Whatever teams and players he's coached, Don Nelson has always adapted.
Lacking a true point guard in Milwaukee, he came up with the "point forward" position. With no big man in Golden State, he went small and won with the exciting "Run TMC" combination.
Dallas had nothing going for it when he took over. So Nelson got rid of everyone but Michael Finley, gambled on unproven players Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki and nearly wound up the NBA Finals last season.
Innovator, risk-taker and a one-time wearer of the fish tie, Nelson is all that.
He's also the second-winningest coach in NBA history, having passed Pat Riley on Monday night, when the Mavericks beat the Toronto Raptors 111-94.
"I can't say it's not special, but it doesn't mean that much to me at this moment. Maybe when I get old," the 63-year-old Nelson said, laughing.
The 1,111th victory of his 26-year career came in his 3,000th NBA game as a player or coach.
To appreciate the feat, consider that it would take 22 seasons of 50 wins just to come close. Nelson's top assistant Del Harris won 556 games over his 13-year career and would be just one in front of Nelson if he doubled his win total.
"They're all just numbers," Nelson said Tuesday. "I don't know what numbers mean any more. It's winning your next game that's really only important."
His next game is in Boston, where the retired No. 19 hanging from the rafters honors his playing career.
Nelson spent 11 of his 14 seasons with the Celtics, excelling as a sixth man on five championship teams. He even hit the shot that won the 1969 title.
He went from playing to being an assistant with the Bucks. Eighteen games later, he became the head coach and soon became GM, too.
Known mostly for wide-open offenses and a fun-loving personality, Nelson was once considered a defensive guy. In fact, Nellie -- as he's widely known -- was the first to use the Hack-a-Shaq defense, prompting O'Neal to call him "a clown" after one particularly abusive outing.
O'Neal was growling again Friday night when the Mavericks sent him to line 10 times in the final quarter of a victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles. O'Neal missed seven, helping Dallas end a 26-game losing streak there.
"He's a Hall of Fame coach and it's great to play for him," said Nash, who has gone from third-stringer in Phoenix to two-time All-Star under Nelson.
The only thing missing from Nelson's resume is a championship as a coach or GM. He hasn't even made the finals.
His great Bucks teams in the 1980s were knocked out by better clubs in Boston and Philadelphia. His high-scoring Warriors clubs always came up short in the postseason, and the Mavs were eliminated by eventual champion San Antonio in the West finals last season.
"Nellie could have won championships with any number of other franchises," Harris said. "The NBA is still first of all about having the best players, and secondarily about being the best coach. The best coach still won't win a championship if he doesn't have the best horses."
As a GM, Nelson has been an excellent talent evaluator, with Nowitzki on his way to becoming the best example. Yet Nelson has never built a team around a dominant center, despite offbeat attempts with long, lanky guys like Manute Bol and Shawn Bradley.
The best two big men Nelson had turned against him: A young Chris Webber and an aging Patrick Ewing.
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