Former Hawkeye Don Nelson Earns NBA Lifetime Achievement Award

Basketball Hall of Famer and three-time NBA Coach of the Year Don Nelson received another career honor on Sunday. The former Hawkeye great has been selected as the winner of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, according to ESPN.

When Did Don Nelson Play at the University of Iowa? 

Don Nelson attended Rock Island High School in the Quad Cities and was recruited to the University of Iowa by another Rock Island grad, Hawkeye coach Sharm Scheuerman.

As a junior at Iowa, Nelson averaged 23 points and 10 rebounds per game as the Hawkeyes finished second in the Big Ten at 18-6. During his senior year, Nelson put up 23 points and 12 rebounds per game, but Iowa finished 13-11. When Nelson left Iowa City, he was Iowa's all-time leading scorer.

Who Did Don Nelson Play for in the NBA?

Nelson was selected 17th overall by the Chicago Zephyrs in the 1962 NBA Draft. He played two years for Chicago before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. After two seasons in L.A., Nelson headed East to play for the Boston Celtics. His first year, he was the sixth man off the bench for a Boston team that would go on to win the NBA title in 1966. Nelson would win four more championships with Boston before retiring in 1976,

What Teams did Don Nelson Coach in the NBA?

ESPN reports that Nelson retired in 2010 as the NBA's all-time coaching wins leader. He kept the record for 12 years before Greg Popovich surpassed him in 2022. Nelson is one of only two coaches to have at least 250 wins with three different NBA franchises, according to ESPN. Those teams include Milwaukee, Dallas, and Golden State. He also briefly coached the New York Knicks.

Nelson took his teams to the playoffs 18 times as a coach, according to ESPN.

Congratulations to an all-time great Hawkeye and an NBA legend, Don Nelson!