Don Nelson, second-winningest NBA
coach who won 5 titles as a Celtics player, dies at 86
[August 10, 2026]
By JOHN RABY
Don Nelson, the second-winningest coach in NBA history who won five
championships as a player with the Boston Celtics, died Sunday. He
was 86.
Nelson’s family confirmed the death in a statement that did not say
where he died or provide a cause.
“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 said. “Throughout
his last week, friends and family encircled him with love, sharing
the blessing of his friendship and revisiting treasured memories.”
Nelson is one of two coaches in NBA history to have at least 250
wins with three different franchises — Milwaukee, Dallas and Golden
State — also serving as general manager for all three franchises. He
was a three-time coach of the year and made the playoffs 18 times in
31 seasons. He went to the conference finals three times with the
Bucks and once with the Mavericks, never winning a title.
Nelson introduced what is now known as the point forward, and his
up-tempo style of offense created a buzz. He said the idea of
shifting from the dominant big men of the 1970s to an offense
focused on speed and the fast break came from his playing days under
Celtics Hall of Fame coach Red Auerbach.
“The league really hadn’t seen an offense like the one we were
running, and the results were undeniable,” Nelson wrote in 2016 in
The Players’ Tribune.
Nelson said that “without Red Auerbach teaching me the mechanics of
running the fast break, none of it would have been possible. He
deserves all the credit for Nellie Ball, and for how fast the game
of basketball is played today.”
Nelson played 11 of his 14 seasons in Boston and was on five Celtics
championship teams under four different coaches. He became an
assistant coach in Milwaukee after retiring as a player, then took
over after coach Larry Costello resigned 18 games into the 1976-77
season. Nelson coached the Bucks for 11 seasons starting in 1976 and
won seven straight division titles.
In Nelson’s second season, Milwaukee overcame a 29-point fourth
quarter deficit to beat Atlanta 117-115 in regulation.
“I coached the team as though I was still playing for the Celtics,
while implementing a few of my own strategies,” Nelson wrote. “I
knew I wanted to play unconventional basketball and use speed to my
advantage.”
His fast-paced offenses were probably best on display with Golden
State in the “Run TMC” era featuring future Hall of Famers Tim
Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin. Nelson said he wanted
them on the court at the same time.
Nelson spent 11 seasons over two stints with Golden State. The first
one was punctuated by a rift with rookie star Chris Webber, who was
traded away a month into his second season. Nelson, demoralized by
the trade, missed nine games that season due to illness and resigned
under pressure three months later in February 1995.
In between, Nelson was fired after less than one season in New York
in 1995-96, then coached in Dallas for eight seasons, missing 21
games with the Mavericks starting in December 2000 to recuperate
from prostate cancer surgery.
Nelson’s son, Donnie, joined his father as an assistant coach with
the Mavericks in 1998, later became general manager and remained
with the organization until 2021. Together they persuaded
20-year-old German star Dirk Nowitzki to pass up European basketball
and join the Mavericks. Don Nelson also developed Steve Nash into
one of the NBA’s top point guards before Nash went on to win
back-to-back MVPs with the Phoenix Suns in 2005 and 2006.
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Boston Celtics' Don Nelson (19) goes to the basket against
Milwaukee's Cornell Warner (35) during a NBA Championship game, May
12, 1974, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo, File)
“Don Nelson was a true innovator whose influence on the game of
basketball is still felt today,” current Warriors coach Steve Kerr
said. “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
is now commonplace in the modern NBA can be traced back to the way
Nellie approached the game."
At Golden State, Nelson’s “We Believe” Warriors led by Baron Davis
upset Nowitzki and the top-seeded Mavericks in the first round of
the 2007 playoffs in one of the biggest shockers in NBA history. In
his final season as a coach, Nelson mentored rookie Stephen Curry in
2009-10.
“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,” Curry said in a statement released by the Warriors. “He
taught me a lot during our one season together and I’ll never forget
the night he became the winningest coach in NBA history in
Minnesota. We were so happy for him. He had an immeasurable impact
on the sport and will go down as one of the greatest minds in the
history of the game.”
Davis added: “When I think of Nellie, I’ll always think of the ‘We
Believe’ team and our incredible run in 2007. He understood what
made us go and made us believe we could beat anybody, ultimately
helping us make history as the first No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1
seed in a seven-game series. That time in my life and career was
truly special, and Nellie was a huge part of making it possible.”
Nelson retired as the NBA’s career coaching wins leader with 1,335,
just ahead of Lenny Wilkens’ 1,332. Nelson kept that top spot for
nearly 12 years before close friend and now-retired San Antonio
coach Gregg Popovich passed him in March 2022.
Nelson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of
Fame in 2012. In 2025, he received the Chuck Daly Lifetime
Achievement Award, presented by the National Basketball Coaches
Association. Miffed that the Mavericks sent Luka Doncic to the Los
Angeles Lakers in a blockbuster trade, Nelson wore a pair of
Doncic’s signature Jordan Brand sneakers to the awards ceremony. He
called the trade a “tremendous mistake.”
Born in Muskegon, Michigan, Nelson attended high school in Rock
Island, Illinois, and averaged a double-double in college at Iowa.
He spent his retirement years living on the Hawaiian island of Maui
and owned several short-term rentals on the island.
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