More stuff out there about Don Nelson angling to get fired

December 22, 9:01 AMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Don Nelson

I’ve seen it written in more than one place now, so it bears mentioning:

Apparently, there are some out there who think Warriors coach Don Nelson is angling to get fired.

The latest from Sam Smith, who is now at least the third columnist I’ve read suggesting Nelson may be looking for a way out of Golden State.

Link here ...

I don’t know whether or not Nelson is trying to get fired. That's a pretty big charge.

I hope not. That would be as lame as it gets, quite frankly.

Forget about Nelson trying to get fired for a moment. The real longshot here is thinking Nelson is actually going to stick around and coach the Warriors through 2011.

I have no idea how it's all going to come down, but I'd be willing to take a bet right now that Nelson will not be coaching that final Warriors regular-season home game in mid-April 2011.

Any takers?

Believing Nelson is going to coach through that time seems just as farfetched as believing Nelson is trying to sabotage the season to accelerate his canning.

There is one little catch, however, and that is the matter of Lenny Wilkens' coaching record. Nelson came into the season 53 wins behind Wilkens on the all-time list.

Nelson talks like the record doesn't matter to him. But we're going to assume he's finnagling some on that, like he does with so many other issues.

I'm thinking Nelson cares. Nelson is 45 wins shy of Wilkens, and it's obvious Nelson isn't going to get that this season.

The problem, however, is there is no guarantee at this point he'll get it next year. Sure, the Warriors are talking optimistically about their future, but no one can guarantee a win tonight against Orlando let alone 30-some next year.

It's a pretty bold thing to say a coach is trying to get fired.

What's far more accurate, and less indicting, is to simply say Nelson would have a much better chance to break Wilkens' mark with another team.

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