Nelson underwent surgery to remove his prostate Jan. 4 at Salt Lake City. He returned to his home in Maui three days later, and recuperated in Hawaii until returning to Dallas over the weekend. While Donnie Nelson relishes a future opportunity to be a full-time NBA coach, he's ready to have his father back. I came to Dallas to help him get a championship team, and I want to see that through. He insists that he is getting too much credit for the success the Mavericks had during his six weeks as acting head coach.
Players win and lose games.
So I'm very happy that there hasn't been a lot to write about. When Don Nelson brought his son to Dallas as an assistant three years ago, he did so with the intention of preparing his eventual successor. He postponed his planned retirement after Mark Cuban bought the team last year. As for the cancer, Nelson has one more test to take in Dallas. He and his doctors are confident that all the cancer has been removed.