We didn't get it at the time because he never won anything of significance, but "Nellie" showed us all where basketball was evolving and his fingerprints are all over the champion Warriors.
Don Nelson is the winning-est coach in NBA history, but high atop my entitled perch as a Spurs fan, I've always thought of him as a loser.
For years and years I just couldn't understand what the fuss with the man they call "Nellie" was all about. His teams never won anything that mattered. They didn't even get close.