Dallas Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson, instrumental in the club’s acquisitions of Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic, is leaving the organization after 24 seasons.
The Mavericks said Wednesday the club and Nelson agreed to part ways, with owner Mark Cuban saying the son of former coach Don Nelson was “instrumental to our success and helped bring a championship to Dallas.”
Donnie Nelson has earned a reputation in basketball as arguably the greatest international scout of all time considering his groundbreaking involvement in Eastern Europe (Sarunas Marčiulionis) and China (Zhizhi) combined with his role in acquiring future MVP’s Steve Nash (Canada) and Nowitzki (Germany), All-Star Porzingis (Latvia), and Rookie of the Year Dončić (Slovenia). He also famously advocated for the Mavericks to draft future MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) in 2013, only to be rebuffed by owner Mark Cuban.
Nelson joined Dallas in 1998 when his dad was named coach. A few months later, the Mavericks moved up in the draft to get Nowitzki in a trade with Milwaukee. The 7-foot German led Dallas to the franchise’s only championship in 2011.
Before the Mavericks, Donnie spent a dozen years with the Warriors while his father was the coach. It was during this time Donnie formed a pipeline with international players while scouting for the Warriors. First was Lithuanian star Marciulionis, whom the Warriors wound up drafting in the 1987 draft. It took two years, but Marciulionis eventually became the first player from the Soviet Union to play in the NBA.
Donnie also forged a relationship with the Lithuanian Olympic team. In 1991, as Lithuania had just been re-established as an independent state, the Lithuanian Basketball Federation could not rely on public funding. Knowing of Marčiulionis’s struggles, Nelson helped get sponsors for the Lithuanian team’s 1992 Summer Olympics campaign, which included the band the Grateful Dead.
As Don Nelson resigned from Golden State in 1995, Donnie also left the organization. From 1995 to 1998, Nelson was an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns. He was a major influence in getting the team to pick Steve Nash, whom he met while Nash played in high school, and would later befriend as Nash became the star of Santa Clara University.
With the Nowitzki era drawing to a close, the Mavericks made another draft-day deal for a young European in Doncic in 2018. Dallas moved up two spots to the No. 3 pick, while Atlanta got Trae Young.
Nowitzki and the teenager from Slovenia played together one season before Nowitzki retired. Doncic has twice been an All-Star and first-team All-NBA selection since then.
Nelson also served as an assistant coach in 2000, when Cuban purchased the team and was an interim coach filling in for his father on multiple occasions between 2000 and 2002.
