Nellie Ball to Nellie Kush: We Remember Don Nelson

Recently, basketball lost one of its most innovative minds this week.

Don Nelson, the Hall of Fame player and coach who spent more than four decades around the NBA, died Sunday at 86.

For basketball fans like myself, Nelson’s legacy is hard to miss. Before becoming one of the league’s most successful coaches, he won five NBA championships as a player with the Boston Celtics. After his playing days ended, Nelson went on to coach the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks. 

It was his time with Golden State where he helped change how the game was played. With Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond, his teams were high octane, scoring points in bunches.He wasn’t afraid to experiment with smaller lineups, unconventional positions and a faster offensive style. He helped popularize concepts such as the point forward and small-ball basketball long before those ideas became commonplace across the NBA.

He retired from coaching in 2010 with 1,335 career wins. Gregg Popovich eventually passed that mark, but Nelson remains second on the NBA’s all-time coaching wins list.

But CashColorCannabis readers might appreciate what Nelson did after basketball just as much.

He went to Maui and started growing weed.

After retiring, Nelson settled on a 22-acre farm in Hawaii, where he grew flowers, coffee and cannabis. In 2019, Nelson gave fans a glimpse into his post-NBA life during an appearance on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Nelson revealed that cannabis had become part of his daily life, something he said he never used during his playing or coaching career.

Nelson grew his own cannabis for personal medicinal use, even giving his homegrown flower a name that could only come from a former NBA coach: Nellie Kush.

Growing cannabis also appeared to bring out the same attention to detail that Nelson brought to basketball. Speaking about caring for his plants, Nelson explained that they needed water, music and even a blessing as part of the process.

It was an unexpected second act for someone who spent decades pacing NBA sidelines.

Then again, maybe it wasn’t that unexpected.

Nelson spent his basketball career willing to do things differently despite the status quo. Retirement seemed to follow a similar script.

Instead of chasing another coaching job or spending his remaining years permanently attached to basketball, Nelson found a different pace in Maui. He farmed. He played poker. He enjoyed cannabis. And after the devastating Maui wildfires in 2023, he reportedly opened his rental properties to families who had lost their homes.

Don Nelson will rightfully be remembered as a five-time NBA champion, Hall of Famer and one of the most influential coaches the sport has ever seen.

Around here, we’ll also remember the guy who walked away from the NBA, moved to Maui and started tending to Nellie Kush.

That’s one hell of a retirement.

Rest well, Coach.