OKLAHOMA CITY – Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson was not a fan of the Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic — and chose his footwear for Game 2 of the NBA Finals accordingly.
Nelson arrived for the news conference announcing him as the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award winner, as selected by the National Basketball Coaches Association, wearing a pair of Doncic's signature Jordan Brand sneaker.
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The reason: He was showing Doncic — who he calls “my dear friend” — support.
“As a matter of fact, I want everybody to know I'm wearing Luka's shoes, his new shoes from Nike that just got on the market,” Nelson said. “I'm wearing them in protest for the trade from Dallas. Tremendous mistake by the Dallas franchise to trade him and I want everybody to know that.”
Doncic was traded by Dallas to the Los Angeles Lakers this season for Anthony Davis, a blockbuster that the entire league found stunning. Fans in Dallas were furious for months, though some of that seems to have subsided in recent weeks with the Mavericks winning draft lottery and the chance to draft Cooper Flagg No. 1 overall later this month.
Nelson said his philosophy on generational players is the one that Red Auerbach taught him: Don't trade those talents.
“His philosophy was when you have a great player — Bill Russell, (John) Havlicek, Sam Jones, you name ‘em — you don’t lose that player,” Nelson said. “You keep him for a lifetime. You put his number up and you honor that player. That’s been my philosophy.”
Nelson has deep ties to Dallas, so his reaction to the Doncic trade is understandable. He coached the Mavericks for eight seasons and his son, Donnie Nelson, was an executive with Dallas from 2005 through 2021.
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