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Don Nelson, the second-winningest head coach in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a five-time NBA champion as a player, died at the age of 86.
The NBA said in a statement that Nelson, who won five championships as a player before becoming one of the winningest head coaches in league history, had died.
Nelson won five NBA titles with the Boston Celtics in 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974 and 1976. He served as an NBA head coach from 1976 to 2010.
Over his coaching career, Nelson led the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks, and was named NBA Coach of the Year three times.
Nelson was known for an unorthodox coaching approach called "Nellie Ball," which relied on smaller, faster lineups to create mismatches through pace and spacing. The approach was later adopted by other teams across the league.
Nelson finished his coaching career with 1,335 wins, the second-most in NBA history. He was also inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Nelson's family said in a statement that he "peacefully went to be with the Lord" on Sunday morning, surrounded by relatives. Tributes followed from the Warriors, Mavericks and Celtics, teams he had coached or played for during his career.
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