NBA coaching legend Don Nelson dies at 86

Don Nelson, who ranks second in NBA coaching wins and won five championships as a Boston Celtics player, died on Sunday at the age of 86, his family announced. The statement did not disclose the location or cause of death.

Nelson coached three franchises—Milwaukee, Dallas and Golden State—to at least 250 wins each and served as general manager for each. He earned three Coach of the Year awards, guided teams to the playoffs 18 times in 31 seasons, and reached the conference finals four times, though he never captured a title as a head coach.

He is credited with popularizing the "point forward" role and an up-tempo, fast-break offense that shifted the league away from the dominant big-man style of the 1970s. In a 2016 Players’ Tribune essay, Nelson wrote that the approach was inspired by his time under Celtics Hall of Famer Red Auerbach, saying, "The league really hadn’t seen an offense like the one we were running, and the results were undeniable."

Nelson began his coaching career in Milwaukee after retiring as a player, taking over the Bucks in 1976 and leading them to seven straight division titles. He later guided Golden State during the "Run TMC" era and orchestrated the "We Believe" Warriors' upset of the top-seeded Mavericks in the 2007 playoffs. His final coaching season in 2009-10 included mentoring a rookie Stephen Curry.

Former Warriors coach Steve Kerr praised Nelson as an innovator whose ideas continue to shape the modern NBA, while former Warriors forward Baron Davis highlighted Nelson's role in the 2007 playoff run. Nelson retired as the league’s all-time leader in coaching wins with 1,335, a record he held for nearly 12 years before being surpassed in 2022.

Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012, Nelson also received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. He spent his later years on Maui, where he owned several short-term rental properties.