Nelson Leaving?

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Kawakami: Nelson and the Warriors, on and on it goes
By Tim Kawakami
Mercury News Sports Columnist
Article Launched: 08/22/2007 01:35:27 AM PDT


Don Nelson barks out calls during the first quarter of game six of the NBA Playoffs... ( ANDA CHU )

Don Nelson wants to be happy, the Warriors want to make him happy, and yet here they still stand, mutually unhappy and staring into the dark void.

Is this long, strange renegotiation standoff between coach and franchise about money? Yes, it's always about money. About $5.1 million in guaranteed money over the next two seasons, as far as I can decipher.

But it's also about the root motivations and personal histories of both Nelson, the master strategist and fearsome poker player, and owner Chris Cohan, who has made his fair share of mistakes and has paid dear money for them.

The latest on the talks: Nelson is telling friends that he's upset with the Warriors' most recent proposal and that the next week or so could be the tipping point.

Is he serious enough to stay away from training camp in October? Many people familiar with Nelson note that he would be walking away from millions if he quit, and Nelson has no history of monetary sacrifice.

Still, he is a man of pride, and now that the negotiations have come this far, it might be foolish for the Warriors to call Nelson's bluff.

It's almost September. Who exactly would the Warriors get to coach this team, rebuilt to Nelson's exotic but successful specifications, if it's not Nelson?

"All is quiet on the Western front," Nelson's lawyer, John O'Connor, said Tuesday when asked about the state of talks. O'Connor had no further comment; Warriors President Robert

Rowell also declined to comment on the negotiations.

Are the Warriors dug in? They've made what they believe is a generous upgrade on an existing deal, which would raise Nelson's average salary into the top 10 for NBA coaches.

Cohan has no eagerness to go much further on the guarantees, according to several sources, after paying off a series of failed coaches and watching Nelson begin to maneuver for a new deal the day after last season ended.

Multiple sources confirmed Tuesday that Warriors management has offered to raise Nelson's base salary from $3.1 million to $5.1 million for the coming season. That's agreeable to the Nelson camp.

Nelson was paid $3.1 million in base money last season and earned an additional $2 million in bonuses for making the playoffs and winning a round; he had the same schedule for 2007-2008.

But the Warriors' offer is also believed to change the guaranteed $3.1 million for 2008-2009 (the final year under his original deal) into a non-guaranteed team option for $5.1 million. That's potentially a deal-breaker for Nelson, who has little desire to work without the assurance of a contract for 2008-09, and might announce a retirement or request a leave of absence if he doesn't receive a deal to his liking.

In plain terms, the Warriors are offering Nelson more cash in the short term, but less guaranteed money than he was due to receive.

Remember, Nelson is under contract, and he signed it only a year ago. The Warriors have no moral or legal burden to give him any more money.

But the NBA world, and this particular market, is not about legalities. Specifically, this situation is about Nelson and Cohan, two flawed men who probably deserve each other if they can stand each other in the process.

Cohan needs Nelson, whom he fired once before, because Nelson's coaching was essential for a franchise that had lingered in squalor for 12 playoff-free seasons before Chris Mullin persuaded Cohan to bring back Nelson.

Nelson needs Cohan because he loves the Bay Area, loves coaching this team, and because the Warriors' raucous playoff run last spring burnished his Hall of Fame credentials; Nelson needs Cohan because nobody else was stepping up to hire him a year ago.

Of course, the two men knew all this - all the weaknesses and strengths of the situation - before they re-consummated their relationship last August. They had been through this, and Nelson went through it with New York and Dallas after that.

Nelson can point to the rush of new season-ticket purchases for this season and to the payroll savings he helped orchestrate. Indeed, the Warriors have never been healthier in a fiscal sense, thanks to Nelson.

Cohan can point to his good intentions - he has offered to increase Nelson's salary this season, he has remained quiet while Nelson played out this game of possible retirement and quiet protest.

Cohan and Nelson. Nelson and Cohan. For one season at least, it all meshed into one of the most fascinating playoff runs in recent NBA history.

Will it continue to a second season? We'll find out in the next few weeks. I'm guessing that Nelson will get a little more money out of Cohan, grit his teeth and, out of some loyalty to Mullin, come back to coach the Warriors. But before Nelson makes that decision, he'll stare into the void. And you just never know what he might do.

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