Category: Basketball

We’ll know more about opening night of the Knicks season on Tuesday morning, when the NBA releases some of its games on Good Morning America. 

I still expect the league to give you Knicks-Sixers on Ring Night. But before we get there, New York still has some business to settle. 

Here are a few decisions the franchise needs to tackle between now and Opening Night: 

FILL OUT ROSTER

The Knicks have 13 players under contract. They can carry as many as 21 players in training camp. So they have several roster spots to fill out.

The biggest opening is at center. New York needs to find a third-string center to replace Ariel Hukporti. To that end, the Knicks spoke to multiple teams about trades for big men under contract earlier in the offseason. One of those big men was New Orleans’ Karlo Matkovic, per league sources; nothing came to fruition.  New York targeted Moussa Cisse as a restricted free agent, but Dallas matched the offer. 

As you’d imagine, the Knicks have also been in touch with free agent centers who would fit the third-center profile. If they liked any of those centers enough to offer them a guaranteed contract, they probably would have done so already. So the most likely route here is to sign a couple of veteran bigs to training camp deals and let them compete for the third center spot. They would be able to add that veteran center and remain under the second apron in team salary. 

EXTEND THE VETS? 

Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, and Miles McBride are all eligible for veteran extensions. My buddy James Edwards III wrote recently in The Athetic that he doesn’t expect the Knicks to offer Towns a max extension. Towns is a forever Knick; his play in New York’s championship season will be celebrated for as long as the franchise exists. But I agree with Edwards on this: I don’t think the Knicks will offer Towns a max in extension talks. 

Also, if I had to take a guess, the two sides will reach an agreement. Towns clearly loves New York. Maybe he can make more money with another team next summer (Towns has a $57 million salary this season and his contract has a $61 million player option for 2027-28). 

But why would he leave? He won a timeless championship with his hometown team. Unless the Knicks make an insultingly-low offer to Towns, I think they get something done here. 

If I’m using the recent Rudy Gobert extension as a baseline, I could see an extension for Towns starting around $45 million. By signing this kind of deal, Towns would obviously lose the opportunity to make more money as a 2027 free agent. But given all of the factors at play (the state of NBA economics, teams’ approach to the second apron, the Knicks’ title), there are reasons for Towns to play it safe and sign an extension. 

Towns leaving New York also would hurt the Knicks. If Towns and the team can’t agree on a deal, New York would have to make a significant pivot to find another front-line center. So from the outside looking in, it seems like it makes sense for both sides to figure out a deal. 

What about Hart? Similar to Towns, I could see the Knicks asking him to take less on his next contract in an effort to create future roster flexibility. What would Hart want to do? I have no idea. But if I had to guess, he wants to be in New York to see how the rest of the years with this core play out. 

McBride’s situation is a bit different due to his contract. McBride is on one of the most team-friendly deals in the NBA. He should be looking for a significant raise on an extension. He’s earned it.

But can the Knicks extend Towns, Hart and McBride while also maintaining some roster flexibility? If they want to stay under the second apron, the answer is probably no. It would be very difficult to build out a roster with all of these new extensions on the books. Don’t forget, the Knicks, presumably, will also be signing Jalen Brunson to a major extension/free agency contract once the time comes. And Brunson has set the precedent for a Knick player taking less on an extension to help build the roster.

Another element of the conversation is owner James Dolan’s decisions on spending. Dolan said on WFAN before free agency that he would not exceed the second apron in team salary next season. Does that apply to the 2027-28 season as well? What about 2028-29? (As an aside: It is unclear if the second apron decision was Dolan’s alone or if it was made in conjunction with Leon Rose and the Knicks front office. If it was Dolan’s alone, that would be a shame because the Knicks’ fan base spends significant money to attend games. It’s worth noting on this that Dolan and Rose have made many important decisions together during Rose’s tenure)

One last note on the extensions: As Jeremy Cohen notes over at KnicksFilmSchool, any extension signed on August 12 or later will likely make that player untradeable at the 2027 deadline.

TWO-WAY SPOTS?

The Knicks have three open two-way spots. Jack Kayil won’t be taking one of them. There are reports that Tyler Nickel is considering going back to college, but, as noted last week, league sources say he is all-in on starting his pro career). If they sign Nickel to a two-way deal, the Knicks will have two other two-way spots to fill. With Trey Jemison III signing in Toronto, you would think the Knicks target a big man for at least one of those two-way spots.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, like every other competitive team in the league, are trying to navigate the new CBA by cutting costs where they can. That’s resulted in an ongoing search to dump Dennis Schroder’s contract. Not because the Cavs can’t use his talents, but because clearing space for financial wiggle-room is more important in today’s NBA.

Per reports, there are multiple potential suitors for Schroder.

“Sources tell Cleveland.com the Cavs continue to discuss various trade packages involving Schroder,” said Chris Fedor. “Seeing if there is an opportunity to slightly reconfigure the roster to gain financial flexibility, which would help their [Cleveland’s] pursuit of Jonathan Kuminga and Peyton Watson.”

Finding a team that’s willing to eat Schroder’s contract is the challenge. Cleveland needs a franchise that’s both willing and capable of absorbing Schroder’s $15 million price tag. Fortunately, a number of teams can fit the bill.

The Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, Memphis Grizzlies, LA Clippers, Detroit Pistons, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz and Milwaukee Bucks are all able to absorb Schroder’s contract without sending anything back.

Of that group, the Pistons might make the most sense for Schroder. There’s a team that needs additional ball-handling and has benefited from Schroder’s skills in the past. It would make sense for both sides to pursue a deal here.

Schroder has been traded eight times in his NBA career, second only to Trevor Ariza, who was traded 11 times throughout his career.

Being traded that many times is somewhat of a compliment. You have to be wanted by other teams to appear in that many trades. On that same note, you have to be expendable enough to be put on the trading block that frequently.

Schroder has had a successful professional career. He’s been a positive contributor at basically every stop he’s made. He even helped the Cavs overcome a handful of adverse games in their run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

It just makes sense for the Cavs to pursue a salary dump. They need financial freedom more than a backup point guard. Especially if that additional cap space can allow them to trade for a wing who fits their biggest needs. Cleveland remains in the hunt for both Watson and Kuminga. Trading Schroder is the first step to completing that.

Bronny James comes into Year 3 of his NBA career with the specter of LeBron James' shadow looming. He will now be the lone James on the Los Angeles Lakers roster and enters a pivotal season when development and usage will be lingering questions.

As LeBron heads east, joining the star-studded Philadelphia 76ers, Bronny will for the first time test the NBA landscape without his dad in the locker room. The decision to part ways with the Lakers ignited ongoing speculation that the father-son tandem might be a package deal. And, the possibility that L.A. might trade Bronny continued to be a talking point.

During a radio appearance on the Brock and Alex Show on 97.1 The Fan LA in July, California Post reporter Khobi Price, spoke about James' situation in the wake of LeBron going to the 76ers.

"Now, what I want to make clear is that the Lakers are more than happy to keep Bronny James," Price reported on the show.

"They've drafted him in the second round two years ago. They developed him. They're a fan of him. He has a lot of people who like him within the building," Price continued.

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This weekend, Bright Side will be at Naismith, Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, to cover Mike D’Antoni and Amar’e Stoudemire and the rest of the 2026 class as they get inducted into the Hall of Fame.

D’Antoni and Stoudemire, both leading members of the Phoenix Suns’ iconic “7 Seconds or Less” era back in the 2000s, where the Phoenix Suns made three Western Conference Finals and started the 2004-2005 season with the fifth-best record ever through 35 games. The “7 Seconds or Less” Suns were one of the first teams to play four players around the perimeter and one player inside, and they are considered a highly influential impact on how modern basketball is played.

Surrounded by two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, Stoudemire made five All-Star appearances and was a four-time All-NBA selection as a member of the Suns, while D’Antoni led Phoenix to four-straight 50+ win seasons, the second-longest streak in Suns history.

Bright Side’s has a myriad of coverage planned for the event, spanning from exclusive content with D’Antoni and Stoudemire, columns with quotes about their careers and exclusive reports, but we want to know what else you want to hear about during the event as we prepare for coverage.

Certain stories about iconic Suns games? Who do the two think was the best Suns team of the era? It doesn’t even have to be about the Suns. Certain memorials that you want to learn more about at the Hall of Fame? Cool displays? The food? The layout? Nothing is off limits.

Before we head off to Springfield, we want to give YOU the opportunity to contribute to Bright Side articles and help create the content you most want to read and watch about, so let us know in the comments.

When the New York Knicks needed a new head coach after the 2020 season, they didn’t merely replace David Fizdale — fired after a 4-18 start gave way to interim Mike Miller. They wanted to open up all the windows and doors and air out all the stink of the prior era. Thus, the hiring of Thomas Wayne Thibodeau (his real middle name is Joseph, but I prefer Wayne).

When the Knicks decided they needed a new coach after the 2025 season, they didn’t merely seek to replace Thibodeau — the only coach the franchise has ever fired after consecutive 50-win seasons. They wanted to change some of his cultural cornerstones, like playing the starters historic minutes while trying to win every single preseason, regular-season and postseason game with a seven-man rotation. Thus the hiring of Michael Burton Brown (that is his middle name, and it works).

When the Knicks were suddenly single after the 1995 season, they did what a lotta teams do when it’s time to replace a Type A personality: bring in someone different. Jim Fassel begat Tom Coughlin. The famously intense Pep Guardiola left Manchester City and begat Enzo Maresca, already enjoying the new coach headwind of being more relaxed than his predecessor. In 1995, Pat Riley left the Knicks via fax, the kind of divorce notice that doubles as a confession: your ex has already been stepping out on you.

But unlike Fizdale, and to a far lesser extent Thibs, Riley was already a success as the Knicks coach when he left. In the 18 seasons between the Knicks’ most recent second title and them hiring the Rat of Schenectady, they won 50-plus games twice and a single best-of-7 playoff series. In his four years at MSG, they won 51, 60, 57 and 55 games, along with three best-of-7 series, and made their first trip to the Finals since Watergate was just a salad.

A trim, fashionable figure in his dark Armani suits, Riley was cool and controlling, his ultra-marathon practices far longer and more grueling than the real games. He was a New Yorker come home to one of the world’s fashion capitals, where Nike was ripping kids off to infuse “cool” into their ads and many of the most controlling powers-that-be are based. Riley’s Knicks were tough, mean, and relentless.

They replaced him with the Big Lebowski.

Imagine replacing Thibodeau with Mike D’Antoni. Or hiring the famously defensive Jose Mourinho after his antithesis in Guardiola. The Knicks had just enjoyed a Silver Age renaissance under the quintessential head-to-toe icon of order. Hiring Don Nelson wasn’t going from Type A to Type B; it was going from Type A to an irregular fraction with stains on his tie.

I wish I remembered more of that time, young as I was and brief as it was. Nellie went 34-25 before being fired, after a win in Toronto led by 30 points from Hubert Davis. That was more than Patrick Ewing and John Starks combined. That was some of the reason why Nelson didn’t make it to game 60. He preferred to run his offense through a point forward, which elevated Anthony Mason’s role and his numbers. He preferred Davis to Starks. He thought Ewing was past his prime and wanted to make Orlando an offer for Shaquille O’Neal, with noises out of Orlando already implying Fu Schnickens was unhappy in central Florida.

But Nelson couldn’t win. Riley took his talents to South Beach, but the team he’d made in his image wasn’t going anywhere or changing any. That was both the glory and folly of the ‘90s Knicks: they insisted upon themselves as is, and it was very nearly enough, but also it very clearly wasn’t, and yet they seemed fated to stay fixed in place. The proud Ewing resented Mason’s larger influence. Mason went from 23 career starts before Nellie to starting all 82 games under him and leading the league in minutes, yet as Chris Herring wrote in Blood in the Garden even that wasn’t enough for Mase, who made a death threat to Nelson for not playing him more. Think Starks thought he should be backing up Hubert Davis?

For me, the firing of Nelson goes down as a sliding doors moment in Knicks history, similar to Davis being fouled by Scottie Pippen in the ‘94 playoffs and Allan Houston’s shot bouncing in against Miami in 1999. Nelson was always ahead of his time, not only about the Knicks but the game in general. His teams were funky and fun, playing smallball and dismissing positions decades before either was commonplace. Watch any of his sides: Milwaukee in the early 1980s, Golden State later that decade, Dallas in the 2000s. All a bridge too far for a team whose offensive identity for a decade was little more than “pass it to Ewing; if he’s doubled, get the ball out and get it back to him; hope he scores.”

What if Nelson had stayed? The summer after he was canned, the Knicks had oodles of cap space and not one, not two, but three first-round picks in one of the great draft rounds of all-time. How might his presence have impacted free agency? Maybe the Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller rumors were always that, just rumors — but would either of those two established stars and Knick rivals have left teams coached by Phil Jackson and Larry Bird for one led by an interim who went 13-10 in Jeff Van Gundy? Wouldn’t Nelson’s presence have made the team more appealing, especially to veterans? Would his keen eye for talent have yielded a better draft day than using picks 18, 19 and 21 all on power forwards: John Wallace, Dontae’ Jones and Walter McCarty?

My strongest memories of Nelson growing up were that he was the player my father hated the most (Nellie spent most of his playing days with Boston), and one incident from his time as Knick coach that forever endeared him to me. On January 12, 1996, the Knicks traveled to play the Celtics. These were the sad-sack Celtics of Dino Radja, Eric Montross and Pervis Ellison. Coming into the game, Celtic guard Dana Barros had either set the record for most consecutive games making a 3-pointer or he was closing in on it.

Late in the fourth it was clear the Knicks were going to win. But Boston coach M.L. Carr didn’t want Barros to lose his streak. In a game where the other Celtic starters combined for eight 3-point attempts — same as the entire Knick team — Carr brought Barros, who’d launch nine all by himself, back into the game just so Boston could try to get him another 3. You’ve probably seen nonsense like that before. What you don’t often see is a team down double-digits in the final seconds calling timeout to draw up a last-second shot for someone.

Some coaches wouldn’t care one way or the other. Some would wait until the press conference after the game to make their true feelings known. God bless Don Nelson for being one of the few with the chutzpah and sense of showmanship to respond to Carr’s shenanigans by bringing Mason (6-foot-7) in on the final possession specifically to lock up Barros (5-foot-11) and make sure he couldn’t even get a shot off. After the final horn Carr was so pissed he took the game ball and threw it at the back of Nellie’s head. Nellie laughed.

Don Nelson was ahead of his time. In many ways he tried to fix the ’90s Knicks at a time when no one else would admit the patient showed any signs of illness. And despite his number hanging in the Boston Garden rafters, he didn’t flinch when the people he made his bones with tried getting one over on him. He enjoyed good food, good weather and good weed, and that makes him my kinda people. For all those reasons, he may only hold a small place in Knicks history, but it’s a good one. Rest in peace, Nellie.

Forsberg: Pritchard excited for new guys, focused on ‘getting better' originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Boston Celtics point guard Payton Pritchard is ready to “go to war” after the Celtics made some bold changes to their roster this offseason. The shocking departure of Jaylen Brown could open an opportunity for Pritchard to further spread his wings for the Celtics this season.

Pritchard sat down with NBC Sports Boston for a wide-ranging chat on Boston’s shocking offseason, the new faces on the roster, and his extension possibility before the new season arrives.

You can watch the full interview on YouTube, or listen to it on the latest Celtics Talk Podcast.

Here are three nuggets that jumped out to us:

Excited for the new guys

Pritchard expressed excitement about the three new veteran faces that Boston added this offseason in Mitchell Robinson, Mike Conley, and Paul George. Pritchard noted how he roomed with Robinson, who he called the “best rebounder in the league,” as part of USA Basketball tryouts more than a decade ago.

And Pritchard is especially eager to learn from a veteran floor general like Conley.

“I talked to Mike Conley a little bit. He’s a golfer, so we’re going to get out [on the course],” said Pritchard. “If I could look back and have a similar career that he’s had, then I would be very happy with that. Because he’s an unbelievable player, he’s had an unbelievable career and somebody that I can learn a lot from.

“I’m going to be asking him a lot and just seeing where his mind (is) and how he thinks about the game. Because he just had so many great years and All-Star appearances and winning a lot of games. So, fortunate to be able to have somebody like that on our team that I can learn from.”

Don’t hold your breath on an extension

Pritchard is extension eligible starting Oct. 1 with the Celtics able to offer a 3-year, $67 million extension before the start of the new season. Pritchard, who will turn 29 in January, is set to earn $7.8 million this year, then $8.3 million in 2027-28 in the final season of a four-year, $30 million deal inked in October of 2023.

We thought the security of a deal that could pay him an average annual value of $22.3. million in those three seasons might be enticing for Pritchard, especially with some concerns about the longevity of smaller guards. But having already inked one team-friendly extension, Pritchard suggested that he doesn’t feel an urgency to extend given the time remaining on his deal.

“I don’t really think about it,” Pritchard said. “It’s just not something I’m really looking at. I have two years on my contract and there’s no rush on it. We’ll talk, obviously, but we have a whole next year to talk about an extension. For me, it’s like, just focus on getting better and becoming the best basketball player I can possibly be.”

In the one percent of the one percent

Pritchard brings his former West Linn High School basketball coach Eric Viuhkola to help run each of his youth camps — with Pritchard’s mother, Melissa, and father, Terry, heavily involved in the camps as well. Viuhkola told campers at the start of Saturday’s session that he believes that Pritchard is in the top one percent of all ball-handlers in the entire world.

So we asked Pritchard if he agreed.

“I think I’m above the one percent, though,” said Pritchard. “I think I’m in the one percent of the one percent.”

Pritchard referenced the 10,000-hour rule popularized in Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers,” where it’s suggested that it takes 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to truly master a complex task.

Pritchard believes he’s north of 10,000 hours on ball-handling drills. He suggested he might even be beyond 20,000 hours. And watching him keep the ball on a string suggests he might be right.

The race to fill the Sixers’ last standard roster spot has already begun.

On Friday, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that Kevin Love’s agent had already “been in touch” with the Sixers after LeBron James decided to sign with them. Love “has interest in pairing with James to pursue a championship,” according to McMenamin, who noted that he and James “have remained close since teaming up for four seasons with the Cavaliers.”

Philadelphia native Markieff Morris, who won a championship with LeBron on the Los Angeles Lakers in 2019-20, also made his case for that spot.

And Ben Simmons, who is “eyeing a comeback to basketball” after taking last season off, according to ESPN’s Olgun Uluc, also floated a return to Philly as a possibility earlier this offseason, albeit prior to the LeBron and Jaylen Brown acquisitions. According to Marc J. Spears of ESPN’s Andscape, “a coach who worked out Simmons recently said he has regained his athleticism” after chronic back injuries left him looking like a shell of his former All-Star self.

Even if the Sixers wanted to sign Love, Morris, Simmons or another established NBA veteran to fill their final open roster spot this offseason, they couldn’t do so without making another move first. They’re hard-capped at the $209.0 million first apron, and they already have nearly $207.2 million in salary on their books, which leaves them only $1.8 million below the hard cap. A veteran-minimum contract for anyone with two or more years of NBA experience comes with a cap hit of $2.4 million.

Once the regular season begins, though, minimum contracts will begin to prorate downward daily by roughly $14,000. By early December, the Sixers should have enough space under the hard cap to fill that final roster spot with a fresh min deal.

They should be in no rush to fill it, though. They need to spend the first few months of the season figuring out how their new-look roster meshes and identifying their weak points before looking to make any other moves.

Ring-chasers will come flocking

During his introductory press conference last week, Brown was quick to praise the work that new team president Mike Gansey and the Sixers front office did this offseason. However, he noted that talent alone won’t be enough to get the Sixers to snap their 43-year championship drought.

“Obviously, on paper, we’re excellent,” Brown said. “We have a lot of talent compared to other teams in the league. But I’ve been around a long time, long enough to know that just what you have on paper don’t really mean nothing. It can, if you put the work in. But it also, if you allow distractions, if you allow the media to get into your locker room, if you allow certain things and personalities don’t work, it can be a detriment. So, I’m aware that it could go either way.”

Gansey isn’t shying away from that, either.

“We’ve gotta get to camp,” he said during a recent appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic’s Midday With Marks. “We haven’t even had a practice or played a game. So we’ve gotta see if this thing works, obviously. I like the pieces and the talent we have, but we’ve gotta get to a practice first to see how this works.”

On paper—and in NBA2K—the Sixers look like a superteam in the making. That’s easy to say in August, though. Reality will hit them at some point throughout the grind of the 82-game regular season.

First, the Sixers need to figure out how their new-look starting five meshes and which combinations of players work best together. They made significant upgrades this offseason, but they still lost four of their top eight players in terms of minutes per game from last year (Kelly Oubre Jr., Paul George, Quentin Grimes and Andre Drummond). Head coach Nick Nurse will have his work cut out for him, especially early in the season.

As the season progresses, the Sixers will get a better sense of their remaining weak spots and how they might be able to patch those up. For now, it’s all a hypothetical exercise.

Injuries could also force their hand. If Joel Embiid goes down with a long-term injury, are Adem Bona and Ariel Hukporti enough to hold down the fort? Can they get away with playing Dominick Barlow at the 5 occasionally? If not, they might have to prioritize filling that final open roster spot with another big man.

Once the Sixers identify their biggest weaknesses, they can set about filling them. But since they’re under the first apron and cannot go over it this season, they also have a potential advantage over other potential title contenders.

Teams above the first apron can’t sign players on the buyout market if they were previously earning more than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Teams below the first apron face no such restriction. It’s unclear who might get bought out after this year’s trade deadline—no, that is not likely to include Jrue Holiday—but one look at the list of potential 2027 free agents could provide some hints.

If the Sacramento Kings don’t find a taker for Zach LaVine by the trade deadline, he seems like a virtual lock to get bought out. Might the Milwaukee Bucks do the same with Kyle Kuzma and/or Caris LeVert? Could Klay Thompson shake loose from the Dallas Mavericks? Would any of them be upgrades over Love, Morris, Simmons or another free agent who’s currently on the market?

The Sixers don’t have to decide that right now. As long as their season isn’t off the rails by February, they figure to be a highly sought-after destination for ring-chasers. In fact, it wouldn’t be shocking if they looked to open another roster spot to create space for two midseason additions.

So, while veterans may already be lining up to throw their hat in the ring for the Sixers’ final open roster spot, the hard cap will prevent them from making a move for now. Once mid-February rolls around and the dust begins to settle from the trade deadline, that’s when the Sixers will likely look to fill out their final open roster spot.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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Julian Champagnie

2025-26 stats: 82 games, 27.6 MPG, 11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 38.1 3FG%, 6.2 3PA

Contract Status: 3 years, $45 million remaining (no options)

Age: 25

Julian Champagnie has overcome the odds and contributed at a high level throughout his career with the San Antonio Spurs. He was a diamond-in-the-rough success story, signing a full deal after being picked up off waivers and becoming a consistent starter in 2023. Then, just a year later in 2024, he was relegated to a bench role that carried over into the 2025-26 season. This year was the season Champagnie firmly earned his way into San Antonio’s starting five for a contending team.

Champagnie has been a consistent fill-in starter during his career with the Spurs. When De’Aaron Fox went down with an injury early in the season, Champagnie was there. When Devin Vassell got hurt in December, Champagnie filled in. Only this time, the Spurs figured something out. Champagnie’s shooting made it much harder for opposing teams to have their center guard a smaller player, leaving a wing to guard Victor Wembanyama. When Vassell returned from injury, the Spurs doubled down on this approach, starting Champagnie at the four to maximize their spacing around Wembanyama. The starting five of Fox, Vassell, Champagnie, Wembanyama, and Stephon Castle became one of the Spurs’ most potent offensive lineups (125.4 net rating).

It was more than just Champagnie knocking down shots that made this work. He had to guard bigger players and rebound for the lineup to succeed. Champagnie’s rebound rate jumped from 8.8 last season to 11.2 this year, as he became a tough rebounder, particularly on the offensive glass. That helped the Spurs compete on the interior while they reaped the benefits of their newfound spacing. Champagnie was San Antonio’s best three-point shooter, hitting 195 three-pointers this year, the most threes in one season in Spurs’ history.

That shooting carried over into the playoffs, where Champagnie hit 39.6% of his threes. He hit a lot of big ones, too, including 6 in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Not only did Champagnie shoot the ball well in the playoffs, but he showed a greater willingness to attack closeouts and get to the paint, as teams started to run him off the three-point line. He held his own defensively against some tough wings in the postseason. However, he was exposed in the Finals, as the Knicks intentionally tried to get him switched onto Jalen Brunson late in games.

It’s hard to find many Spurs who were at their best in the Finals, so Champagnie shouldn’t get docked too much for failing to guard Brunson (pretty much everyone failed to guard him this postseason). Overall, Champagnie was one of the Spurs’ most consistent performers in both the regular season and playoffs. Not only did he play in literally every game, but he played well in most of them. San Antonio can always count on him to hit threes, bring a lot of energy on the glass, and hold his own defensively. He more than earned his starting spot this season, and should be in position to keep it next year.

Looking ahead

Champagnie’s stellar season earned him a 3-year, $45M contract extension with the Spurs. But just as he locked himself in for the future, San Antonio also signed his competition. They acquired Tobias Harris on a similar 2-year, $30M deal, giving the team a do-it-all scoring forward who has a bit more size and strength than Champagnie, something San Antonio needed desperately in the postseason. He has a legitimate shot to start for San Antonio next year. But should he automatically get the nod over Champagnie?

The Spurs were an NBA Finals-level team with Champagnie in the starting lineup. Removing him for Harris to start the 2026-27 season feels like a classic case of it not being broke… and trying to fix it. Champagnie doesn’t have the offensive bag that Harris has and is a much different defensive player, but his movement shooting works really well with San Antonio’s guards’ and Wembanyama’s game. If the Spurs are playing a team with a bigger, bruising forward, they can go with Harris to close the game. If they need the shooting, Champagnie can close. Ultimately, the added flexibility is good, but it does create questions about which player is starting more games.

Bringing Harris off the bench would also give the Spurs another versatile offensive weapon to improve a second unit that struggled to score at times last year. With Dylan Harper, Harris, and Keldon Johnson, the Spurs would have one of the NBA’s best benches. If Champagnie goes to the bench, he’d more easily fit into bench lineups that are already fairly forward-heavy, with Johnson and Carter Bryant expected to play meaningful minutes at the 3 and four. He’d also provide some needed shooting alongside Harper-led lineups.

Champagnie will be a key part of the Spurs’ rotation regardless of whether he starts. He’ll continue to give them consistent deep shooting. Improving his shooting on the move, perimeter defense, and ability to attack a closeout will take his game to the next level. After everything Champagnie has shown in his four seasons, it’s not unreasonable to think he will do just that.

Top performance

December 31 vs. New York Knicks: 36 points, 6 rebounds, 11-17 3PFG

It was hard to pick between Champagnie’s hot shooting in Game 7 of the WCF or this explosion from the regular season. Hitting 11 threes in a game is incredibly difficult, especially against the eventual NBA champs. This may not have been the pinnacle of the Spurs’ season, but it was certainly Champagnie’s most impressive game.

Final Score: A-

Up next: Stephon Castle

Previous Reviews

Jordan McLaughlin

Carter Bryant

Luke Kornet

Dylan Harper

Keldon Johnson

Harrison Barnes

Former Dallas Mavericks head coach and NBA legend, Don Nelson, sadly passed away on Sunday August 9, 2026. As would be expected, an outpouring of tributes has made their way to social media, and we’ve curated a few of them here.

In what really amounts to only a small snippet of comments from those who knew him well, we learn so much about how he positively impacted the lives and careers of so many people and franchises. If you find yourself scrolling X or any other social media site of your liking, search “Don Nelson” and experience a bittersweet read from names both familiar and surprising. In the meantime, we’ve gone about selecting a few from various aspects of Nellie’s near half-century involved in the game of basketball.

The league and teams

The NBA

As both a player and a coach, Nelson spent decades of his life involved with the NBA. He currently sits in the number two slot for most winningest coaches (second only to Gregg Popovich) and was awarded NBA Coach of the Year three times (1983, 1985, 1992) and took home the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award (2025). During his 14-year NBA playing career of which he spent the final 11 seasons with the Boston Celtics, he won five championships. The landscape and history of the NBA would look quite different without him.

The Dallas Mavericks

Nelson was steering the ship when Dallas finally pulled out of a decade-long doldrum to become one of the winningest franchises in sports during the 2000’s. He was an innovator, or maybe a mad scientist depending on whom you asked, that proved to be well ahead of his time. Nelson basically invented the point forward position – a forward who could handle the ball, shoot and orchestrate an offense – which in some part surely contributed to the positionless basketball we see nightly in the modern era. He and his son Donnie are responsible for bringing Dirk Nowtizki into the fold, forever changing the course of the Dallas Mavericks.

The Iowa Hawkeyes

Nelson played four years of college ball with the Buckeyes, however his stats register for only the final three (freshmen were not allowed to play varsity at the time). In those three seasons, he averaged 21.1 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.

The Boston Celtics

The Celtics were where Nelson spent the majority of his career and where he found his most playing success, by far. From 1965 to 1976, he called Boston home. He complimented legends like Bill Russell and John Havlicek and ended his career with a fistful of championship rings (1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976). In game seven of the NBA Finals in 1969, with the Celtics leading the Los Angeles Lakers 103-102, Nelson hit a shot clock-beating jump shot to give Boston a cushion en route to a road win. His number 19 hangs in the rafters with other Boston greats such as Russell, Havlicek, Larry Bird, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Kevin McHale and others.

The Milwaukee Bucks

Nelson started his coaching career as an assistant with the Bucks in 1976. 18 games later, he took over as head coach and held that position for the next 11 seasons. In nine of those seasons, he led the Bucks into postseason play, making the team a perennial powerhouse with seven 50-win seasons in that stretch.

The Golden State Warriors

Nelson’s first stint with the Warriors lasted seven seasons. His run-and-gun style of innovative basketball was on full display during the Run TMC era (TMC stood for Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin and was a play on the popular hip-hop trio Run DMC, mixing flashy on-court play with pop culture outside of the sport). He then finished his coaching career with four more seasons on the Warriors’ sideline, the final of which coincided with Steph Curry’s rookie year.

The players

Dirk Nowitzki

Nowitzki is the adopted son of Dallas, leading the Mavericks to their greatest heights in 2011. Nowitzki has often credited Nelson with seeing something in him that no one else saw – a theme that recurs frequently with many players that called Nelson coach. If it weren’t for Nelson and his son Donnie, it’s nearly impossible to think of how different the Mavericks franchise would be without their insistence on getting Nowitzki on that fateful draft night in 1998.

Steve Nash

Nash was part of a Big Three in Dallas right as that concept was gaining popularity in a big way. Along with Nowitzki and Michael Finley, Nash helped turn the franchise around under Nelson’s unconventional wisdom. Like Nowitzki, Nash is keen to point out that Nelson saw things in him, and brought things out of him, that no other coach was likely to.

Michael Finley

Completing the trifecta, Finley shares a similar sentiment as his running mates Nowitzki and Nash. Finley was the star of the team when Nelson took over and largely held that moniker until he passed the baton to Nowitzki. Under Nelson, the trio took down the Utah Jazz in a first round, best-of-five Playoff series after trailing 2-0. Finley dropped a game-high 33 points in the deciding game of the Mavericks return to the Playoffs for the first time since 1990, kicking off a 12-year Playoff streak.

Memento mori

Nelson left an indelible mark, not only on the league, but on the sport as a whole and on many of the games’ greats (and surely those who may not be on an all-time list as well). For half a century and more than half his life, he was involved with basketball at the highest level. He is a big reason the game expanded globally and his innovations are felt to this day. If your fandom began just prior to, or during, the Nellie era, you likely revere him as the mad scientist who made the Mavericks fun again. The crazy uncle who innovated right before your eyes. The hardcore hippie who truly cared about the game and the players who played it.

Memento mori is a Latin phrase serving as a reminder of one’s own mortality. I have no idea if Don Nelson knew the meaning, but it seems evident he was aware of the concept given how he made the very most of his 86 years. He spent decades around the game of basketball accumulating accolades, all while impacting the lives of so many. Quoting Michael Finley:

“Thank you, Coach, for believing in me and for the impact you had on my career and my life.”

That part about life really says it all. Not only did Nelson help players develop their game, he helped them in the broader sense, like only the best of the best coaches do. Echoing Finley, I too want to thank coach Nelson for the hilarious one-liners, for punting balls into the stands, for “clown basketball,” for introducing us all to the Pismo Beach Panthers and of course for helping to usher in a new world order for the Dallas Mavericks, all while mentoring and nurturing players along their own lengthy journeys in the NBA sphere and life in general.

I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.

Pritchard: Celtics ‘have to prove it' after disappointing playoff finish originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Last year, even though the Celtics knew they were going to be without Jayson Tatum for most of the upcoming season, guard Payton Pritchard remained optimistic that his team was still going to be good.

Now a year later, the Celtics certainly know they won’t have Jaylen Brown anymore. Unsurprisingly, Pritchard’s outlook for the coming season remains the same.

“I feel the same way. I feel like we have another year that we have to prove it,” Pritchard told Chris Forsberg on the Celtics Talk Podcast. “I thought regular season we did a great job last year. … But obviously in the playoffs, we didn’t have the playoff run we wanted, let a 3-1 lead slip, which, you know, [ate] away at at a lot of us this summer. So, added extra motivation going into the summer to attack it and come back better and just try to improve.”

Speaking at his youth summer camp in Walpole, Pritchard was also asked about what Celtics life will be like without his longtime teammate.

“I mean, it’s the NBA at the end of the day. It’s part of the business. Things change,” Pritchard said. “You lose close friendships, brotherhoods. We won the championship together, and I’m very grateful for the relationship I’ve had with JB, because he kind of took me under his wing, pushed me, made me better. And he’s just a phenomenal player, so he’ll be missed mightily. But at the same time, you have to turn the page and get ready for this next year and have a great year and go to war.”

Pritchard, who’s expecting a baby girl with his wife, joked that he’s now entered an “adulting” stage of his life. With that in mind — and with Pritchard now being the second-longest-tenured Celtics player behind Tatum — the 28-year-old was asked if he’s focused on signing an extension with Boston now that he’s eligible.

“No, I don’t really think about it. It’s just not something I’m really looking at,” Pritchard answered. “I have two years on my contract and it’s just, there’s no rush on it. We’ll talk, obviously, but we have a whole next year to talk about an extension. For me, it’s like, just focus on getting better and becoming the bestbasketball player I can possibly be.“

Also in this episode:

• What Pritchard hopes to learn from new teammate Mike Conley
• How Pritchard’s golf struggles differ from shooting slumps
• Expectations for Paul George and Mitchell Robinson

Last year at this time, I wrote a piece entitled End-of-summer Disjointed Basketball Thoughts. Among other things, I wrote that school should start after Labor Day as God intended, questioned the NBA’s “max” and “supermax” contracts (how can something be more than the maximum?), and (most importantly), why the Spurs’ three excellent guards was a good thing, not a problem.

Little did we know in August of 2025 that those three guards would propel the Spurs to a completely unexpected and joyous regular season and playoffs.  Until, of course, well, you know.

DBT 1. I will start this season’s End of Summer Disjointed Basketball Thoughts with a DBT from last August: 

DBT 6. The Portland Trailblazers were just sold to a guy who owns the Carolina Hurricanes in something called the “National Hockey League”. Never heard of it. Anyway, the Blazers have a long history in Portland and a passionate fan base. I am sure that Blazer fans have nothing to worry about just because their new owner is based in another state. Hold that thought just one second — one of my ex-players from Seattle is on the line…

Like San Antonio, Portland has only one professional sports team. (Don’t tell me that soccer or hockey teams count.) I was born in Portland and still have family in Oregon, which makes the arena turmoil surrounding the Blazers and their cheapskate owner doubly distressing. Once again, a billionaire owner doesn’t want to pay for stuff that will make his asset more valuable — with the implied threat to move elsewhere if he doesn’t get his way.

I really hope that the Blazers cut some sort of a deal to stay where they belong — Portland losing the Blazers would be terrible. One thing working in Portland’s favor is that Portland is surely a better and more proven market than the alternatives. I don’t think the NBA would allow the Blazers owner to poach either Seattle or Las Vegas – the other owners surely want the massive expansion fees from those locations. If those cities are off the table, what’s left? Kansas City or St. Louis? Louisville? Kansas City and St. Louis? No thank you. Portland wins. Unfortunately, Seattle won too — but lost their team anyway.

DBT 2. I recently met a guy at a beach party wearing a Ken Griffey Jr. baseball cap.  He was from Cincinnati and said one of the best moments in his life was when Griffey came home to sign with the Reds after years of playing in Seattle. Griffey Jr. grew up in Cincinnati because his father Ken Griffey Sr. played for the Reds for many years. The guy with the Griffey hat and I decided that Griffey Jr. may be the most universally beloved baseball player of the past 50 years.  

That got me thinking about whether basketball has had a similar player: someone that everyone admires, even fans of other teams.  The first player I thought of is Dr. J.  Among present players, probably Steph Curry.  On a much smaller scale (in every way), maybe Patty Mills? Anyone else?

DBT 3. You may have heard that LeBron James signed with the 76ers.  Yeah, it was in the news. While it would have been more fun if he had teamed up with Curry in the over-35 league Warriors, Philadelphia was clearly the best spot for him to maximize possible basketball success. 

I told my buddy TD, a 76ers fan, that the NBA should allow the team to play with two basketballs. Another new 76er, Jaylen Brown, took the most shots in the league last year: 1,543.  Another 76er, Tyrese Maxey, took the second most shots with 1,501. If Joel Embiid had played 82 games, his 18.3 shots per game would have put him in third with 1,500 shots.  Of course, Embiid didn’t play 82 games, never has and never will.  That, and LeBron’s age might be the only things keeping the 76ers from being a powerful team (if the league does allow the two-ball thing). 

And if they somehow keep Embiid and LeBron healthy for a long playoff run, the 76ers start two small guards who will have a tough time matching up in the NBA Finals against a team with two big powerful guards.  Just saying…

DBT 4. The team LeBron left, the Lakers, has a guy who led the league in shots per game in 2025-26. Luka Doncic averaged over 22 shots per game. Several guys from my Sunday morning game beat that easily — and our games only go to 19, counting by twos and threes.  

DBT 5. One last LeBron comment.  I promise.  While the GOAT argument will go on forever (or until Victor Wembanyama surpasses both LeBron and MJ), “best career” has been resolved in LeBron’s favor. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had it for a long time, especially if you include his three NCAA titles at UCLA.  He also won Finals MVP at 38 years old, after averaging 25.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game in the 1985 Finals.  But LeBron’s seasons in his 40’s have put him over everyone, including Kareem.

DBT 6. All Spurs fans loved seeing those videos of much of the team working out with Victor in France. My invitation and Air France plane ticket must have gotten lost in the mail. 

The Spurs players who made the trip had a much better time than several friends who ventured to France this summer, only to arrive during the hottest July in France’s history — with much of the country on fire.  As is Spain. And Greece. And Canada.  Closer to home, Colorado, Oregon and Spokane Washington have had devastating wildfires, some of which are still burning. A few days ago, the worst air quality in the world was in Portland, Oregon. Other parts of the country, including South Texas, have suffered from massive flooding, while tornadoes have stormed through the midwest. El Nino is cooking the Pacific Ocean. 

I know Pounding the Rock is about hoops, but we also need to pay attention to what is happening in the world. It is burning. It’s not too late to fix things, but “too late” is getting a lot closer. Let’s go renewable with solar and wind so Spurs fans can worry about the opposing team’s shooters getting hot, not the planet.

DBT 7. OK, back to hoops. In November of last season, I was able to attend a Spurs game in LA and wrote this:

All of which led to this from the Pulse (on the Athletic) picking Wednesday’s Spurs vs. Lakers as the game of the night:

NBA: Spurs at Lakers
10 p.m. ET on ESPN
Wemby-powered San Antonio (5-1) heads West to meet an impressive Lakers team that’s 6-2 despite missing LeBron James for the entire year thus far and Luka Dončić for half of those games. For now, outside of Oklahoma City, this is the class of the Western Conference. Good game.

We know now that the Spurs did indeed remain among the elite.  Indeed, they became the elite. This season they will be the hunted, not the hunter.  

I am happy to see that the other two teams in the elite may have taken a small step backwards.  OKC traded away some of their depth, including Lu Dort. I won’t miss that guy. The Knicks lost key back-up center Mitchell Robinson, and moved back a bit by replacing him with Andre Drummond.  Both Robinson and Drummond are below 50% career free throw shooter, but Drummond is 4 years older, and frankly just not as good.

We will have much more to say about this later, but for now, I will just say that the Spurs should be even better than last season’s joyous success.  For many reasons.  We are all looking forward to it.

Let the record show that in answering the first question of his first news conference as a 76er last Thursday, Jaylen Brown invoked the word “process.” And if you listened closely, you could just about hear reporters’ eyes rolling as they hunkered down in the sweltering Francis J. Myers Recreation Center in West Philly.

Full context: Asked about a whirlwind offseason that brought him by trade from the Celtics to the Sixers, he said the following: “It’s been a process. To be honest, I’m still processing to some degree, just one, the excitement of coming to a new city, new place, new expectations, new energy, then also leaving somewhere that you’ve been for a very, very long time.”

That word again – process. Lord help us all.

Brown continued on from there. Asked how he might incorporate his game into a nucleus featuring LeBron James, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe, he said, “My focus is winning. … At this point in my career, nothing else just really moves me.” Asked about a possible schism with Jayson Tatum, his co-star in Boston, he said, “On my end, it’s nothing but respect. Besides when he plays the Sixers, I hope he does well.”

So rote. So predictable.

Brown did admit that when he learned of the deal that brought him to Philadelphia, he “just threw (his) phone across the room.” He also said that he and Tatum haven’t spoken since the move – make of that what you will – and that he didn’t appreciate some of the things others said in the wake of the trade.

“I think,” Brown said, “people attacked my character.”

But beyond that, it was a pretty workmanlike presser – not quite out of the Crash Davis handbook, but certainly on the same library shelf. Brown said what needed to be said, addressed what needed to be addressed. No harm, no foul.

In a larger sense, his approach figures to serve the Sixers well, as they embark on a most fascinating chemistry experiment. They need a buttoned-down, steady-as-he-goes guy like him. They need the consistency and reliability of someone who scores a ton, guards hard and speaks tactfully.

What they don’t need is a prima donna. And they certainly don’t need any drama. They’ve had enough of that in recent years, with James Harden and Ben Simmons and, let’s be honest, Embiid. With everything from Markelle Fultz’s thoracic outlet syndrome to Tobias Harris’ playoff disappearances to the outlook of Jimmy Butler, perhaps the only person on the planet who didn’t like Brett Brown.

Now the focus is on melding the talents and egos of a bunch of guys (many of them new) who don’t lack for either. And certainly Jaylen Brown would seem to be the one who will have to make as big an adjustment as anyone.

With Tatum missing most of last season due to an Achilles tear, Brown put up a career-high 21.7 shots a game, second-most in the league to Luka Doncic (22.8). Brown also attempted nearly 16 two-pointers a night, an NBA high, which resulted in a red alert at stat-nerd headquarters. One individual in the pocket-protector crowd went so far as to tell ESPN’s Bobby Marks that Brown was viewed as “the seventh-best player on a team.”

And, well, sure. All of us can see that. It’s a wonder the guy is even in the league.

Back in this galaxy, he finished sixth in MVP voting and made All-NBA Second Team, having scored at a 28.7 point-per-game clip. That too was a career best, and led to a surprising No. 2 seed for the C’s in the East (which went for naught, since the Sixers came from 3-1 down to upset them in the first round of the playoffs).

But now he might be second, third or even fourth fiddle. Maxey took the third-most shots in the league in 2025-26 (21.4), which like his scoring average (28.3) was a career high. Combine that with the fact that Embiid (26.9 ppg) put it up over 18 times a night (albeit in 38 regular-season appearances) and Edgecombe (16 ppg) fired nearly 14 times a game, and the full scope of the challenge becomes clear.

That would appear to be where LeBron comes in. He squeezed off just over 15 shots a game for the Lakers in 2025-26, fewest in any of the 23 seasons he has played to date, while averaging about 21 points a game. Given his skill as a passer, he will have an enormous say in how successful (and happy) everyone is.

“Obviously on paper we look great,” Brown said, “but let’s all slow down. It takes real work every single day in order to make something like this happen.”

Work, he added, that has already begun. The five starters have been communicating on a text chain, which among other things led Brown to suggest that everybody go skydiving if the Sixers win the title – and James to dismiss that idea out of hand.

Some of them have also begun showing up in the gym at the practice facility. (That includes Embiid, whose physique looked Wildwood-ready in a photo that made the rounds on social media.)

As for Brown, he said he is “looking forward to doing whatever it is I need to do,” while adding that he will talk to  “whoever I need to talk to, to make sure that we get on the same page and that everybody’s focused on the same thing. Because we do that, then we’ll be where we want to be.”

He sees the big picture, in every sense. When he was coming out of Cal before the 2016 draft, an anonymous personnel guy told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears that Brown “might be too smart for the league,” a nice way of asking, Does he want it badly enough?

Understandable, since he took actual courses during his year at Berkeley (even a graduate course), and has a wide range of off-court interests beyond skydiving, like anime, chess, learning foreign languages (he speaks Spanish and Arabic) and music (he plays acoustic guitar and the piano). His philanthropic pursuits during his decade in Boston – pursuits centering on curtailing income inequality and increasing opportunities for young people in underserved communities – drew praise, and he pledged to continue that work here. (The site of last Thursday’s presser was hardly a coincidence, and as he entered the Myers Center’s gym beforehand he dapped up the dozens of kids who had lined up to greet him – each wearing a blue Sixers T-shirt with his name and No. 7 on it.)

But basketball is the platform that allows him to do all that, and he seems well aware of that, too. In Boston he was a five-time All-Star, a two-time All-NBA selection and in 2024 a Finals MVP, when the Celtics beat Dallas for the title. Now he’s here, and part of an ensemble cast that has the entire city buzzing.

That includes a man named Lovelace Acquaye, my cabbie on the way to Thursday’s news conference. A native of Ghana, he said he’s been driving for 20 years. He has warm memories of Allen Iverson and is a fan of Embiid’s, seeing as Cameroon is not far from his homeland.

And what of this season?

“No excuses,” he said. “They got to make us proud this time.”

A little while later, the last thing Jaylen Brown said in his first presser as a 76er was this: “Let’s get to it.”

Yes, the time is fast approaching when they will “throw the ball up,” something he has been saying on social media since the trade went down. And by all means let’s do that. Let’s throw it up and see if the Sixers can meet the moment. Let’s see if they can soar so high that skydiving becomes a realistic possibility.

Yesterday, news broke that NBA and Milwaukee Bucks legend Don Nelson had passed away at the age of 86.

Hall of Famer Don Nelson, three-time NBA Coach of the Year and five times a champion as a player with the Boston Celtics, has died at age 86.

The family has issued this statement:

“On Sunday morning our beloved husband, dad, grandfather and great-grandfather Don Nelson… pic.twitter.com/MkDMNugYcu

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 9, 2026

Nelson, affectionately known as “Nellie,” was a hugely successful player and coach whose ingenuity helped shape the game into what it is today. 

Player 

A 14-year pro, Nelson played his rookie season with the Chicago Zephyrs, then his next two for the Los Angeles Lakers before signing as a free agent with the Boston Celtics. There, he went on to play 11 seasons, winning five NBA Championships. In Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals, he famously hit a clutch shot with just over a minute to go to give the Celtics the lead in what would become their 11th title in 13 seasons.

An ironman on the court, Nelson played all 82 games six times across his career, including an unfathomable five times in a row from 1967-68 to 1971-72. In total, he accumulated 10,898 points (10.3 PPG), 5,192 rebounds (4.9 RPG), and 1,526 assists (1.4 APG). He recorded a personal career-high 40 points against the San Diego Rockets in 1970 and posted a career-high 22 rebounds against the Boston Celtics in 1968.

Coach 

While a quality player and pivotal member of many championship teams—you don’t get your jersey number retired in Boston if you’re not—Nelson arguably left his biggest mark on the league as a coach. When it comes to Milwaukee, there’s no doubt about it. 

Nelson moved to the Bucks as an assistant coach immediately after his playing career finished and, after head coach Larry Costello resigned following a 3-15 start, took over the reins. In his second season at the helm, he led the Bucks back to the playoffs; in his fifth, he took them to 60 wins, third most in the league. It was the beginning of a golden era of basketball in Milwaukee, with the Bucks winning at least 50 games in each of the next six seasons. In that time, the Bucks won seven straight Central Division championships and reached the Eastern Conference Finals three times, losing to the eventual champion Philadelphia 76ers in 1983 and succumbing twice to Nelson’s former Celtics, who would also go on to win the NBA Championship, in 1984 and 1986.

Nelson finished his time in Milwaukee as the longest-tenured and winningest coach in franchise history. With 540 regular season wins (61% win percentage), he sits comfortably ahead of second-place Costello (410 wins, 61%), and has nearly twice as many wins as third-placed Mike Budenholzer (271, 69%). He also owns the most playoff victories as a coach in Bucks history (42, compared with 39 for Budenholzer and 36 for Costello).

Following his tenure in Milwaukee, Nelson went on to coach the Golden State Warriors (on two separate occasions), New York Knicks, and Dallas Mavericks. While unsuccessful in his first stop in Golden State and fired early in his stint in New York, Nelson transformed a floundering Dallas franchise into a legitimate contender—largely on the back of a pair of draft day moves that netted the Mavs Dirk Nowitzki (via the Bucks) and Steve Nash (via the Phoenix Suns)—and later led the 2006-07 “We Believe” Warriors to a historic upset series win against the first-seeded, 67-win Mavericks.

In total, Nelson coached 2,398 games, going 1,335–1,063 (56%), and remains second in NBA history for wins as a coach. For his efforts, he was a three-time recipient of the NBA’s Coach of the Year award (1983, 1985, 1992), and was named to both the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History and the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History during the league’s 50th and 75th anniversary celebrations. Nelson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame as a coach in 2012.

Revolutionary 

Beyond his raw success as a coach, Nelson was nothing short of a pioneer. Always looking for a strategic advantage, he was inventive in a number of ways across his coaching stops.

In Milwaukee, this came to fruition through “Nellie Ball” which relied on positional versatility and athleticism. In this system, centres were less pivotal and scoring guards were given the green light through Nelson’s invention of the point forward position, which was made famous by Bucks legends Marques Johnson and Paul Pressey. If this sounds like the forerunner for modern NBA offences, it’s because it was.

In both stints with the Warriors, Nelson leaned into small ball, often employing three-guard lineups, and would frequently forego a centre altogether. Then, with Nowitzki and the Mavs, he helped transform the power forward position into the perimeter-oriented one it has become today—and also brought to prominence the “Hack-a-Shaq” strategy that coaches still utilise to exploit poor free throw shooters (see the San Antonio Spurs’ treatment of Mitchell Robinson in last season’s Finals).

In brief, Nelson’s fingerprints are all over the modern game.

Tributes

Nelson’s passing has reverberated across the NBA landscape, such was his impact. Here’s how some notable figures paid their respects, in their own words:

Nellie… You didn't just draft me. You believed in me. You saw things in my game before I ever realized I could do them. 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…

— Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) August 9, 2026

RIP, Don. A basketball genius among basketball geniuses. A legend among legends. https://t.co/RmxosU0sHf

— Michael Redd (@MichaelRedd_) August 9, 2026

What makes his legacy special is that he didn’t just coach — he expanded the way it could be played. His fingerprints on the modern NBA; space/movement/creativity.
great player-knows how to play
great coach-knows how to teach. Truly special ones change how the game is played. pic.twitter.com/GEgARSrgtY

— Brent Barry (@Barryathree) August 9, 2026

It’s times like these that truly remind us all of what’s important. Yes, this beautiful game draws so much of our attention—the wins and the losses and everything in between—but, really, it’s the people who matter. And so whether it’s the person across your desk right now or your loved ones at home, be sure to spend that extra moment with them. Tell them what they mean to you. Laugh, cry, connect. Fill your cup. Like Nellie would. 

May he rest in peace.