Donnie Nelson To Stay in Dallas

DALLAS – The Mavericks announced today that assistant coach Donnie Nelson has been named president of basketball operations.

Nelson, who has 18 years of NBA experience, has served as an Assistant Coach and the Director of Player Personnel for the Mavericks since January 1998. He came to Dallas after three seasons as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns.

In the last two seasons, he served as the acting head coach of the Mavericks while his father head coach Don Nelson was recovering from cancer surgery in 2001 and while Nellie’s wife, Joy Nelson was recovering from cancer surgery in 2002. In his 23-game stint as head coach, he led Dallas to a 15-8 record.

He was also the top assistant coach to his father at Golden State for eight seasons (1986-94) and a regional scout for the Milwaukee Bucks for two seasons (1994-86).

Nelson is the founder of the “Global Games” which enters its third season this summer. It features top junior national teams from around the world.

Nelson has participated in the last three Olympiads as an assistant coach for Lithuania. In each of those games, the Lithuanian Team earned the bronze medal. Under his leadership, they won the silver medal in the 1995 European Championships. He also served as a scout for Dream Team II, which captured the gold medal at the 1994 World Championships.

A 1986 graduate of Wheaton College (Ill.), Nelson was inducted into the school’s Hall of Honor on October 3, 1997. He led Wheaton in scoring and was an NABC All-Midwest selection.