Don Nelson

       







Profile

Don Nelson is a former small forward with the Iowa Hawkeyes* who earned a 3rd team All-American nod in his time there.  Don played in the NBA for 14 years, and won 5 NBA titles with the Boston Celtics during his time there.  Then, he went on to coaching and became the winningest coach of all time and also winning Coach of the Year 3 times. He is retired now.**

* It's between him and Connie Hawkins for the best Iowa player ever.  Fred Brown, BJ Armstrong and Ricky Davis fill in that next tier.

** I'm just going to paste this here from his Wikipedia page.  Don Nelson is living his best life:

As of April 2018, Nelson lives in Maui, where he has a farm to grow flowers, coffee, and cannabis. He hosts local poker games with celebrities such as Willie Nelson, Woody Harrelson, and Owen Wilson.

“I know how far I’ve come from being a hog farmer,” Nelson said of his career. “I’ve come a long, long way from being some country kid. I got in the fast lane, and I’ve stayed there a long time. I’ve done pretty well."

"All I can tell you is he's happy. He's in Maui, drinking Mai Tais and watching sunsets and whales. Life's good," said his son Donnie.

Personal Notes

Don Nelson had success at every level of basketball, is a Hall of Famer, champion, etc.  However, I'll most cherish this commercial he made with Mastercard.  Enjoy!


 


Collection Notes

I have 14/127 (11%) cards in my collection.


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