Don Nelson protests Mavericks’ Doncic trade while accepting lifetime award

Don Nelson, the former Dallas Mavericks head coach, accepted the Chuck Daily Lifetime Achievement Award before Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday. 

Nelson, who has been living in Hawaii since being away from the game, carried a message with him for the franchise he used to lead on the court. 

During his press conference, Nelson made sure everyone in the building knew that he was wearing Luka Doncic’s new shoes from Nike. 

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Don Nelson poses for a photo after receiving the 2025 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award during the first half during game two of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center. (Kyle Terada-Imagn Images)

Why? He thinks the Mavericks and GM Nico Harrison made a “tremendous mistake” trading him to the Los Angeles Lakers. 

“I want everybody to know I’m wearing Luka’s shoes, his new shoes from Nike…and I’m wearing them in protest for the trade from Dallas,” Nelson told the crowd. “I think it was a tremendous mistake by the Dallas franchise to trade him. I want everybody to know that.”

Nelson is a part of a mass group that believes Harrison made the wrong move in trading Doncic to Los Angeles, which was one of the most shocking trades in recent memory anywhere in professional sports. 

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Mavericks fans let Harrison know it, too, as chants filled stadiums home and away, while a group of fans even held a fake funeral outside American Airlines Center days after the deal went down in February. 

Dallas, though, may have gotten bailed out after the NBA Draft Lottery saw them win the No. 1 overall pick. The Mavericks will presumably take Duke’s Cooper Flagg later this month. 

Dec 23, 2024; Dallas, Texas; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) checks the scoreboard during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at the American Airlines Center. (Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)

Still, Mavericks fans weren’t happy to see Doncic, who helped lead the team to the NBA Finals last year, moving out west. 

While the Lakers didn’t make a deep NBA Playoffs run, Doncic had similar numbers with the Lakers compared to the Mavericks. He averaged 28.2 points per game (28.1 in Dallas) with 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game over 28 contests. 

Nelson and many others have their opinions, but what’s done is done now for the Mavericks. Time will tell who exactly won the trade. 

Former general manager Don Nelson speaks to the media before game two between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center. (Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images)

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Nelson is a Hall of Famer coach, and one of the best in league history with San Antonio Spurs legend Gregg Popovich being the only one with more coaching wins all-time. He had 1,335 regular-season wins and 75 more in the playoffs during his time coaching the Milwaukee Bucks (1976-87), Golden State Warriors (1988-94), New York Knicks (1995-96), Mavericks (1997-2005), and Warriors once more from 2006-10.

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