Exclusive: Don Nelson reveals details of $25,000 prank on Gregg Popovich and more ahead of Spurs legend's Hall of Fame induction
In retrospect, Don Nelson made the correct hire when he added Gregg Popovich to his coaching staff with the Golden State Warriors (1992-94). At the time, though, Nelson took a big risk.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will induct Popovich on Aug. 12 after guiding to the San Antonio Spurs to five NBA titles and eventually eclipsing Nelson with the NBA’s all-time regular-season coaching record. At the time, Popovich served as a Spurs assistant under Larry Brown (1988-92) following various stints as Pomona-Pitzer’s head coach (1979-86, 1987-88) and assistant-coaching gigs with the Air Force (1973-79) and Kansas (1986-87).
During the Warriors’ eventual first-round win over San Antonio (1991), Nelson liked how Popovich worked during pre-game workouts.
“I was impressed with how hard he worked, the things he worked on and the relationships he had with the players,” Nelson told Sportskeeda. “It was all outstanding. So I made a mental note that that guy was a really good coach.”
After the Spurs fired Brown and his coaching staff after the 1991-92 season, Nelson immediately reached out to Popovich for an interview. That marked the first conversation Nelson ever had with Popovich, which immediately landed with a job offer. Since then, Nelson argued Popovich has been “the finest basketball coach I’ve ever been around.”
In a wide-ranging interview with Sportskeeda, Nelson shared more about giving Popovich a job offer, Popovich initially offering him the Spurs’ head-coaching job and why he was thrilled that Popovich broke his all-time regular-season coaching record.
Editor’s note: The following Q&A has been edited and condensed.
Don Nelson reveals how he kickstarted the coaching career of Gregg Popovich and more
What has Pop meant to you over the years?
“He’s the finest basketball coach I’ve ever been around. He has proven that by getting into the Hall-of-Fame, the all-time winning coach and all the championships. He has all of the different things you need to be a good head coach. He has had all of those advantages throughout his career.”
Beyond his resume, what qualities does Pop have that make him the best coach?
“He has the gift of communication. He’s a great communicator with players. He really cares about each guy. His philosophy is different from any other coaches that I’ve ever been around. After a game on the road, win or lose, he’d always have an open dinner for everybody."
"I’ve been to a few of those with him while he was the head coach in San Antonio. Basketball was never brought up. We talked about other things with life, what the players were feeling and their families. It was a different relationship than any other coach that I’ve ever been around. It was a different philosophy that he had and carried out throughout his whole career.”
What were the highlights of your dinners?
“One was in San Francisco one night when they played us. I don’t remember who won or lost. But I went to dinner with his team afterwards. I witnessed that kind of thing, which I had never done. But it’s a great idea. Most of his players, at least half, joined the dinner that night. It was remarkable.”
How did you wind up hiring Pop on your staff considering you didn’t initially know him?
“We had played San Antonio in the playoffs [in 1991] when Larry Brown was the head coach. We were able to beat them in six games. But I didn’t know him well at all. I had the habit of going to the arenas early on the day of the game with sitting in the stands and watching our opposition and watching guys shoot in case there was anything I could take advantage of that night. I just noticed that a guy named Popovich was an assistant coach and was working with players individually."
"I was impressed with how hard he worked and the things he worked on and the relationships he had with the players. It was all outstanding. So I made a mental note that that guy was a really good coach. After we beat them, Larry got fired. Along with Larry, Pop got fired. So Pop was looking for a job."
"I hadn’t even met him at that point. I just called him up and asked him that I’d like to have an interview with him. He was shocked because we had never met. I brought him in and loved him. So I offered him the job, and he took it. We just had some of the best two years together. We formed a friendship and relationship that is second-to-none. Now, he is one of my very best friends in life.”
You’ve said he’s been your best assistant coach you’ve ever had….
[Interrupt]. “No question. He’s the best I’ve ever had. He just had an advantage over anybody he competed against because of his philosophy.”
What did Pop do to help you out at Golden State?
“Well, that was one of my toughest times. I had a rookie that year by the name of Chris Webber and was very difficult. Together, we tried to do the best we could to make that work the way we wanted it to. Of course, it didn’t. But it was a really hard year for both of us. Pop did his best to help that situation."
"My problem was I had a really good team. But Tim Hardaway got hurt and missed the entire year after tearing up his knee. Chris Mullin had some issues and was apart from the team for a while. All my veterans, all of a sudden, were diminished. That gave Chris a chance to do the things he wanted to do, which was negative leadership and destroyed the whole year that we had. Pop and I went through that tough time together, so that probably brought us closer together.”
How so?
“Well, the two of us were together probably more than he and his wife. We spent tons of time together, most of the day and a lot of times at night we’d have dinner. We had a bond that was second to none.”
I read you helped him negotiate his contract when the Spurs offered him the general manager job. What do you remember about that episode?
(laughs). “San Antonio wanted to hire him as a general manager. So I encouraged him to go down and check it out. He came back and said, ‘They offered me the job!' I asked him, 'What did they offer you?'"
"He told me the numbers. I said, ‘Pop, that’s very nice. But go back and ask them if they would increase your pay by $50,000 in year one because that’s going to add $50,000 a year to a five-year contract. That’s enough for you to buy a house!’ He said, 'Oh, I don’t know if I could do that, Coach.’ I told him, ‘Just do it.’ So he went back and said, ‘I would love to come, but would you mind adding $50,000 at the beginning and extend it through the contract?’ They just said, “Okay.’ (laughs). That was enough for him to buy his first house and he went on from there.”
Did you get a commission for helping with the negotiations?
(Laughs). “No, I never got anything. But he’s bought a nice bottle of wine for me plenty of times.”
Is it true that Pop then tried to hire you to coach the Spurs, but then Golden State wouldn’t let you out of your contract?
“I didn’t know the press had all that kind of stuff (laughs). Yeah, that was another situation. Pop didn’t like the head coach there, and he knew I was having all sorts of problems with Chris Webber. I told my ownership that it would be better if I just left and let Chris stay and get a new coach because I didn’t see how it was going to work with the two of us."
"I had a meeting with ownership with Jim Fitzgerald and some of the other owners of the team. They refused to let me go. So, I lost that [Spurs] job. Boy, I look back at that. Wow. If I had made that move? The owner was one of my best friends, too. I stood the course and then I lost an opportunity. Wow. With Pop [as the GM] and me as the coach, I could’ve imagined what a career I would’ve had. It would’ve been just like Pop.”
How would have history played out if you had gotten the job?
“I think it would’ve been the same. We coached similarly. Our philosophy was pretty much the same. So, it would’ve worked out greatly.”
How do you imagine what it would’ve been like to coach David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili?
“Yeah, that’s not bad, right? (laughs). As I look back at that, there were two turning points in my career. That was a big one. The other one was when I coached Milwaukee. We beat the Celtics in the [1982] playoffs and knocked them out with Larry Bird and all of the big guys. After the game, Red [Auerbach] walked by the locker room and got my attention. We huddled in a corner. He asked me about coaching the Celtics."
"I said, ‘Red, I’d love to come back. But they’ve been so nice to me in Milwaukee. I just can’t leave you.’ He said, ‘Okay, I understand.’ Then they hired KC Jones. Those are two good opportunities that I had, but that I didn’t do. That had a pretty big influence on my career.”
I read you played a prank on Pop when he was on your staff regarding a painting. What’s the story behind that?
“He loved his college coach [at Air Force]. I called the coach up one day after Pop was telling me that he was quite an artist. So I talked to him and told him, ‘With Pop’s birthday coming up, I’d love to get one of your pieces of art and I’ll give it to Pop as a gift. I’ll pay whatever you want for it.’ He said, ‘No, I’d never charge you anything. I’ll just send you something.’"
"He sent me a beautiful picture of a Native American. I got the picture and put a beautiful frame on it. Then, I went to an art gallery and told the dealer, “Let’s put this in your store; I’m going to pull a prank on Pop. I want to take him in there and have him find the painting. I want you to put a big number on it.’ He put a $25,000 tag on it."
"So we go to the art store and are just looking around. We try to get Pop to go down this one aisle where the painting is. He’s looking around and he sees it. He says, “I think this is from Coach!’ He looks at the name and sees the autograph at the bottom. He says, “That’s my Coach! That’s him!’ So I said, ‘Is that really, Pop? I’d like to buy it for you.’ We take it up to the cashier and he says, ‘It’s $25,000.’ I said, ‘Wrap it up and give it to Pop.’"
"Pop couldn’t believe that I’m buying him a $25,000 painting from his coach. I had all the other assistants with me. So we get the picture wrapped up and we’re walking out. He starts crying (laughs). He’s literally bawling like a baby. So we decided we’re going to tell him about the prank at dinner and that we played a joke on him. We get to dinner and we tell him everything that happened. We had so many laughs over that. We still laugh about it today. Pop kept saying, “God damn it Nellie; you got me!’”
You were very supportive of Pop when he broke your all-time winning record. What feelings did you have about what that record meant to you before Pop broke it?
“It’s longevity more than being good or bad sometimes. I was able to coach for a long time. It didn’t mean as much to me to have that record as you might think. I felt bad when I passed Red Auerbach and when I passed Lenny [Wilkens]. I always felt Lenny was a way better coach than I was. I didn’t feel I was deserving of it to start with, so to have Pop take me out was a real positive for me. I was really happy. I’m very happy to be at No. 2, 10 or 15. I don’t care.”
I remember you told me a few years ago that you didn’t think Pop even cared about that record….
[Interrupts] “I don’t think he does that much. It’s longevity and ability to be a long-time coach. I called him up one time and asked him, “Are you trying to get the record for losses as well?’” (laughs).
What was your reaction to Pop getting another five-year extension with the Spurs shortly after they drafted Victor Wembanyama?
“He called me a couple of days ago. He said, ‘I owe you!’ I said, ‘Well, you got $80 million. What are you going to give me? Another bottle of wine?’” (laughs).
What has Pop’s gratitude to you meant to you?
“That’s just friendship. That’s the way he is. He always gives credit to somebody else for the things that he has done. He is a great coach, and always was. He had a chance to prove it, and he did. There is nobody more deserving of having that record, all of the success that he’s had and the biggest contract in coaching history. All of those things are well deserved. He did it himself. Nobody helped him do that. That’s his ability. He deserves every bit of this.”