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Don Nelson
Forward ·Boston Celtics ·NBA ·#19

Don Nelson

Age86 BornMay 15, 1940 FromUSA Height198 cm (6'6") Weight95 kg CollegeIowa Draft1962 · #17
Career averages
10.6PPG
5.1RPG
1.5APG
817 games · 11 seasons

At a glance

BOS hub
Career snapshot
11Seasons
817Games
8,688Career points
16.1PER average
Most-played franchise: Boston Celtics · 636 games · 1965-66 to 1974-75
Honors and awards3 total
3×
NBA Coach of the Year1992, 1985, 1983
All awards
Career highsSingle season
15.4PPG · 1969-70 · BOS
7.3RPG · 1969-70 · BOS
2.3APG · 1971-72 · BOS
18.5PER · 1969-70 · BOS
8.8Win shares · 1971-72 · BOS
Draft1962
3Round
17Overall pick
From Iowa
Position rank1974-75
#18PPG rank
#5PER rank
#6Win shares rank
ForwardPosition
Among 63 Forward players with 41+ games

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.