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Why he should be inducted:
3-time coach of the year (1983. 1985, 1992)
Named one of the top 10 NBA coaches in history by NBA.com.
2nd in all-time wins in NBA history (behind Lenny Wilkins).
Stats:
Reg Season Playoffs Season Tm Lg W L Win% W L Win% +-----------------+-----+----+-----+----+---+-----+ 1976-77 MIL NBA 27 37 .422 1977-78 MIL NBA 44 38 .537 5 4 .556 1978-79 MIL NBA 38 44 .463 1979-80 MIL NBA 49 33 .598 3 4 .429 1980-81 MIL NBA 60 22 .732 3 4 .429 1981-82 MIL NBA 55 27 .671 2 4 .333 1982-83 MIL NBA 51 31 .622 5 4 .556 1983-84 MIL NBA 50 32 .610 8 8 .500 1984-85 MIL NBA 59 23 .720 3 5 .375 1985-86 MIL NBA 57 25 .695 7 7 .500 1986-87 MIL NBA 50 32 .610 6 6 .500 1988-89 GSW NBA 43 39 .524 4 4 .500 1989-90 GSW NBA 37 45 .451 1990-91 GSW NBA 44 38 .537 4 5 .444 1991-92 GSW NBA 55 27 .671 1 3 .250 1992-93 GSW NBA 34 48 .415 1993-94 GSW NBA 50 32 .610 0 3 .000 1994-95 GSW NBA 14 31 .311 1995-96 NYK NBA 34 25 .576 1997-98 DAL NBA 16 50 .242 1998-99 DAL NBA 19 31 .380 1999-00 DAL NBA 40 42 .488 2000-01 DAL NBA 53 29 .646 4 6 .400 2001-02 DAL NBA 57 25 .695 4 4 .500 2002-03 DAL NBA 60 22 .732 10 10 .500 2003-04 DAL NBA 52 30 .634 1 4 .200 2004-05 DAL NBA 42 22 .656 +-----------------+-----+----+-----+----+---+-----+ 27 Seasons 1190 880 .575 70 85 .452 +-----------------+-----+----+-----+----+---+-----+
Stats from http://www.basketball-reference.com/
Comment:
There are college coaches in the hall of fame who never won a championship, so there is no reason to keep Nelson out. He coached during the Magic-Bird-Jordan-Shaq-and Duncan dynasties. He coached good players, like Chris Mullin, Marques Johnson, Sidney Moncrief, Dirk Nowitski, and Latrell Sprewell, but outside of that 59-game stint in New York, he never coached a top-50 player. He was an innovator and respected by his peers, as evidenced by his 3 coach of the year awards. Being 2nd in career wins seals the deal - he should be in the hall.
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