NBA-ийн түүхэн дэх шилдэг дасгалжуулагчдын нэг Дон Нельсон 86 насандаа таалал төгссөнтэй холбогдуулан Даллас Мавериксийн домогт тоглогчид түүний санал болгосон итгэл, дэмжлэгийг дурсан хүндэтгэлээ илэрхийлжээ.
Дирк Новицки өөрийн карьерын эхэн үед түүнд итгэл хүлээлгэж, өөрийгөө танихаас нь өмнө чадварыг нь олж харсан анхны дасгалжуулагчдаа талархаж буйгаа илэрхийлсэн байна. 1998 онд Даллас Маверикс багт ирэхэд нь Дон Нельсон түүнийг багийн гол тоглогч болно гэдэгт эргэлзэж байгаагүй бөгөөд түүнийг периметрээс шидэлтээ гүйцэтгэх эрх чөлөөг олгосон нь орчин үеийн NBA-ийн хэв маягийг тодорхойлоход чухал нөлөө үзүүлжээ.
Лука Дончич ч мөн адил Дон Нельсоныг дэлхийн өнцөг булан бүрээс ирсэн сагсан бөмбөгчдөд итгэл хүлээлгэж, спортын хөгжилд оруулсан хувь нэмрийг нь өндрөөр үнэлж байгаагаа илэрхийлсэн байна. Даллас Маверикс баг албан ёсны мэдэгдэлдээ Нельсоныг сагсан бөмбөгийн шинэчлэгч хэмээн тодорхойлж, түүний үлдээсэн өв хэзээ ч мартагдахгүй гэдгийг онцоллоо.
Дон Нельсон NBA-д 31 улирлын турш дасгалжуулагчаар ажиллахдаа Милуоки Бакс, Голдэн Стэйт Уорриорс, Нью-Йорк Никс болон Даллас Маверикс зэрэг дөрвөн багийг удирдаж байв. Тэрээр тоглогчийн хувьд Бостон Сэлтикс багт таван удаа аварга болж байсан түүхтэй.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
When Dirk Nowitzki was introduced for the first time as a Dallas Maverick in June 1998, it was far from obvious he would develop into an all-time great NBA player.
Nowitzki, then a 20-year-old from Würzburg, Germany, sounded nervous as he addressed the media in English, his second language. He had a part down the middle of his hair and wore a hoop earring in his left ear. He admitted then that he still hadn’t made up his mind about coming to the NBA immediately.
Earlier that month, the Mavericks had acquired Nowitzki in a draft-night trade. Dallas selected Robert “Tractor” Traylor at No. 6 and then sent him to the Milwaukee Bucks for Nowitzki, who was the No. 9 pick.
Don Nelson and his son, Donnie, were trying to help the Mavericks emerge from some of the darkest days in franchise history in the 1990s and believed Nowitzki was talented enough to be a foundational piece in the turnaround, even if Nowitzki — who wanted to stay in Europe for another year — may not have known it himself.
“If he chooses not to play with us, which is a possibility, then we’re going to have to wait,” Nelson said during the post-draft news conference. “But I think the wait will still be worth it. … We’ll have a great player when he decides to join us.”
Nelson couldn’t have been more right.
In 21 NBA seasons, Nowitzki won an NBA championship, was named league MVP and scored the seventh-most points in league history while revolutionizing the game as a jump-shooting 7-footer. All of it was possible because of the conviction Nelson showed in a player who wasn’t even sure he was ready to compete at the game’s highest level.
“You didn’t just draft me,” Nowitzki wrote Sunday in a social media post mourning Nelson, who died Sunday at 86. “You believed in me. You saw things in my game before I ever realized I could do them.”
Nelson won five championships as a player with the Boston Celtics and hit one of the most iconic shots in NBA history in the 1969 NBA Finals, but he coached 31 seasons in the league, including eight with the Mavericks. Perhaps his greatest legacy was his ability to see around the corner. Nelson encouraged Nowitzki to play on the perimeter and let his gorgeous jump shot fly, a choice that helped usher in the positionless, pace-and-space style that is played today.
Nowitzki had a challenging rookie season, but in time, he helped the Mavericks become one of the NBA’s most exciting teams of the early 2000s.
With Nelson coaching and Nowitzki playing alongside Steve Nash, the Mavericks led the NBA in offense three straight seasons, from 2002-04. They would go as far as reaching the Western Conference finals in 2003, and although Nelson left Dallas two years later, Nowitzki’s story was far from over. Nowitzki reached the NBA Finals for the first time in 2006 and won his first championship in 2011, earning NBA Finals MVP in the latter instance.
“I’ve said it a million times, and I will always say it: I don’t think my career could have turned out how it did without you being my first coach and giving me the freedom to play my game,” Nowitzki said Sunday about Nelson, the second-winningest coach in NBA history. “I can only say THANK YOU. For everything.”
Nelson coached four franchises — the Milwaukee Bucks, the Golden State Warriors, the New York Knicks and the Mavericks — across three decades. The impact he made in each stop was evident Sunday. Even players Nelson never coached paid tribute.
Luka Dončić, who spent the first 6 1/2 seasons of his career with the Mavericks and was a teammate of Nowitzki’s for one year, took to social media to thank Nelson for his belief in basketball talent across the globe.
“It’s a sad day for basketball with the passing of Don Nelson,” Dončić wrote on social media. “I have so much respect for him and everything he did for the game, especially the way he believed in international players. I’m grateful for the time I spent with him.
“Thinking of the entire Nelson family today. I loved getting to know you, Coach.”
In an official team statement, the Mavericks called Nelson a “basketball innovator” who made an “impact that will never be forgotten.”
To hear Nowitzki tell it, Nelson believed in him more than he believed in himself in those early days.
Nelson’s big bet on a skinny kid from Germany sent Mavericks fans on a two-decade journey with Nowitzki and altered NBA history forever.
