"He would come to practice with two beers, his dog, a cigar in his mouth" - J-Rich shares how cool Don Nelson was during the 'We Believe' Warriors days

“He would come to practice with two beers, his dog, a cigar in his mouth” – J-Rich shares how cool Don Nelson was during the ‘We Believe’ Warriors days originally appeared on Basketball Network.

While many have come to know the Golden State Warriors as a powerhouse and a franchise known all around the world, thanks to the prolific Stephen Curry, there was a time when the Dubs were considered a laughingstock.

In fact, from 1994 to 2012, the Warriors made the postseason only once: the 2006-07 season. And it was during this campaign that quirky coach Don Nelson took over as the team’s head coach. According to numerous players on that team, which would come to be known as the “We Believe” Warriors, playing under Nellie was an experience unlike any other.

A players’ coach

A coach in the league since 1976, Nellie was an NBA lifer. The Warriors’ gig was the last of his illustrious career, and by then, Don had already garnered a reputation for being a players’ coach. While he had his preferred playing style, Nelson mostly trusted his players to play their games and do what was best for the team on the floor.

“Don was a great coach. I mean, he was just one of those — the perfect player’s coach. You wanted to play for a coach like Don,” Jason Richardson recalled. “He got on you when you needed, it but he was relaxed at the same time. He let you control things, but he also let you play.”

Richardson, a former slam dunk champion, remembered the times when Nellie, an avid baseball fan, would check in on them during practice and slip out not long after.

“During baseball season, he would come to practice with two beers, with his dog, a cigar in his mouth and say, ‘Hey, you guys run practice. I’m going to the ballgame,'” J-Rich added. “It was like, he stayed 30 minutes and we practiced another 45 minutes. It wasn’t like he came in and totally left. He came in and got practice going, then he was like, ‘All right, I’m gone.'”

This type of coaching worked wonders for Nellie and his teams, notably the Dallas Mavericks, which he led to the 2003 Western Conference Finals. With Steve Nash, Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki free to roam and play their style of ball, Nellie’s teams were both fun to watch and a headache to play against.

Nellie maximized everyone’s skillsa

Stephen Jackson, the Warriors’ mercurial forward, summed up the experience with an apt statement, describing Nellie’s coaching approach as: “like playing for your homeboy.”

Matt Barnes, another unheralded forward who thrived under Nellie-ball, said most of them reached their peak under Nelson since he allowed them to embrace who they were and what they could do on the hardwood.

“He set the tone for our team because he allowed us to be ourselves. As long as we performed, he didn’t give a s—t about it,” Barnes remembered. “He would poke at us sometimes, like, ‘Hurry up and get your last drug test so you guys can do what you do.’ So it was just like a real cool father-figure coach-type situation where he just really let us be us.”

While some NBA coaches are control freaks who micromanage every aspect of their players’ moves on the floor, Nellie was a laid-back dude who understood that his players were professionals who knew how to take care of themselves and trusted them to do so.

This approach emboldened the Warriors that season and propelled them to author a memorable postseason run, one that saw them oust the top-seeded Mavericks in the first round before falling in the second to the Utah Jazz.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 20, 2025, where it first appeared.

“He would come to practice with two beers, his dog, a cigar in his mouth” – J-Rich shares how cool Don Nelson was during the ‘We Believe’ Warriors days

Tags: