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Don Nelson
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Don Nelson

Forward  at Boston Celtics
Age86
NationalityUSA
Height198 cm (6'6")
Weight95 kg
BornMay 15, 1940
CollegeIowa
Career
10.6PPG
5.1RPG
1.5APG
817 games · 11 seasons

Career snapshot

11seasons
817games
8,688career pts
16.1PER (avg)
Most-played franchise: Boston Celtics · 636 games · 1965-66–1974-75

Position rank · 1974-75

#18PPG rank
#5PER rank
#6WS rank
Among 63 Forward players (min. 41 games)

Career highs (single season)

PPG 15.4 1969-70 · BOS
RPG 7.3 1969-70 · BOS
APG 2.3 1971-72 · BOS
PER 18.5 1969-70 · BOS
WS 8.8 1971-72 · BOS

Draft

1962
Round 3 · Pick 17
from Iowa

Honors & awards

3×
NBA Coach of the Year
1992, 1985, 1983

Career by team

Boston Celtics
1965-66 – 1974-75 · 8 seasons
12.2 PPG 5.5 RPG 1.7 APG
636 games
Los Angeles Lakers
1963-64 – 1964-65 · 2 seasons
4.3 PPG 3.3 RPG 0.9 APG
119 games

Stats by season

SeasonTeamGGSMIN PTSREBASTSTLBLK FG%3P%FT%PERWS
1962-63 NBA 62 0 17.3 6.8 4.5 1.2 0.0 0.0 44.0 0.0 72.9 — —
1963-64 LAL 80 0 17.6 5.2 4.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 41.8 0.0 74.1 10.6 2.3
1964-65 LAL 39 0 6.1 2.4 1.9 0.6 0.0 0.0 42.4 0.0 76.9 14.0 0.4
1965-66 BOS 75 0 23.5 10.2 5.4 1.1 0.0 0.0 43.9 0.0 68.4 13.3 5.4
1967-68 BOS 82 0 18.3 10.0 5.3 1.3 0.0 0.0 49.4 0.0 72.8 18.2 6.1
1968-69 BOS 82 0 21.6 11.6 5.6 1.1 0.0 0.0 48.5 0.0 77.6 17.5 7.5
1969-70 BOS 82 0 27.1 15.4 7.3 1.8 0.0 0.0 50.1 0.0 77.5 18.5 8.3
1971-72 BOS 82 0 25.4 13.8 5.5 2.3 0.0 0.0 48.0 0.0 78.8 17.7 8.8
1972-73 BOS 72 0 19.8 10.8 4.4 1.4 0.0 0.0 47.6 0.0 84.6 16.8 5.8
1973-74 BOS 82 0 21.3 11.5 4.2 2.0 0.2 0.2 50.8 0.0 78.8 16.1 5.9
1974-75 BOS 79 0 26.0 14.0 5.9 2.3 0.4 0.2 53.9 0.0 82.7 18.1 8.7

Transfers & team changes

Derived from season-by-season team membership.

Date Move
Jul 1965 Los Angeles Lakers Boston Celtics

All entries are season change.

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Born on May 15

Virgil Vaughn 1918 · Boston Celtics Greg Bunch 1956 · New York Knicks Freeman Williams 1956 · Los Angeles Clippers Gene Banks 1959 · Chicago Bulls Keith Tower 1970 · Milwaukee Bucks Antonio Lang 1972 · Philadelphia 76ers Torraye Braggs 1976 · Houston Rockets Jamal Sampson 1983 · Charlotte Hornets

About Don Nelson

Donald Arvid Nelson is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. Nelson is second all-time in regular season wins of any coach in NBA history, with 1,335. He coached the Milwaukee Bucks, the New York Knicks, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Golden State Warriors. After an All-American career at the University of Iowa, Nelson won five NBA championships playing with the Boston Celtics, with his number 19 retired by the franchise in 1978.