Donnie interviews with Nuggets

[David]

06/29/2002

By JODIE VALADE / The Dallas Morning News

Mavericks assistant coach Donnie Nelson interviewed for the Denver
Nuggets head coaching position Friday in a rapidly scheduled trip to
Denver.

Nelson flew to Denver on Friday morning and met with Nuggets general
manager Kiki Vandeweghe and assistant general managers David
Fredman and Jeff Weltman before returning to Dallas on Friday night.

"It was an open-ended discussion," Nelson said. "There were a lot of
questions both ways, and it was a fairly in-depth exchange. I don't know
where it goes from here, but I feel really good about our first meeting."

Vandeweghe asked for permission to speak to Nelson on Thursday,
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said.

The move to interview Nelson so quickly after Wednesday's NBA draft
suggests he is a front-runner, along with New Jersey assistant coach
Eddie Jordan, and Mavericks assistant Del Harris.

Nelson has an extensive history with Vandeweghe, as the two worked
together when Vandeweghe was an assistant coach with the Mavericks
from 1999-2000. Nelson also worked with Denver draft pick Nikoloz
Tskitishvili in a big-man camp in Italy last summer. And he has experience
coaching a player who doesn't speak English (Wang Zhizhi), like the
Nuggets' second first-round pick, Nene Hilario.

[Drbio]

man, I am not feeling good about this right now.

[Drbio]

Oh wait...it was written by Valade. I feel better now. She never gets anything right.

[LonestarROB]

More: Donny interviews with Denver. Dad would retire to keep him in Big-D.

Link

[Dooby]

I would have no problem with this. I think I actually suggested this before in another thread. If not, I meant to.

There is a quoted from Donnie somewhere to the effect that he doesn't want to run his father out of coaching. So, I suspect he may not allow his Dad to quit.

One thing I'd like about Donnie coaching is that Bradley and Esch would get some time.

[Dooby]

Full Nelson is Mavs' best strategy

Jim Reeves commentary


Don Nelson will step down as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks today ... if that's what it takes to keep son Donnie in the organization.

"I would do that; that's no problem," Big Nellie said. "I could never coach another game and be the happiest guy in the world."


As Nellie spoke Friday from his office at American Airlines Center, Donnie was in Denver, interviewing with general manager Kiki Vandeweghe for the Nuggets' head coaching job.


Donnie won't take it, even if it's offered.


He won't take it because he's smart enough to listen to his dad. Smart enough to know that Dallas is where he wants to be. Smart enough to know that, soon enough, Big Nellie will hand him the Big Whistle and a team that could win an NBA championship.


Then again, Donnie could return, offer in hand, and pronounce himself ready to be a head coach in the NBA.


Right now.


"It could happen [today] and we would have to make a decision," Nellie said. "Donnie is the most important guy in the organization, barring Mark [Cuban].


"He's more responsible than I am for turning this thing around. The two guys he got me to take - [Steve] Nash and [Dirk] Nowitzki - turned this thing around. The one guy we can't lose is Donnie."


No, the two guys the Mavs can't lose are the Nellies. They're an entry, 1 and 1A. Their roles will eventually change, but Cuban knows better than anyone that he must keep them together as Mavericks.


Cuban was in Las Vegas on Friday, but what he won't gamble on is losing either of his aces in the hole - the Nellies.


It is the most unique and intriguing situation in the NBA.


Certainly it is something that father and son have discussed.


"We've talked about it," Don Nelson said. "I think this is the best place for him. We've gotten to a point where it's going to be a winning situation here.


"When the time comes, if it's in the cards for him to coach here, he'll be successful, and it's important early to have success, rather than have 100 losses on your record and get fired."


That was the original plan when Nelson arrived in Dallas and subsequently brought son Donnie into the organization as an assistant coach. That was when Ross Perot Jr. still owned the team, and the Nelson succession was set from the beginning.


"Donnie came here because I told him I wasn't going to coach much longer," Nelson said. "I said, `Let me take a bunch of these losses and turn it around, and then you can coach it.' When Mark came [as owner], he decided he wasn't going to do that.


"Mark is to a point now where he knows how valuable Donnie is as a coach, and I don't think Mark wants to let him go. My feeling is that Mark wants to keep him here."


At 62, Nelson is ready and willing to do whatever Cuban wants.


"I could coach eight more years," Big Nellie said, "or I could coach no more years. I could be the general manager, or I could go home to Maui and just be a consultant. I can be flexible, no matter what happens."


What's more likely is that Nelson, who has one more year left on his current contract, will coach the team in 2002-03 and then turn the reins over to Donnie.


Nelson assumes that Vandeweghe, who has said he has several candidates to interview, is ready to offer Donnie the Nuggets' job.


"If I was Kiki Vandeweghe, you keep running the numbers until the guy's happy," Nellie said. "You get him in the office and you want him and he wants to be there, you don't give him a chance to shop it.


"If he leaves your office and he hasn't signed, it's over. But that's just the way I'd do it."


That said, Nellie really doesn't believe Donnie is going anywhere. And you'd think a father would know.


"He loves it here," Nellie said. "He loves the team, the whole situation. It's very comfortable for him. He's spending time with his family. His kids are happy in school.


"There are a lot of factors that say he's got a great situation here. Just hang on and he can have his cake and eat it, too."


But if there's just something about Denver that lights Donnie's fire ...


"It's just that if Donnie is intrigued with the Denver situation ... it is fun to take over a franchise and take it from bad to good, if you're lucky enough not to get fired in the meantime," Nellie said. "I've done it three times.


"Donnie's built a couple of franchises with me. He likes doing that, too. That was the intrigue of coming here. You say, `We've got a [bad] situation. Let's make it shinola.' That was fun for both of us."


Whatever Donnie wants, Nellie said, Donnie should get.


"I'm the third guy here," Big Nellie said. "The first guy's Donnie. The second guy's Mark. I'm the third guy. It's really up to the first two guys."


Spoken like a man who obviously loves his organization, but more than that, truly loves his son.


Jim Reeves, (817) 390-7760

[Drbio]

Dad would retire to keep him in Big-D.

Nice to see that in print. I hope little whistle sticks around.

[Drbio]

"He's more responsible than I am for turning this thing around," Don Nelson told the newspaper. "The two guys he got me to take -- (Steve) Nash and (Dirk) Nowitzki -- turned this thing around. The one guy we can't lose is Donnie."

Great stuff. Great to hear Nellie saying this. Keep Donnie in Dallas.

[Dooby]

One might question how much international work or scouting Donnie will be able to do if he is a head coach.

[Drbio]

One might also question how hard the Mavs would fall if donN leaves though. I'll take the trade off.