High-profile figures from the basketball world joined with Don Nelson's family for a celebration of life Thursday at a Dallas church to honor the second-winningest coach in NBA history, who died Sunday at the age of 86.
Among those to speak at the service was Hall of Fame guard Steve Nash, who was coached by Nelson with the Dallas Mavericks for six seasons.
"Thank you for sharing him with all of us," Nash said, according to The Dallas Morning News. "And especially thank you for sharing him with me. Because you shared him with me, I was blessed to have a coach, a mentor and a man in my life who helped change its direction. I will never forget that."
Nash also shared a letter from fellow Hall of Fame Dirk Nowitzki, who was unable to attend the service due to a family commitment in Europe. Nowitzki, who called Nelson a "legend" on social media following his death, wrote that he believed Nelson would understand his absence since "I think Nellie loved my dad more than he loved me."
"When he came into a room, everything lit up," Nowitzki wrote. "He was funny. He was loud. He was joking. He was truly one of a kind and he was the ultimate players' coach."
In 31 seasons as an NBA head coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors (twice), New York Knicks and Mavericks, Nelson finished with a regular-season record of 1,335-1,063. He retired with the most coaching wins ever, a mark that was broken by the San Antonio Spurs' Gregg Popovich in March 2022.
Rick Carlisle, who passed Nelson as the winningest coach in Mavericks history, expressed how Nelson was an innovator in basketball with his "Nellie Ball" style that led to three NBA Coach of the Year awards.
"Terms like 'small ball, stretch-big, point-forward, positionless, cross-matching' are all common terms today.' Nellie invented this stuff," Carlisle said. "And it wasn't until a few years ago when everyone else figured out this is the way the game should go. He was decades ahead of them. And in the history of human innovation, oftentimes the savant thinkers come up with something very simple and take it to levels none of us could have dreamed."
Along with his coaching success, Nelson was a five-time NBA champion playing for the Boston Celtics, who retired his No. 19 jersey in 1978.
Also among those to speak at Thursday's memorial were his son Donnie Nelson, players such as Sidney Moncrief, Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin, and actor Owen Wilson, who submitted a video message.
Popovich was an assistant coach under Nelson with the Warriors before going on -- at his mentor's encouragement -- to his Hall of Fame run with the Spurs. He spoke about the impact Nelson had on those in attendance, a who's who from around the NBA during Nelson's decades in the league.
"It's obviously sad for everyone that it has to be an event like this for a way to get together," Popovich said, according to the newspaper. "But it's emblematic of what Nellie did for almost all of us. He had some effect on all of us in this church."