NYT Times story on Don Nelson

Sprowl

mikey lowell of the sandbox
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Jun 27, 2006
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Very (inhales, holds breath) enjoyable (exhales). I hope to meet Nellie some time on Maui.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Article was written by a friend of mine who let me listen to a bunch of stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor — on Curry, Joe Lacob, Willie Nelson, et al. Fascinating dude. Plus tons of hilarious photos. I used to resent Nellie for the Webber fiasco (knew it was a two-way street, but Webber was 20), but I warmed up to him during the We Believe season and during Curry's rookie year, in which he was pretty clearly checked out but still had the good sense to take the reins off Steph and let him blow up. And I obviously love to hear that he still wears his Warriors cap and hates Houston.

As long as he's open for interviews, Zach Lowe or someone really needs to do a piece highlighting how much of his Nellieball philosophy which was seen as gimmicky at the time has now become standard basketball practice.

Meanwhile, is there anyone who wouldn't want to while away their golden years the way Nellie is?
 

bigq

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Jul 15, 2005
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That was fun. Don Nelson and Willie Nelson is not a pairing I would have expected.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Even though he was checked out to the point of neglect his last few years in the league, Nellie was still a must-watch as a coach. His looks of pained disgust at some of his players shenanigans were pure gold.

And there were the nights where he was so hungover that didn't even bother to get out of his seat for an entire game. SRN may recall this but there was a game where I believe he benched Baron Davis for being out the night before - shocking I know - and Nellie appeared to be so drunk or spent from his evening before that they both effectively got DNPs.

In any event, thanks for sharing. The guy had his flaws but he knew basketball as well as anyone he played or coached against.

Nellie Kush...hahahaha.
 

mauf

Anderson Cooper × Mr. Rogers
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Can’t believe he’s still sour at C-Webb after all these years.

Understandably, other outlets that have picked up this story focused on the pot angle, but it’s just a great overall story about an interesting guy. One of the rare times I wished a feature story was much longer — despite his claim not to follow the sport closely anymore, I’d love to hear Nelly dish at length about the state of the game today.
 

runnels3

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I like that he, accurately, pointed out he was abetter player than Riley. That's pure old ballplayer right there.
You're right, he was. I saw him play countless times. Great under the hoop with rebounds and up fakes. Appeared to be slow so he'd be left alone and made 'em pay every time... pure shooter for sure. And the shot-put free throw, classic.
 
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