The Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry recently signed a contract that will keep him with the franchise for his 18th and 19th seasons.
For a moment Tuesday at the Warriors’ training camp in Laie, Curry took the opportunity to reflect on the late Don Nelson, his first NBA coach and the man who pushed the organization to draft him in 2009.
Nelson, a long-time resident of Kihei, Maui, passed away in August at age 86.
“What he did for the game is immeasurable,” Curry said of Nelson during the opening day of training camp at the Cannon Activities Center. “Such a unique mind, a pioneer of advancing the way the game is played. He helped me a lot because he challenged me. He was the toughest coach I had.”
Curry was a skinny, baby-faced, sharp-shooting guard for Davidson, who applied for the 2009 NBA Draft after his junior season. Golden State selected Curry with the No. 7 pick at the behest of Nelson, who was in his fourth season as coach.
“Nellie was a legend throughout his NBA career as a player, coach and even post-career and being this sort of mythical figure,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He was just a character. He was just a guy everyone loved. He means especially a lot to us, the Warriors, given everything he did for this franchise going back to the Run TMC days and later on helping to draft Steph.”
Golden State finished 26-56 during Curry’s rookie year, which wound up being Nelson’s final season as an NBA head coach.
Curry averaged 24.3 points over the final 12 games of the season.
“He unlocked the fun of the game and the creativity toward the end of my rookie year when he kind of just let me go and I appreciate him for that,” Curry said of his former coach.
Curry has since become a four-time NBA champion, two-time NBA MVP, 12-time All-Star and the NBA’s all-time leader with 4,248 made 3-pointers.
He signed a two-year, $116 million contract extension last week.
Curry said he was offered a max contact that would have paid him $20 million more over the life of the extension, but took a hometown discount so the team would have more salary cap flexibility.
Curry and the Warriors will train in Laie for the remainder of the week and meet the Los Angeles Clippers at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff. It’s the second time in three years the teams are holding their training camps on Oahu.
Nelson had a previous coaching stint with the Warriors from 1988-95 during which he used an undersized lineup that relied on a run-and-gun style and spreading the floor rather than a post-up game.
The main players in “Nellie Ball” then were Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin. Thus the Run TMC moniker, which was a play off of 1980s rap group Run-DMC.
“(Nelson’s) impact on the game, the small-ball, the pace, the 3-point shooting, he was really a champion of the style that you see nowadays long before anyone else did,” Kerr said.
For his service to the franchise, the Warriors will honor Nelson with a “NELLIE” patch on their uniforms this season.
Nelson moved full-time to Kihei after his coaching career. He lived a laid-back lifestyle on the Valley Isle, one far removed from having won five NBA titles with the Boston Celtics and placing second all-time with 1,335 career coaching victories with four franchises.
Nelson maintained a man cave with a bar, poker table, pool table and shuffle board table. He often played poker with celebrities Woody Harrelson, Willie Nelson (no relation) and Owen Wilson.
Nelson also grew his own strain of medicinal cannabis called “Nellie Kush,” coffee beans and flowers on his 22-acre farm.
His biggest contribution to Maui came in August 2023 when he and his family provided free housing and meals following the Lahaina wildfires that killed more than 100 people.
“I know he was a big staple in Hawaii, out on Maui,” Curry said. “I got to go visit his compound back in the day. He will definitely be missed … our whole organization, the NBA, (my) family as a whole, a lot of people that he touched around here, too.”
