Sad news in the NBA world, as Naismith Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson died today at the age of 86. Marc Stein broke the news with a statement from the Nelson family.
Though the phrase “changed the game” is overused, it applies to Nelson. Immediately following his 14-year playing career, in which he won five championships during his 11 seasons with the Celtics, Nelson went into coaching, with 31 seasons as head coach for four franchises, completely changing how offense is played with his trademark “Nellie Ball” while influencing the dynasty Bulls.
He started with the Bucks in 1977, the year after he retired as a player, where he built an Eastern Conference power that reached the playoffs nine times in 10 full seasons, twice reaching the conference finals while giving the basketball world a position that would re-invent the game: the point forward. Nelson put the 6’5 forward Paul Pressey into the point guard spot, paving the way for Scottie Pippen and eventually LeBron James.
We obviously think of the Pistons, Celtics and even the Knicks and Cavs as the teams in the East that the rising Bulls had to figure out, but Nelson’s Bucks were right there too. In Michael Jordan’s first playoff series his rookie year, the Bulls lost to Nelson’s Bucks in four games in the first round, as Terry Cummings became the only player ever to outscore MJ in a playoff series, topping him by one point, 118-117.
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Milwaukee’s stellar guard play over the decade — including Pressey, Sidney Moncrief, Marques Johnson, Ricky Pierce, future Bull Craig Hodges, Alvin Robertson and Jay Humphries — meant the Bulls always had to be on the hunt for impact guards. The Bulls got their revenge on Milwaukee in the 1990 first round, with a four-game series win of their own.
Nelson had moved to Golden State by then, where he continued to experiment with small ball lineups and the point forward position, moving Chris Mullin to point forward early in his tenure and then unleashing the Run-TMC Warriors of Mullin, Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond.
On the eve of the 1993-94 season, Phil Jackson talked about wanting a “unique” offense of MJ, Scottie, Horace, rookie Toni Kukoc and Scott Williams at center, something he would eventually do in 1996, and while I’ve never seen Phil say that Nelson led the way — and while Phil obviously earned his credit as an innovator too — Nelson absolutely was a pioneer in the “position-less” basketball that the second three-peat Bulls would perfect and that would go on to take root throughout the league, both on title teams like LeBron’s Heat and Steph’s Warriors, and spunkier teams… like Don Nelson’s “We Believe” 2007 Warriors.
But before Nelson got to those wild 2000s Warriors en route to becoming the winningest coach in NBA history1, he transformed the Mavericks into a Western power, starting with massive growing pains his first year in Dallas and a hilariously memorable game against the two-time reigning champion Bulls.
He did so with a plan for Dennis Rodman, creating a trivia question around a one-and-done NBA rookie: Bubba Wells.
On Dec. 29, 1997, the 5-23 Dallas Mavericks came to Chicago to battle the 19-9 Chicago Bulls. I don’t need to spend much more time explaining the difference in fortunes between these clubs. Even without the injured Scottie Pippen, a “bad start” Bulls team was tied for the best record in the East.
The Mavs, meanwhile, had earned MJ’s ire by firing former Bulls assistant Jim Clemons as head coach after a 4-12 start in his second year running the club.2 The man who fired him was the man who replaced him: GM-turned-head coach Don Nelson.3
So Nelson was now in charge of a team going nowhere, with the second worst record in the NBA and an 11-game losing streak. The coach knew as well as anyone that the Bulls didn’t have many flaws they could exploit. He could only think of one: sending Dennis Rodman to the free throw line.
The morning of the game, the Tribune ran a huge feature on how Rodman had calmed himself down, cutting way down on his technical fouls from his league-leading 14 the year before, while still leading the league in rebounding and playing great defense. But he couldn’t shoot free throws. Never a great foul shooter, even Rodman’s rough career high of 65% was long in the past. As a Bull for two seasons, he had shot 55%, but was down to a dismal 39% entering the Mavericks game.
And so in the first quarter, Don Nelson went to the bench to find his Rodman stopper: rookie guard Bubba Wells.
What proceeded was one of the funniest games in NBA history, as Wells set an NBA record that stands today: the fastest foul out ever, accumulating six fouls in three minutes of play.4
And what did Rodman do?
He hit his free throws.
It went like this:
1:40 left in the 1st quarter: Wells checks in
1:23: Wells foul #1 on Rodman
Rodman makes 1-2 FT
1:00: Wells foul #2 on Rodman
Rodman makes 1-2 FT
0:23: Wells foul #3 on Rodman
Rodman makes both free throws
Fast forward to the third quarter:
1:41 left in the 3rd: Wells checks in
1:23: Wells foul #4 on Rodman
Rodman makes 1-2 FT
1:05: Wells foul #5 on Rodman
Rodman makes both free throws
0:38: Wells fouls out, foul #6 on Rodman
Rodman makes both free throws
The Bulls won 111-105, with three stat lines standing out: Jordan scored 41 points, Rodman bagged 27 rebounds to go along with 11 points and eight assists, and Bubba Wells fouled out in two minutes and 43 seconds of play.5
“I kept saying to myself, ‘He’s fouling me. I got to burn them for it,’” Rodman said after the game.
Rodman’s nine made free throws tied for the most of his career, something he hadn’t done since the ‘89 season with the Pistons.
The Mavs would finish the season a respectable (for them) 20-62. They would draft Dirk Nowitzki that summer to build a big three with Michael Finley and Steve Nash, and they were a 53-win playoff team in 2001. Nellie always had a plan. Against Rodman and the Bulls, his plan backfired — and became one of my favorite, funny memories as a sports fan.
Rest in Peace to the great Don Nelson!
What else happened during that Bulls-Mavs game? Well, Joe Kleine made two free throws to get us over 110 points, winning free tacos for all fans in attendance! And “Taco Joe” was born. Kleine remembered it fondly two years ago in our interview:
Jordan on the Mavs firing Clemons: “He never really got a fair shot because of either the fan support or the organization’s support. … It was unfair to Jim because I think he’s a heck of a coach and he knows the game well.”
The previous record for the fastest foul out in NBA history was four minutes by Medford “Med” Park, 1957.
Hilariously, Nelson would try this again two seasons later, and again against Phil Jackson, as he sent Mark Bryant to foul Shaq. Bryant fouled out in 5:24 of playing time, while Shaq went 10-20 from the line. Per Stathead, of the five instances in NBA history in which a player fouled out in five minutes or less, two were Don Nelson against Phil Jackson.
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