Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson kicks a basketball during a Celebration of Life for his father at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas. Former Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris, sitting, and NBA retired head coach Gregg Popovich, behind second from right, look on.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
It was poignant. Imaginative. Amusing. And though understandably tinged with moments of sadness, entertaining.
In other words, Thursday’s 161-minute celebration of the life and times of the incomparable Don Nelson perfectly encapsulated his 86 years on Earth and lasting imprint on basketball and those gathered in Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church.
Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s daughter Katie Nagel and son Donnie Nelson walk by their father’s portrait during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Dallas Mavericks head coach and former Boston Celtics player Don Nelson’s jersey is displayed during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Mavericks player Devin Harris arrives to attend a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Mavericks player Josh Howard, left, arrives to attend a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s wife Joy Nelson arrives with her sons, Scott Wolfgram, left, and Bryan Wolfgram, behind, to attend a Celebration of Life for her husband at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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NBA retired head coach Gregg Popovich, left, speaks during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson as Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson, center, and former Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris, look on at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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NBA retired head coach Gregg Popovich, left, speaks during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson as Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson, center, and former Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris, sitting, look on at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s daughter Katie Nagel wipes her tears as her brother Donnie Nelson stands by her during a Celebration of Life for her father at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s daughter Katie Nagel and son Donnie Nelson hug former Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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People attend a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Bagpiper Matt Willis performs during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, left, hugs former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson after speaking during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former NBA player Sidney Moncrief, right, speaks during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson as former NBA player and coach Paul Pressey listens at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former NBA player Sidney Moncrief, center speaks to Mike Dunleavy, former NBA player and coach, left, as NBA player and coach Paul Pressey, behind and former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson, right, look on during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former NBA player Mitch Richmond, left, speaks during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson with former NBA players Chris Mullin, center, and Tim Hardaway right, at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Dallas Mavericks players Michael Finley, left, and Steve Nash listen as former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson speaks during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Singer Leon Bridges performs during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Owen Wilson appears in a video tribute during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s son and daughter DJ Nelson, left, and Christie Armstrong talk with Singer Pat Green during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Singer Pat Green performs during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s wife Joy Nelson speaks during a Celebration of Life for her husband with Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson, center, speaks with his family during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s wife Joy Nelson receives a hug after a Celebration of Life for her husband at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s wife Joy Nelson talks with a guest after a Celebration of Life for her husband at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Dallas Mavericks head coach and former Boston Celtics player Don Nelson’s jersey is displayed during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Former Mavericks player Devin Harris arrives to attend a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former Mavericks player Josh Howard, left, arrives to attend a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s wife Joy Nelson arrives with her sons, Scott Wolfgram, left, and Bryan Wolfgram, behind, to attend a Celebration of Life for her husband at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
NBA retired head coach Gregg Popovich, left, speaks during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson as Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson, center, and former Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris, look on at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
NBA retired head coach Gregg Popovich, left, speaks during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson as Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson, center, and former Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris, sitting, look on at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s daughter Katie Nagel wipes her tears as her brother Donnie Nelson stands by her during a Celebration of Life for her father at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s daughter Katie Nagel and son Donnie Nelson hug former Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
People attend a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Bagpiper Matt Willis performs during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, left, hugs former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson after speaking during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former NBA player Sidney Moncrief, right, speaks during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson as former NBA player and coach Paul Pressey listens at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former NBA player Sidney Moncrief, center speaks to Mike Dunleavy, former NBA player and coach, left, as NBA player and coach Paul Pressey, behind and former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson, right, look on during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former NBA player Mitch Richmond, left, speaks during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson with former NBA players Chris Mullin, center, and Tim Hardaway right, at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former Dallas Mavericks players Michael Finley, left, and Steve Nash listen as former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson speaks during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Singer Leon Bridges performs during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Owen Wilson appears in a video tribute during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s son and daughter DJ Nelson, left, and Christie Armstrong talk with Singer Pat Green during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Singer Pat Green performs during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s wife Joy Nelson speaks during a Celebration of Life for her husband with Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s son Donnie Nelson, center, speaks with his family during a Celebration of Life for Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s wife Joy Nelson receives a hug after a Celebration of Life for her husband at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
How do you honor and say goodbye to a 6-6 larger-than-life NBA legend with a somehow even larger persona? You do so by having, in person, Leon Bridges perform “The River” and Pat Green croon “Wave on Wave.”
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And by playing a video message from Dallas native and Nelson’s Maui gambling amigo Owen Wilson. And with a Hoops Who’s Who gathered in the sanctuary and taking eulogy turns. Gregg Popovich, 77, perhaps best succinctly summed his mentor Nelson.
“His heart is bigger than the moon and softer than marshmallows.”
Nelson, who died Sunday in Frisco, about three weeks after suffering a stroke, won five NBA championships as a Boston Celtics forward and coached four franchises, including Dallas, to 1,335 wins, second-most in history to Spurs coach Popovich’s 1,390.
Popovich was a San Antonio assistant under Larry Brown from 1988-92. When Brown was fired, Popovich was at a career crossroad until Nelson made him his top Golden State assistant from 1992-94.
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“It’s obviously sad for everyone that it has to be an event like this for a way to get together,” Popovich, whose coaching career ended with a November 2024 stroke, said Thursday, gazing around the sanctuary. “But it’s emblematic of what Nellie did for almost all of us. He had some effect on all of us in this church.”
Nelson certainly had a transformative effect on the Mavericks franchise, initially arriving on Feb. 7, 1997, as their general manager. When he took the franchise’s head coach reins the following year, the team’s record during the 1990s was 164-426 (.359).
Nelson’s 339 coaching wins in Dallas are second-most in franchise history to the 555 of 2011 NBA title-winning coach Rick Carlisle, who also eulogized Nelson on Thursday.
“Terms like ‘small ball, stretch-big, point-forward, positionless, cross-matching’ are all common terms today,” Carlisle said. “Nellie invented this stuff.
“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.”
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Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle speaks during a Celebration of Life for former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Fittingly, Donnie Nelson in effect served as Thursday’s master of ceremony, promising near the outset: “This will absolutely be the most creative funeral service-slash-celebration you’ve ever seen in your life. And that’s the way Nellie would have wanted it.”
At that moment, Donnie stood on the chancel, with Popovich, Don’s former assistant Del Harris — and pet dog Rosie, because, after all, Don was known to take his dog with him everywhere.
Throughout the service, there was a basketball present, either on a stand or in the hands of the famous eulogists.
They included Sidney Moncrief and Paul Pressey, representing Nelson’s Milwaukee coaching days. And his Golden State TMC trio of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin.
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And from Don’s Dallas era (1997-2005), former guard Steve Nash and forward Michael Finley spoke — and Nash read a letter from fellow Mavericks great Dirk Nowitzki, who needed to remain in Europe to welcome his parents from Germany to his home in Sweden for the first time.
“And I know Nellie would understand because he had such a connection with my family and Holger [Geschwindner], my coach,” Nowitzki wrote. “I think Nellie loved my dad more than he loved me.
“When he came into a room, everything lit up,” Nowitzki added of Nelson. “He was funny. He was loud. He was joking. He was truly one of a kind and he was the ultimate players’ coach.”
Soon after arriving in Dallas in 1997, Nelson asked then-majority owner Ross Perot Jr. if he could bring in Donnie as one of his assistants. Perot recalls saying, “Well, Don, I kind of like father-son teams. I know a little about father-son teams.”
It was Don and Donnie who were most responsible for the June 24, 1998, NBA draft night coups of acquiring No. 9 pick Nowitzki and another future Hall of Famer, Nash.
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But it was a nerve-wracking night. Don fibbed to other teams that 19-year-old Nowitzki would have to serve a stint in the German Army in four years. He gambled and traded back from the sixth pick to the ninth to get Nowitzki.
Acquiring Nash from Phoenix, where Donnie had been an assistant and worked closely with him, came a few minutes later.
“Nellie was the most nervous I think he’s ever been in at any point in his NBA career,” then-team president Frank Zaccanelli recalls. “He was inhaling cigars.”
Nash, Finley and Nowitzki on Thursday credited Don for seeing something in them other coaches had not.
“Thank you, Coach, for believing in me,” Finley said. “Thank you, Coach, for trusting me. And thank you for always having our back. So rest easy, Nellie, and like I always told you, ‘I love you, man.’”
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Former Dallas Mavericks head coach Don Nelson’s wife Joy Nelson speaks during a Celebration of Life for Nelson with her family at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Dallas.
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Nash gazed down at the Nelson family, which filled the first two rows, including his wife, Joy, his five grown children and his grandkids.
“Thank you for sharing him with all of us,” Nash said. “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.”
Through the years, Don and Donnie Nelson would each have legal battles with the majority owner who in 2000 succeeded Perot: Mark Cuban.
Cuban wasn’t in Preston Hollow Presbyterian during the pre-service reception, but he arrived in the sanctuary as service began. Donnie Nelson noticed and made a point of mentioning Cuban during the remarkable celebration of his remarkable father’s life — and, perhaps, offered forgiveness.
“Mark, thanks for coming,” Donnie said. “I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”