Former Milwaukee Bucks coach Don Nelson was in attendance for Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers to receive the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Basketball Coaches Association.
It’s probably overdue.
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Nelson, 85, retired in 2010 as the NBA’s all-time winningest coach with 1,335 wins. The first 540 of those victories came during his tenure coaching the Bucks. Nelson is a three-time coach of the year. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
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History has already reflected Don Nelson’s staggering contributions as a cutting-edge innovator and visionary of the NBA game,” said Pacers coach and NBCA president Rick Carlisle in a statement June 8. “Back in the ’80s and ’90s, he made teams adjust to historic pace, liberal 3-point shooting, inverted offense and disruptive defensive schemes. All this while establishing himself as one of the most compelling personalities in all of professional sports.”
While former San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Poppovich surpassed Nelson’s victory mark in 2022, Nelson is one of only three coaches to win at least 250 games with three different teams (Milwaukee, Dallas, Golden State). He also briefly coached the New York Knicks.
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Under Nelson, the Bucks won seven consecutive division championships and went to the Eastern Conference finals three times.
Don Nelson speaks before receiving the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award before Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Sunday, June 8, 2025.
Nelson rips Luka Doncic trade
Nelson, the former Mavericks coach was wearing a pair of Luka Doncic’s shoes during the June 8 news conference in Oklahoma City in protest of Doncic being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this season for Anthony Davis.
“As a matter of fact, I want everybody to know I’m wearing Luka’s shoes, his new shoes from Nike that just got on the market,” Nelson said. “I’m wearing them in protest for the trade from Dallas. Tremendous mistake by the Dallas franchise to trade him and I want everybody to know that.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Don Nelson gets lifetime achievement award, rips Luka Doncic trade