Donnie Nelson

Donn Charles "Donnie" Nelson (born September 10, 1962 in Iowa City, Iowa) is an American basketball executive. He is currently the general manager and president of basketball operations for the Dallas Mavericks of National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the son of Don Nelson, the former head coach of the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks. In a 2007 Sports Illustrated article ranking the NBA's personnel bosses from 1 to 30, Nelson was ranked No. 2. In a 2009 Yahoo! Sports article Nelson was ranked the third best general manager of the decade after producing nine 50-plus win seasons in a row and the first Finals appearance in franchise history in 2006. Nelson assembled the Mavericks team that would later win the 2011 NBA Championship.

Nelson is one of the co-owners of the Texas Legends, an NBA Development League affiliate of the Mavericks, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Frisco.

Donnie is the second of four children born to Don and Sharon Nelson, and the only son. He was born in Iowa City during his father's final year at the University of Iowa, and was raised in Natick, Massachusetts as Don played for the Boston Celtics. Growing up to proportions similar to his father, Nelson also took up basketball, playing in high school for Worcester Academy. However, a broken ankle reduced his playing efficacy. Don's job coaching the Milwaukee Bucks had made the family move to Brookfield, Wisconsin, and the same day Donnie graduated and was driven back home by Sharon in 1982, Don decided to leave his wife. Wishing to remain closer to his mother, Donnie gave up on playing in Iowa or Indiana, and instead went to the Division III Wheaton College in Illinois, where his older sister Julie studied. Despite being an All-America player with Wheaton, he asked his father not to make any calls for a professional tryout. The summer after his freshman year, he joined the Athletes in Action team, traveling first to South America and then to Europe. The experience made Nelson interested in bringing international players to the NBA, a trademark of his subsequent career. He graduated in 1986.

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