FRISCO, TEXAS — Don Nelson, the Hall of Fame coach who ranks second in NBA history in career wins and reshaped how the league thinks about pace and small-ball lineups, died Sunday at his home. He was 86.

No official cause of death was disclosed, though the Dallas Morning News reported Nelson had suffered a stroke roughly three weeks earlier and had since been in hospice care, according to ABC7 News. "On Sunday morning our beloved husband, dad, grandfather and great-grandfather Don Nelson peacefully went to be with the Lord, surrounded by his loving family," his family said in a statement.

31 Seasons, Three Coach of the Year Awards

Nelson coached 31 NBA seasons across stints with the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors (twice), New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks, compiling a 1,335-1,063 record that stood as the league's all-time wins record until Gregg Popovich surpassed him in 2022. He won NBA Coach of the Year three times, in 1983, 1985 and 1992, and is enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame both as a coach and as a player, having won five championships as a forward with the Boston Celtics, according to GoLocalProv.

Nelson was best known for pioneering an up-tempo, small-ball style decades before it became the league norm, a philosophy that helped his undersized, eighth-seeded 2007 Warriors upset the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks — the team he had coached for years before — in one of the most famous upsets in NBA playoff history.

Tributes poured in from across the league Wednesday, with current and former players and coaches crediting Nelson's willingness to experiment with lineups and pace for reshaping how modern NBA offenses are built. His son, Donnie Nelson, also spent years as an NBA executive, most notably as general manager of the Mavericks.