Fairwell to Nelly

I became a Dallas Mavericks fan in the fall of 1990. I sat on the front row of the folding chairs, on the court. I actually had an ESPN cameraman sitting on the floor @ my feet. My dad had scored these tickets FREE from work. I remember getting James Donaldsons autograph and thinking how big these guys really were. Rolando Blackman was honored that night for breaking a team record.

The mid to late 90s were a tough time for the mavs...we had some great players, but they just didn't gel, then...Don Nelson:

Nelson guided the Mavericks to four straight playoff berths and four straight 50-win seasons highlighted by the 2002-03 season where the team finished tied for the best record in the NBA at 60-22 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals. On February 13, 2005, he won his 330th game with Dallas surpassing Dick Motta for most wins in franchise history. He finishes with a Mavericks record of 339-251 (.575) in eight seasons.Nelson owns 42 years of NBA experience as a player, coach and general manager. He is the second winningest coach in NBA history with a record of 1,190-880 (.575) in 27 years trailing just Lenny Wilkens. Nelson, who has also coached Milwaukee, Golden State and New York in addition to Dallas, has led his teams to 50-win seasons 13 times, which ranks tied for second in NBA history with Phil Jackson, and trails Pat Riley's 17 50-win seasons. He became just the second coach, along with Wilkens, to win at least 250 games with three different teams last season (Milwaukee 1976-87, Golden State 1988-95 and Dallas 1997-2005). A future Hall of Famer, Nelson, along with Riley, are the only two coaches ever to be named NBA Coach of the Year three times (1983, 1985 and 1992).

But the thing I will always remember about Don Nelson is how he would sip that Budweiser during press conferences!