Don Nelson, who won five NBA championships as a player with the Boston Celtics and then coached 31 seasons in a style so far ahead of the league that everybody eventually copied it, died Sunday, Aug. 9. He was 86.

His family announced the death in a statement and did not give a cause.

“On Sunday morning our beloved husband, dad, grandfather and great-grandfather Don Nelson peacefully went to be with the Lord, surrounded by his loving family,” the statement read. “Throughout his last week, friends and family encircled him with love, sharing the blessings of his friendship and revisiting treasured memories.”

Nelson coached the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks and finished 1,335-1063. He passed Lenny Wilkens for the career wins record on April 7, 2010, and held it until Gregg Popovich went by him in 2022. He was Coach of the Year three times, in 1983, 1985 and 1992. His teams made the playoffs 18 times and won eight division titles. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.

He never coached in an NBA Finals.

Nelson coached Dream Team II to gold at the 1994 world championships. The NBA named him one of its 10 greatest coaches in 1996 and put him on it’s top-15 in 2021.

“Nellie Ball” meant smaller lineups, wider spacing and more 3-pointers than anyone thought was reasonable and hunting mismatches all over the floor, at a time when most of the league still dumped the ball into the post and waited.

He coached RUN TMC – Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond with Golden State. He turned a skinny, 20-year-old Dirk Nowitzki loose on the league in Dallas. Steve Nash ran Nelson’s offense for six seasons before he went to Phoenix.

Before he was a Hall of Fame coach, he was a 6-foot-6 forward out of Iowa, taken 19th overall by the Chicago Zephyrs in 1962. He was cut loose after two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. Boston picked him up and kept him 11 years, winning titles in 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974 and 1976. He played 465 games in a row, averaged 10.3 points for his career and the Celtics retired his No.19 anyway.