READ: Former NBA Coach Don Nelson Enjoying Poker & Pot in Retirement

Don Nelson

With the NBA playoffs underway, Alex Williams of the New York Times sat down with renowned NBA coach Don Nelson in his retirement home in Maui, Hawaii. Nelson, often referred to as "Nellie," is credited for inventing "Nellie Ball" and other unique basketball team strategy. He's also a Hall of Famer and holds the record for most wins as an NBA coach with 1,335 regular season victories.

The retired coach shared what he's been up to in retirement, including running some real estate operations and hosting home poker games, which regularly feature the likes of Willie Nelson, Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson. In the interview titled, "Don Nelson Talks Hoops, Poker, and, Uh, Weed," Nellie shares some reads on these celebs, talks some basketball, and makes mention of his relatively new use of medical marijuana to ease some old injury pain — a habit he picked up, not surprisingly, from Willie Nelson himself.

Read the full story in The New York Times here.

Lead photo courtesy of Sean P. Anderson via Flickr

Sharelines
  • "Woody [Harrelson]'s a terrible card player. Pretty good chess player, though."

  • "[Willie Nelson] never saw a card he didn't like" --Don Nelson

Name Surname

More Stories

Other Stories