Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 9:00 am  |  23 responses

No Sympathy for a Sick Don Nelson

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

There comes a time in most coaches’ careers when they wear out their welcome in a particular city. Happens to the best of them. For Don Nelson in Oakland, it is well past that time.

The man has pneumonia (and may even have tested positive for swine flu), meaning he will not join the team on its upcoming two-game road swing. He could possibly be out longer than that.

For some of the local media, it’s an opportunity to remind everyone that now would be an opportune time for Don Nelson to leave town, for good.

From the Contra Costa Times:

Pneumonia, they say. Nothing funny about that. Nothing too surprising, either. Nellie is 69, and his latest health scare will keep him from coaching the Warriors for at least the next two games. How about forever?

Retiring now would make for an understandable and graceful exit. No deceit needed. No lawsuits. No more sighs at a roster that gets younger while he gets ornerier. Retiring would be for Nelson’s own good — as well as the Warriors’ — after experiencing lots of lows and occasional highs during his two tenures as coach.

The article points out how unlikely of a scenario it is for Nellie to walk away, with millions on the table and within shouting distance of the record for most wins ever by a coach.

Here’s to getting better, coach. And coming back to the sidelines stronger than ever. Someone’s gotta say it.

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: , ,

  • LB Posted: Nov.24 at 9:09 am
    Yeah, well it is unfortunate but it seems people are just as “sick” of him. How many players can this man run out of town or not get along with? No Don, maybe it’s not them…it’s you.

  • 360vue Posted: Nov.24 at 9:14 am
    Well if your an alcoholic you’re asking for trouble. You can’t abuse your liver (which is pretty much your immunse system) and not expect consequences. OH and most wins as a coach? Very nice, but hang on, doesn’t the whole season boil down to who wins a chip? Please leave Don, all those wins, all those playoff appearances…. and no ring. Says it all

  • NUPE Posted: Nov.24 at 9:20 am
    He may not be the best coach for his team. But I wish him well. He’s 70 with a stressful job and now sick as heck. Good time to retire, but he may not want to go with his legacy at an all time low. Seems like he’d want to try to repair something. I just hope he doesn’t kill himself in the effort. Unless he lost a lot of money in the market in the last couple of years, I’m sure he’s not coaching for the money, and it can’t be fun for him anymore either. So trying to ‘regain’ whatever kind of legacy or repair relationships is the only reason I can see for him coming back. (A championship is certainly out of the question).

  • Jeronimo Posted: Nov.24 at 9:38 am
    Marcel, you’re such a class act. No kidding. Now, having said that, it’s understandable that Warriors fans want Nelson out of the team.

  • dirty frank Posted: Nov.24 at 9:56 am
    I will be very surprised if any coach can have more success with the current warriors team. Having said that, I think he should leave the team. They are a mess and do not want him there so walk away. Get well soon Mr. Nelson.

  • TADOne Posted: Nov.24 at 10:19 am
    Stay classy, media.

  • Clark Posted: Nov.24 at 11:15 am
    As a season ticket holder, I say pull the plug.

  • Allenp Posted: Nov.24 at 11:18 am
    No way Don Nelson walks away from that money. He is all about his money.

  • rog123 Posted: Nov.24 at 11:45 am
    He is 69 years old! I don’t think he cares at all about money. What does he need money for? So he can go buy a hummer, with 30 tvs inside, or buy a house with a movie theatre? Or maybe he needs the money to buy some new jordans

  • Anton Posted: Nov.24 at 1:29 pm
    From the file photo, it looks like he’s sick with Fastfooditis.

  • Anton Posted: Nov.24 at 1:31 pm
    From that file photo it looks like he’s sick with Fastfooditis.

  • Allenp Posted: Nov.24 at 2:40 pm
    Rog123
    Don Nelson owns property in one of the most expensive locales in the world, Hawaii. He just finished fighting with Mark Cuban for some old cash that he was unwilling to abandon in an effort to avoid embarassing his own son who still works for Cuban.
    Don Nelson has a history of making himself unsavory enough that his employers feel the need to fire him, but he never abandons his money.
    Your obvious stereotypes about NBA players and what they spend their money on compared to Nelson was hilarious and telling. It’s good to know more about who visits the site.

  • Z Posted: Nov.24 at 3:01 pm
    It’s funny how people are outraged that someone would have a decked-out ride or even a freaking movie theatre but nobody bats an eye when Mario Lemieux buys 30 freaking cars that he will never drive. If the former is stupid to you, then the latter must be as well.

  • Brad Long Posted: Nov.24 at 3:12 pm
    rog123 wins the “most ignorant comment of the day” award.

  • Jukai Posted: Nov.24 at 4:10 pm
    He might very well win out for most ignorant comment of the week.

  • Jukai Posted: Nov.24 at 4:10 pm
    Who the hell is Mario Lemieux?

  • JD Posted: Nov.24 at 4:39 pm
    Granted, this guy ain’t doing the best job ever, but when he would look back on all the Coaches the NBA today, he would be one of like five we’ll remenber

  • Dacre Posted: Nov.24 at 6:33 pm
    I want to see this guy get his milestone of MOST WINS EVER, and then walk away. Forget the misery and foolishness that antiquates ‘team success’ or ‘team goals’. Get your record book entry and get back to Hawaii and heal up good sir!

  • orlando tocano Posted: Nov.24 at 8:51 pm
    Time for Nellie to go, well hopefully, lol. Now who would be the new coach? i say let’s hire Bill Lambeir

  • Shem Posted: Nov.24 at 10:03 pm
    Honestly, don’t joke about this. He’s 70 and has a very hard job. Sure things aren’t going right but Jerry Sloan is one of the best coaches in sports and never won a title, Phil Jackson had a couple rough years after 03 and Don Nelson is struggling right now. Sometimes you just don’t have the right personel and trust me even the zen master can’t do it when Smush Parker is starting at PG.

  • Dave Posted: Nov.25 at 1:43 am
    I think he’ll hold the record for “most win without a chip” until the sun explodes. What I want to know is how this guy keeps getting jobs? Seriously, I’d employ Dennis Rodman to coach my NBA team before Don Nelson.

  • Dacre Posted: Nov.25 at 7:07 am
    Whos got the ‘staying power’ now?? A 70 year old with pneumonia or a pouty shoot first PG?
    Don Nelson will win more games than AI ever will.

  • Allenp Posted: Nov.25 at 11:33 am
    What was the point of that last comment?
    I swear, Iverson must have boned some of y’all’s girlfriends or sisters or something….

Comments




The comments section is a place to further discuss the topics in this post. Commenters who seek to accomplish any of the following may be banned: - Personally attack other commenters. - Make derogatory comments regarding race, ethnicity, language, gender, sexual orientation or religion. - Troll, or comment with the intention of creating problems. Trolling includes, but isn't limited to, baiting people to flame at you, encouraging people to leave the site, spamming and using alternate IDs.