Nelson s coaching career was in tatters. Why was he universally spurned by New York fans and players?

In the 1994-1995 season, under the leadership of head coach Parker Riley, the Knicks posted a record of 55 wins and 27 losses, second in the Eastern Conference. However, in the tiebreaker of the second round of the Eastern Conference, the Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers led by Reggie Miller by 2 points.

At that time, Parker Riley, the head coach of the Knicks, had been coaching the Knicks for four years. During this period, the Knicks performed very well. The number of wins in these four years was 51 wins, 60 wins, 57 wins, and 55 wins respectively. In terms of winning rate alone, they were definitely in the first tier of the Eastern Conference. Their performance in the playoffs was not bad either. They lost to the Rockets led by Olajuwon once in the finals, lost to the Bulls led by Jordan once in the Eastern Conference finals, and lost to the Bulls and Pacers in the second round twice.

At this time, Riley's contract was expiring, and the Knicks had prepared a generous contract extension for Riley. However, Riley proposed a condition that Knicks general manager Ernie Grunfield could not accept, which was to expand his say in free agent signings and player transactions.

When Grunfield heard this, he immediately became furious - you want to do the job of the general manager. If you are the general manager, what should I do?

At this time, the Miami Heat offered Pat Riley the offer of Vice President of Basketball Affairs, General Manager and Head Coach, and Riley left the Knicks without looking back. After Riley left, Grunfield offered Nelson, who had just resigned from the Warriors, a four-year contract, and Nelson came to New York. At that time, Nelson certainly did not expect that this trip to New York would become the biggest stain and Waterloo in his coaching career.

The Knicks at that time had a nickname, called the New York Gangsters. Anthony Mason Jr., Charles Oakley, Charles Smith, Charlie Ward, John Starks and others were all bad friends. They had a straight personality and a bad temper. They were the kind that were ignited. In addition, the previous head coach Pat Riley advocated tough defense and provided intense coaching methods to the opponent. Therefore, Knicks games never lacked fighting scenes.

Riley has brought the Knicks to a very high level and has a high reputation within the Knicks. His sudden departure caused widespread dissatisfaction among the players. Therefore, he did not have a good look at Nelson, who had just arrived. Nelson only coached the Knicks for 59 games before being hurriedly dismissed. In these 59 games, he achieved a record of 34 wins and 25 losses, which can only be said to be quite satisfactory compared to Riley.

Then the question is, why was Nelson fired so quickly?

Because in the middle and late seasons of the season, Nelson suggested to the team's general manager Glenn Field that Ewing be traded to free up salary space and provide a maximum salary for the 24-year-old rising star Shaq O'Neal, who became a free agent this summer. As soon as this news leaked out, the entire team, including all New York fans, were furious. Both fans and the media launched a fierce criticism and attack on Nelson.

Ewing has been playing for the Knicks since he landed in the NBA as the No. 1 pick in 1985. This year is his 11th year. Although he is 33 years old, he still averages perfect data of 22.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.4 blocks per game. In other words, Ewing has become the soul and totem of the Knicks.

Considering Ewing's state and his contribution to the Knicks for more than ten years, the moment Nelson proposed to trade Ewing, he decided that he simply couldn't stay in the Knicks. The Knicks are so generous. Players had nothing to beat up on Nelson. Once the news came out, Nelson was put on the boycott list by all Knicks players. During the timeout, the entire team gathered next to assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy to listen to tactics and ignored Nelson at all.

In the end, Nelson could only leave the Knicks sadly.

How do you evaluate this past event?

It can only be said that there is nothing wrong with Old Nelson's vision, but his emotional intelligence is a bit lower and his speech is a bit more straightforward.

However, Nelson, who lost to New York, obviously had no shortage of potential suitors, and many teams in the league were clamoring to make offers to Nelson. Nelson had difficulty making a choice for a while and never made a decision.

In the summer of 1996, Nelson's half-disciple Popovich took over as the general manager of the Spurs. After 18 games, the team recorded 3 wins and 15 losses. Head coach Bob Hill was fired. Popovich invited Nelson to serve as the general manager of the Spurs. At the same time, after the Dallas Mavericks had just experienced the storm of selling the team, the new owner Roberts Perrot Jr. sent Nelson a general manager offer. Finally, Nelson made up his mind and came to the Mavericks as the general manager.

In the middle of the 1996 season, the NBA selected the "Top Ten Coaches for the 50th Anniversary of the NBA's Founding". Nelson, who holds three Best Head Coach trophies and has a coaching record of 817 wins and 604 losses in the regular season, with a winning rate of 57.5%, and 51 wins and 61 losses in the playoffs, with a winning rate of 45.5%, was successfully selected and ranked seventh on the poster.

In 1996, Nelson took over the Mavericks team. Although the record in the previous few years was not very good and they had not made the playoffs since 1990, after so many years of intentional or unintentional failure, the team also accumulated There are many potential newcomers, among which the three with the most development prospects are the three players -

The second overall pick in 1994, traditional point guard Jason Kidd, averaged 17 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists per game last season.

The No. 4 pick in 1993, scoring forward Jamal Mashburn, averaged 23 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game last season.

The No. 4 pick in the first round in 1992, all-around guard Jim Jackson averaged 20 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game last season..

Because their names all start with the letter "J", these three brothers are also called the "3J Combination" by fans. Under normal circumstances, the "3J Combination" is to score and be organized, and the record will definitely not be bad. But the strange thing is that these three people played on the court without any chemical reaction at all, each playing their own game, causing the Mavericks to lose one game after another.

Why?

There are rumors that it is because of a woman.

It’s hard to tell the details of this secret, and I can’t make it up. There are many theories. Some say that Kidd and Mashburn have fallen in love with the same woman, some say that Kidd and Jackson have fallen in love with the same woman, and some simply say that the three brothers have fallen in love with the same woman and are competing for the woman’s "spring rights." 3 Two members of Group J (one of whom has been confirmed to be Jason Kidd) got into a fight in the locker room. Therefore, the Mavericks seemed to be good on paper, but in fact the locker room was in chaos. Seeing this, I wanted to know -

What does this girl look like? Fan Bingbing is just like that.

When Old Nelson heard about this, his mind immediately shut down. He had been involved in the NBA for so many years, and he had only heard about brotherhood before. This was the first time he saw a brotherhood falling apart because of a woman. It was really too unpromising. As the general manager of the team, the normal operation was to keep one of the 3Js as the cornerstone of the team and trade the other two. However, Old Nelson felt uncomfortable in his heart. He didn't keep any of them, and he sent them all away that season.

Kidd was sent to the Suns in exchange for Michael Finley, Sam Cassell, and AC Green.

Mashburn was sent to the Heat in exchange for Kurt Thomas + two Calami Jr. + 1998 first-round and second-round draft picks.

Jim Jackson + Sam Cassel were sent to the Nets along with several Calami Jr. in exchange for Sean Bradley + 4 Calami Calami.

To summarize, through this series of transactions, the only useful players Nelson actually acquired were Michael Finley, the No. 21 pick in the first round in 1995, and Sean Bradley, the No. 3 overall pick in 1993. Compared with the value of 3J's transaction, Nelson's transaction cost the Mavericks their pants.

It is said that Nelson once served as the general manager of the Warriors in 1987. He also sent away two core players when he took office, and did not exchange for any useful players.

In the 1996-1997 season, the turbulent Mavericks ended up with a poor record of 24 wins and 58 losses, missing the playoffs. Then came the 1997 draft, and Nelson once again showed his poor trading skills.

He selected Kevin Cato with the 15th overall pick in the first round. In the 1997 rookie class where there were not many big players, this choice was actually quite good. Cato was a blue-collar insider with no skills but good body. He could do some rebounding and eye-catching work. Later, he became the starting center after Yao Ming joined the Rockets and attracted the attention of the world.

But what is confusing is that Nelson did not keep Cato. After selecting him, he traded with the Trail Blazers in exchange for Chris Anstey, the No. 18 pick in the first round, plus 300,000 in cash. Nelson liked Anstey because he was a 213-centimeter player. The big center has some three-point ability, but sadly, Ansty's game is quite soft. As a big center, his shooting percentage is less than 40%. The so-called three-point shooting ability that he advertises is only 4 of 29. His NBA career lasted for three years and disappeared completely in 155 games, averaging 5 points and 3 rebounds per game.

But one thing you can understand from this incident is that Nelson had already discovered the energy contained in three-pointers as early as 1997, and had begun to pay attention to the three-point ability of inside players. This also provided a theoretical basis for him to build a new Mavericks system in the future. I have to repeat one sentence, but Nelson has his own unique and forward-looking vision for the development of basketball.

At the beginning of the 1997-1998 season, the team's hope was still focused on the third-year Michael Finley. Finley was 201 centimeters tall and a swingman at forward and guard. His style of play was very comprehensive, he could break out, shoot and defend, but the upper limit of each skill point was not high, but he had one of the most important advantages, that is, he was quite strong, and he rarely got injured even after playing every game.

The Mavericks suffered a large-scale injury wave this season. They were not very good on paper, but those who could play fell down one after another. Finley became the only player to play in 82 games that season, and ranked first in the league with an average of 41.5 minutes played per game. He contributed 21+5+5 data. It can be said that he is both a father and a mother.

Another star of hope, Sean Bradley, who is 229 centimeters tall, does not have such a good figure. Because of his prominent height and slender figure, he was nicknamed "The Big Bamboo Pole" throughout the season. Played in 64 games, averaging 11 points, 8 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game. His strength is not good, so his top defense ability is average, and he is basically beaten by powerful centers. However, because of his outstanding height, he can provide the team with a good defensive frame and rebounds.

That season, the team's head coach Jim Clemons was dismissed after only winning 4 games in the first 16 games. Nelson personally stepped down. However, faced with a raging wave of injuries and flaws in the lineup, Nelson was of no help. He recorded the lowest score of 16 wins and 50 losses in his coaching career that season, and the Mavericks once again missed the playoffs.

Then came the 1998 draft, which was the most important in the history of the Mavericks. In this year's draft, Nelson selected Dirk Nowitzki, the future soul of the Mavericks. But in fact, the Mavericks still spent a lot of effort to select Dirk. The management preferred all-around small forward Paul Pierce. So the question is old. Why did Nelson insist on selecting Dirk? What is the hidden secret in this? Welcome to the next chapter.

Okay, that’s it for this article. I wonder how the top guys on the list evaluate Nelson? Let’s discuss it together in the comment area. Every day at 8 a.m., Fireworks will bring you the freshest NBA stories. Click to follow and like to have Fireworks’ articles pushed to you as soon as possible. It will be updated regularly at 8 a.m. every day. Don’t miss it!