<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There have been hints all season that Don Nelson's heart wasn't fully into coaching the Mavericks, so the announcement that he was resigning as head coach with 18 games left in the regular season didn't qualify as a complete shock. The timing may seem curious, but not when you consider everything that preceded it this season. To begin with, Nelson last summer made it clear to Mavericks owner Mark Cuban that he wanted Steve Nash back on his team. When that didn't happen, he was a good corporate citizen and backed Cuban's play in letting Nash sign in Phoenix. But Nelson knew how perfect Nash was for the type of game he always has preferred to play. He never hid his disappointment in Nash's departure from those who knew him best. Then Nelson declared Avery Johnson his successor as Mavs coach and turned more and more of the head coach's duties over to the former Spurs point guard. Johnson ran Mavericks practices. This season, it was Johnson's voice the Mavericks often heard during time outs, almost as often as they heard Nelson's. When Nelson opted to have shoulder surgery in midseason, giving Johnson 10 games as de facto head coach, the Mavericks went 7-3 under the "Little General," and Nelson knew he wasn't wrong about Johnson's potential to be an outstanding head coach. I was in Dallas Tuesday when Nelson returned to the team after spending about a week away to be with his wife, Joy, during a difficult medical procedure that was not related to the breast cancer she had survived previously. It seemed a little curious when Nelson, after praising the job Johnson had done in the three difficult games he coached, also made a point of mentioning how enjoyable it had been to watch the Mavericks play from afar, rather than go through the stress of game night. "Yes, there's less stress when you're not out there coaching," Nelson said on Tuesday. "It's just much different when you're the head man, and Avery is learning that, and I hope he learns it for 30 years." At the time, I thought the comment nothing more than further endorsement of Johnson. In hindsight, it may have been another hint that Nelson had grown weary of coaching. The Mavs' flatline performance the next night in a home court loss to the Timberwolves clearly disappointed him. His body language in his postgame news conference was that of a man who wanted to be anywhere but sitting on a podium, explaining why his team had been so awful. </div> Source
I am sorry Nellie resigned. I thought the Mavericks had a shot to go to the Western Conference Finals this year under him. I thought Nellie did a great job this year and he took one for the team resigning so that Avery Johnson can remain in Dallas instead of other teams hiring Avery. I never thought Nellie would have success in Dallas. His first few years was bad and when Mark Cuban brought the team, I had to wonder about the changes coming. Fortunately for Nellie, Finley, Dirk, and Nash developed into very good players and the team started winning and things really took off for Nellie.
