Don Nelson Dies at 85; Kerr, Curry and Hardaway Honor a Warriors Legend
The NBA's second-winningest coach with 1,335 regular-season victories reshaped how the modern game is played. Here's why it still matters for your roster.
No on-court impact — Curry's value is untouched by this news.
- Nelson won 1,335 regular-season games
- Coached Warriors 1988-95 and 2006-10
- Led Golden State to playoffs six times
- Passed by Popovich (1,390 wins) in 2022
- Coached Curry in his 2009-10 rookie year
Don Nelson, the coaching innovator who won 1,335 regular-season games and sat atop the NBA's all-time wins list from 2010 until Gregg Popovich passed him in 2022, has died at 85. The tributes rolled in Sunday from the Golden State franchise he defined across two separate stints — 1988 to 1995, then again from 2006 to 2010.
Steve Kerr framed Nelson as a true innovator whose fingerprints are still all over the modern game. Kerr said Nelson constantly pushed against conventional thinking, toyed with unusual lineups and playing styles, and saw angles nobody else did — so much of what's now standard in the league, he argued, traces back to Nellie. Nelson pushed the Warriors to the playoffs six times over his two tenures.
Steph Curry got personal. He said Nelson was one of the biggest reasons Golden State drafted him in the first place, and that despite Nelson's well-known distaste for rookies, the coach challenged him from day one during their lone season together in 2009-10. Curry singled out the night Nelson became the NBA's all-time winningest coach in Minnesota, calling him one of the greatest basketball minds the game has ever seen.
Tim Hardaway, who played for Nelson with the Warriors from 1989 to 1996 and again with Dallas in 2001-02, credited him for the belief and freedom that let him play his game. Hardaway pointed to the Run TMC years alongside Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin as something special, calling Nelson a coach who was simply ahead of his time.
The Fantasy Fallout
Let's be clear: this is a legacy story, not a lineup story. Nelson hadn't coached since 2010, so there's zero direct roster impact — no depth-chart shuffle, no minutes to chase, no injury to monitor. Nobody's fantasy value moves a decimal point off this news.
The takeaway for managers is simpler than usual. Hold your Warriors pieces exactly where they were and set your lineups on the same logic you used last week. Curry remains a foundational first-round anchor heading into 2026-27, and nothing about a former coach's passing changes what he does on the floor. Pour one out for Nellie, then get back to the waiver wire.
