A few hours after walking away from what he does best, Don Nelson breezed into one of his favorite bars with his dog, Lucky, popped the top on a cold one and mowed down the competition at shuffleboard.
These are not the actions of a man upset or conflicted about his decision to step down as Mavericks coach.
"I feel like a kid out of high school," Nelson said as the NCAA Tournament game between Texas Tech and Gonzaga blared on the TV behind him. "You know how you felt on that first summer day when you didn't have to get up and go to school?
"That's kind of the way I feel."
Nelson left the way he coached, giving us all an entertaining and surprising twist to discuss as he rides into the Maui sunset
The genius of Nelson is his ability to make reasoned, cogent decisions appear to materialize off the top of his head. He relishes the element of surprise and uses it to give his ideas more energy and weight.
The phrase "dumb as a fox" comes to mind.
A lot of coaches devise an exit plan. Nelson is one of the few accomplished and politic enough to pull it off.
Mark Cuban is one of the few owners open enough to let him do it.
Nelson has another year on his contract to coach after this one. But we all knew where this was headed.
Nelson leaves the team for 10 games early in the season to undergo shoulder surgery he could have postponed until the summer. He takes another three games off to be with his wife, Joy, to see her through surgery.
Avery Johnson goes 9-4 in those games. There were five other games Johnson coached that weren't announced. Nelson said his assistant won four of those games.
The time away allowed Nelson to disconnect from the team and make this move easier. More importantly, it allowed the Mavericks to become Johnson's team.
Johnson ran practice. He set the emotional tone. He was calm and decisive during games. This earned the respect of the players and the confidence of Cuban.
The owner said he would not have approved the change if Johnson hadn't handled himself so well during that 10-game stretch.
"I trust A.J., and I trust Nellie's judgment," Cuban said. "But seeing A.J. and how the guys responded to him and how much he absorbed from Nellie really made it easier for me to accept."
Johnson had a taste of what it meant to be a head coach and was successful.
Did anyone believe this team would go into next season with him as the assistant? The table was set for him to take over during the off-season.
Nelson decided why wait and run the risk of letting another team muddy the waters by making a run at Johnson.
Cuban said again Saturday that he expected Nelson to coach through next season. But he also said he appreciated the beauty of Nelson's plan.
"He recognizes things before slow guys like me pick it up," Cuban said.
Nelson opened up a bit Saturday afternoon, saying, "a part of me died" when the club lost Steve Nash in free agency. He wasn't pointing fingers at Cuban. He wasn't upset. But it does give a glimpse into his mind-set entering this season.
Nelson leaves with more victories than any coach in NBA history other than Lenny Wilkens. He never won a championship or took a team to the Finals as a coach.
But in fairness, none of his teams were favored to do so.
"There are definitely things I regret," Nelson said. "About the only thing I regret this season is that we haven't played well at home.
"Other than that, you are what you are. In my career, I haven't had an opportunity to get to the Finals. I've worked as hard as anybody to do that, and it hasn't happened. That's just the way it is."
Joy Nelson cried Friday night. Pat Russell, the coach's secretary, cried when she heard the news Saturday morning. Even Cuban conceded he "shed a tear."
The last person who felt like crying was Nelson. He stepped down the way he wanted, turned the job over to who he wanted and will still be around the organization as a consultant.
He's at peace with this next chapter in his life.
"Hey," Nelson yelled to the bartender before his second game of shuffleboard. "You got any more Bud Lites back there?"
These are not the actions of a man upset or conflicted about his decision to step down as Mavericks coach.
"I feel like a kid out of high school," Nelson said as the NCAA Tournament game between Texas Tech and Gonzaga blared on the TV behind him. "You know how you felt on that first summer day when you didn't have to get up and go to school?
"That's kind of the way I feel."
Nelson left the way he coached, giving us all an entertaining and surprising twist to discuss as he rides into the Maui sunset
The genius of Nelson is his ability to make reasoned, cogent decisions appear to materialize off the top of his head. He relishes the element of surprise and uses it to give his ideas more energy and weight.
The phrase "dumb as a fox" comes to mind.
A lot of coaches devise an exit plan. Nelson is one of the few accomplished and politic enough to pull it off.
Mark Cuban is one of the few owners open enough to let him do it.
Nelson has another year on his contract to coach after this one. But we all knew where this was headed.
Nelson leaves the team for 10 games early in the season to undergo shoulder surgery he could have postponed until the summer. He takes another three games off to be with his wife, Joy, to see her through surgery.
Avery Johnson goes 9-4 in those games. There were five other games Johnson coached that weren't announced. Nelson said his assistant won four of those games.
The time away allowed Nelson to disconnect from the team and make this move easier. More importantly, it allowed the Mavericks to become Johnson's team.
Johnson ran practice. He set the emotional tone. He was calm and decisive during games. This earned the respect of the players and the confidence of Cuban.
The owner said he would not have approved the change if Johnson hadn't handled himself so well during that 10-game stretch.
"I trust A.J., and I trust Nellie's judgment," Cuban said. "But seeing A.J. and how the guys responded to him and how much he absorbed from Nellie really made it easier for me to accept."
Johnson had a taste of what it meant to be a head coach and was successful.
Did anyone believe this team would go into next season with him as the assistant? The table was set for him to take over during the off-season.
Nelson decided why wait and run the risk of letting another team muddy the waters by making a run at Johnson.
Cuban said again Saturday that he expected Nelson to coach through next season. But he also said he appreciated the beauty of Nelson's plan.
"He recognizes things before slow guys like me pick it up," Cuban said.
Nelson opened up a bit Saturday afternoon, saying, "a part of me died" when the club lost Steve Nash in free agency. He wasn't pointing fingers at Cuban. He wasn't upset. But it does give a glimpse into his mind-set entering this season.
Nelson leaves with more victories than any coach in NBA history other than Lenny Wilkens. He never won a championship or took a team to the Finals as a coach.
But in fairness, none of his teams were favored to do so.
"There are definitely things I regret," Nelson said. "About the only thing I regret this season is that we haven't played well at home.
"Other than that, you are what you are. In my career, I haven't had an opportunity to get to the Finals. I've worked as hard as anybody to do that, and it hasn't happened. That's just the way it is."
Joy Nelson cried Friday night. Pat Russell, the coach's secretary, cried when she heard the news Saturday morning. Even Cuban conceded he "shed a tear."
The last person who felt like crying was Nelson. He stepped down the way he wanted, turned the job over to who he wanted and will still be around the organization as a consultant.
He's at peace with this next chapter in his life.
"Hey," Nelson yelled to the bartender before his second game of shuffleboard. "You got any more Bud Lites back there?"
