dallas, told The New York Times that Nelson was "pivotal" to his career.