RIP Nellie

[hakeemfaan]

RIP Nellie. Truly one of a kind. Have so many memories associated with him and this franchise. 

He was also ahead of his time with centers shooting from outside and point forwards.

The NBA changed its rules to not have big bulky low post players dominate. If those rules had come two decades earlier than it did Nellie would have multiple rings. 

Heck he might have got one if Nash was not let go and Cubes was a bit more patient. 

Thank You for everything Nellie!

[cow]

https://x.com/swish41/status/2086524774318997601



https://x.com/lukadoncic/status/2086519568034615344

[Chicagojk]

What a great life he appeared to have.  RIP.   I believe he even developed a relationship with a daughter that he either didn't know about or wasn't apart of her life as a kid.  I believe he developed a close relationship with her.   

Third round draft pick who wound up winning 5 championships (on a dynasty team).   He was before my time, but it looks like he was a very solid player.  Then as a coach it seems like he almost fell into that job by accident.   He wound up having one of the most wins of any coach.   He tried to do things differently.  Maybe a part of that was because he started coaching at a time when Boston and the Lakers were winning championships.

I became a Mavs fan when they drafted Jim Jackson and Jason Kidd.  I was a huge fan of both.  To see it flame out so quickly with J's  I might have found a new team to root for after this.   Nelson deserves a lot of credit for making the Mavs relevant and fun again.   The Mavs did not win a championship under him but him and his son are probably the main reasons why Dallas was so successful for around 20 years.

On a separate note, Cuban's success as a owner can be directly tied to what Don and Donnie did.  It is a shame that those relationships burned so bad.   In Donnie's case there has been lawsuits and some very nasty allegations.

[hakeemfaan]

For the young uns, Nellie took over this franchise when the Mavs had infamously traded away a great talent (sound familiar?) in Kidd.  He didn't have a Coop waiting for him either. Nellie was very vocal that he would not have traded Kidd away. He then proceeded to try and find cornerstones in Robert Pack and Bradley...neither of whom worked out as he thought they would.

Most GMs would have been frustrated or given up.  For folks conceding how difficult it is for Masai and Schmidt, it was much more difficult for Nellie, because he had to go find his generational player, and his generational player was not ready from day 1, and came with glaring weaknesses as well. However, he hit on Dirk (yes Donnie was the one who probably mentioned his name to Nellie, but drafting of Dirk wouldn't have happened without Nellie) and got Nash as well in the same draft. Nellie was such a huge believer in Dirk even as he struggled in his first year. 

Once Nash was not matched, Nellie lost it because he had spent so many years and had come so close and was not ready to do it again.  He then went to GS and gave Dirk his most humbling defeat.  Sometimes I wonder if he didn't fully believe in Dirk, even though he was one of Dirk's biggest advocates.  Else he should have seen that even without Nash, the true generational player was still on the team, and with such a player, you always have a chance for a title.

Nellie's vision of using the draft to always take a chance has stayed with me and influenced my personal philosophy of the draft as well.  This didn't mean that he just swung for the fences with high picks.  Nellie going to the restroom and telling lil Donnie to not draft Pavel Podkolzine with the #5 pick even as he no longer was in charge, still stays in my mind (the Mavs ended up picking Devin, even though they also got Pavel lower).

While he didn't get his title which he fully deserved, he was  blessed to live out retirement how he wanted to.

Others have said this, and so this is nothing novel, but Mavs fans who went through those dark 90s will remember how basketball seemed much more fun again once Nellie took over.  That is his legacy to this franchise. He rescued this franchise and made it relevant.  I'm not sure what Dumont can do, since he has no connections to Nellie, but there needs to be some monument or something as a permanent tribute for what he means to this franchise.

[Scott41theMavs]

Just read the “Nellie ball” article on Wikipedia. Fascinating stuff.

[hakeemfaan]

Just read the “Nellie ball” article on Wikipedia. Fascinating stuff.

I knew he was a terrific coach before he came here, and had a great run with the Warriors as well.

However, I had not paid attention to the numbers and didn't know till today that he and Lenny Wilkins are the only coaches to win 300+ games with 3 different teams. True legends.

[FireNicoHarrison]

Thank you Nellie.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

Wasn't Nellie the guy who was responsible for picking Steph Curry?
If true, then Dirk and Steph were his finds.

[BoredAssistant]

He definitely made things interesting. I remember hoping Raef LaFrentz as a threat from outside would make the Mavericks offense unstoppable. R.I.P.

[dirkfansince1998]

He definitely made things interesting. I remember hoping Raef LaFrentz as a threat from outside would make the Mavericks offense unstoppable. R.I.P.

2003 was the year. Still think that they would have won it all if Dirk doesn't go down.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

I have way too many old memories from the Nellie days. He was coach during my high school and college years. Random players like Chris Gatling, Greg Buckner, Eric Strickland, Gary Trent playing big roles on some bad Mavs teams. Being a Mavs fan we were used to being bad, but I still enjoyed watching the team. Then we got Dirk, Nash, and Finley. I remember when Calvin Booth made a layup to beat the Jazz in the 1st rd of the playoffs. We had finally arrived.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uq1mCduQIo

Good times. RIP

[cow]

I have way too many old memories from the Nellie days.  He was coach during my high school and college years.  Random players like Chris Gatling, Greg Buckner, Eric Strickland, Gary Trent playing big roles on some bad Mavs teams.  Being a Mavs fan we were used to being bad, but I still enjoyed watching the team.  Then we got Dirk, Nash, and Finley.  I remember when Calvin Booth made a layup to beat the Jazz in the 1st rd of the playoffs.  We had finally arrived.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uq1mCduQIo

Good times.  RIP

Speaking of the Jazz.

https://x.com/Mavs_FFL/status/2086532667688857824

If you can do that to Karl Malone, you are a BMF.

[Chicagojk]

Sort of funny.  Nellie shot 76% from the free throw lane over his career, but man would his free throws cause heart attacks in big moments

https://x.com/11AWH/status/1658188405757591552