Q and A (and My Extra Comments) with Don Nelson
You heard what he said at the news conference Wednesday night to announce his hiring as Warrior coach. (I barely did, the echo in the arena was that bad.)
Here’s how it went when I started asking Nelson my own questions right after the official conference… and several other reporters joined in a few minutes later…
(Some of the answers are compressed and questions listed out of order, since Nelson was asked similar questions several times.) And I’ll offer my own interpretation of his answers, if nobody minds, other than Nellie, of course.
Q: What’s your opinion on Baron Davis, who gets so much attention from us and the team?
NELSON: A tremendously gifted player. Had some health issues. I don’t really know him a personal basis yet. That will happen real fast. Respect his talent immensely.
Q: Is he the most important Warrior player?
NELSON: There is no most important player. They’re all important.
Q: What is Baron’s role?
NELSON: I think I’m going to ask every player to change their game some to play for me. And I’m going to ask Baron to change some, too. And what I’m going to ask him to do and each individual player will be a private thing. I’m not going to talk about it in the press.
He’s an immensely talented basketball player who has the ability to be as good as anybody… With a healthy Baron Davis playing the way I want him to play, if he can get back to that All-Star level, if he’s able to do that, this team can be very successful.
I don’t anticipate problems with anybody. If they happen, we’ll work them out. From what Mully tells me, Baron’s really happy that I’m coming aboard.
–MY COMMENT: Nelson doesn’t know Baron that well, but he does know Davis can be a headache–and that Baron can be worth it, at times.
Q: What are your thoughts about Mike Dunleavy, who has never quite developed into a significant player. Do you see him doing that?
NELSON: I do. I think it’s time for him to take the next step. He hasn’t made it yet. And I’m going to give him every opportunity to do that. Be the player I think he can be. Hopefully, it’ll happen this coming year. If it doesn’t, hopefully it’ll happen the next year.
–MY COMMENT: We’ll know about Dunleavy and Nelson fast–maybe faster than any Warrior. Either Nellie’s going to love his vision and versatility or he’s going to bury Dunleavy on the bench. Fast.
Q: How’s your health these days?
NELSON: I’ve been healthy for a while. Health had nothing to do with me steping down in Dallas. It was just time for Avery to move in, take the team.
Q: Is it possible that Mario Elie could take on a similar role as Avery Johnson did in your last years at Dallas–could you mentor Mario to be the next Warrior coach?
NELSON: Umm…. yeah. That situation, if that’s what Mully wants to do. We could do a situation like that. I have a very talented guy I’m trying to get to come and join me here. If that would happen and everybody is on the same page with that, sure.
–MY COMMENT: Man, he sure didn’t sound too enthused about the Elie-as-protege issue. Not enthused AT ALL.
Q: Was it difficult to see Avery step in and take the team you built to the NBA finals–which is something you have never accomplished as coach?
NELSON: No, it was great. I loved every moment of it. I was his biggest rooter. I helped develop that guy as a coach. And I couldn’t be happier for him.
With me, it’s not about going to the finals, winning titles, doing those kinds of things. It’s about getting the maximum out of the team that you have. And if they play up to the maximum that they have, wherever they end up is all right with me.
I always felt my teams maxed out, even when we got beat in the playoffs occasionally by what I considered a better team. They gave me everything they had. And we didn’t win the title last year, but they went further than they’ve ever gone. A credit to Avery and the players there. That we developed.
Q: Are you looking to duplicate Run TMC?
NELSON: No, nothing’s going to ever be the same. But the tempo can be the same. You’ll never get those guys playing like they did together or anybody like them. But there might be three other guys doing it their way, you never know.
Q: Looking back on how it ended here 11 years ago, with Chris Webber… Do you think about that much?
NELSON: Well, this isn’t the only place that he’s had problems. So think he had to work his way through that. If I would’ve known, I would’ve gone a different direction. Maybe just drafted where we were, not moved up, you know, something like that.
At that particular time, we were looking for one guy, one big guy, because we had all the other pieces. So that didn’t work out. But would I have done anything different? Sure. I would’ve done it different if I could’ve. I would’ve picked somebody else.
Everybody got unhappy. I got fired. I mean, sure I would’ve done it different.
–MY COMMENT: Not exactly a mea culpa here. But none expected.
Q: Do you think you need a true center to win in the NBA these days?
NELSON: Oh, they’re good to have. I’m always looking for them. I just haven’t found many of them. Good ones.
Q: The Warriors just drafted Patrick O’Bryant, who isn’t quite a proven outside threat. Do you approve of that pick–which obviously was made well before you got here?
NELSON: Oh yeah, absolutely. I like big guys that can play. Give me a Nowitzki. He’s 7-1. He’s a big guy. I played him all the time.
Q: Well, uh, I don’t think O’Bryant’s quite like Nowitzki.
NELSON: Depends on their skill level. It’s not just size. You’ve got to have size and skill. You have that, I’ll play you. I’ll play that guy ahead of a small guy, probably.
–MY COMMENT: Don’t expect Patrick O’Bryant to play much. This season. Or next season. Sort of the same way the Warriors drafted Dunleavy third overall, then hired Eric Musselman, then realized Musselman disliked Dunleavy. Fun!
Q: How different is it now with the big money?
NELSON: Oh by the way, your figures are wrong on my salary here. I wish you were right, but you’re wrong. It’s about half of what you guys have reported. But that’ll come out later.
Q: I thought you were a better negotiator than that.
NELSON: I didn’t come here for money. I’ve got a lot of money. I’m doing real well. I came for other reasons. I thought they were fair with me and I understand the circumstances.
–MY COMMENT: If he’s talking about the three-year, $15 million reports… Nelson probably got a $3 to 3.5-million a year base with performance clauses that could get him to $5M if the Warriors make the playoffs, etc. Still good change, any way you describe it.
*Oh, sorry to cram this at the end, but I’m new to this. I happened across an interesting take on the Nelson news conference from the GoldenStateofMind fan site. Take a look. I did.
nicely done…good questions although you must have known he would not answer them all….he answered a number of them the way i expected and i liked that…your commentary was cute as well…hey you are beat guy…make sure you keep take the high road on the questions and not ask low brow questions…better for you and better for the readers..but you did a nice job here
This HIRE is just the lastest in never ending cycle of bad MOVES by a bad franchise. Nelson left the franchise in shambles when he left in the mid ninties. Now he’s back a decade later with an overpaid underperforming roster.
His gimmicks might get the Warriors a few more wins but it won’t equate into the playoffs.
The playoff drought will continue and the team now has at least one less fan.
Well good riddance Dennis, nice knowing you. I think Nellie on board means the team will more of the close games they lost last year. Even though I’m not fond of Dunleavy I think Nellie will at least find a better role for him and get more out of him on a nightly basis. Does this mean playoffs?? There’s a chance but either way this will be a better team. I still think the key will be what Mully does come February with tradeable pieces. Nellie is definitely an upgrade over Montgomery but not the complete cure.
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