Don Nelson, who died Sunday, was an unlikely candidate for a historical basketball figure.
He was not particularly gifted. He didn’t run fast or jump high. At 6-6, in his day, he was kind of too tall for a guard and verging on too small for a forward.
Nonetheless, he built a remarkable career, first as a player, then as a coach and an executive who constantly challenged convention.
He was one of the first, if not the first, to use the idea of a stretch-four or stretch-five. He had versions of small ball with Golden State, but he also let 7-7 Manute Bol rain threes. No Nellie, No Durant, No Nowitzki, no Karl-Anthony Towns.
Current Golden State…
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