Even if Don Nelson doesn't care about catching Wilkens, he's going to need another year to do it

August 20, 2:56 PMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Golden State Warriors Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Don Nelson says he's fine being No. 2 behind Lenny Wilkens

Don Nelson has said repeatedly over the past couple of years that becoming the NBA’s all-time winningest coach is not important to him.

We’ll see.

Nelson heads into the 2008-09 season ranked second on the coaching victory list with 1,280, a mere 53 wins shy of overtaking Lenny Wilkens, the current all-time winningest coach.

But any way you slice it, Nelson is going to need two years -- or at best a season and change -- to pass Wilkens. In other words, even if the Warriors do make an unexpected playoff appearance this year, they’re not going to win more than 50 games doing it.

The thing is, though, Nelson has only one more year remaining on his contract. And don't forget, he was talking retirement after the 2006-07 playoff-run season.

Nelson is either going to have to walk away and pack it in a dozen or so wins short of Wilkens' mark or figure out the best way to go about getting a coaching contract for the following year.

The Warriors’ front office, of course, could just lock Nelson up for the 2009-10 season, but somehow it’s tough to see Nelson asking for that year and it’s tough to see the Warriors agreeing. Not right now, anyway.

One of Nelson’s biggest pieces of leverage over the past few years has been that he’s financially secure enough to NOT have to work. With Nelson, there’s always the lingering thought that he could head off to Maui and call it a career at any moment.

But the closer he gets to Wilkens' 1,332, the harder it's going to be for Nelson to do that.