The basketball world gathered in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday to celebrate the life and legacy of Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson, who passed away on August 9, 2026, at the age of 86. Held at the Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, the memorial service drew a distinguished crowd of NBA royalty, including Steve Nash, Rick Carlisle, and Mitch Richmond. Among the most touching moments came from former San Antonio Spurs head coach and now team president, Gregg Popovich, who offered a heartfelt eulogy acknowledging his deep debt to the coaching visionary.

Introduced by former NBA coach Del Harris, who noted that Popovich eventually “surpassed [Don Nelson] on the all-time winningest coaches towards the end of his career,” Popovich took the podium to issue a hilarious yet deeply emotional confession to his late mentor.

“And for that coach, I apologize because I didn’t deserve it,” Popovich said in response to Harris’ statement regarding surpassing Nelson’s standard for all-time NBA wins.

What really moved the NBA world was the next part of Popovich’s speech where he directly credits Coach Nellie on the tactical roots of his record-breaking success that brought five NBA championships to San Antonio.

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“Because most of the stuff that I ran in San Antonio, I stole from you. And I just tweaked it because I had different players. And that’s the truth.”

The room burst into laughter but Pop meant it very seriously. When Popovich broke Nelson’s record of 1,335 career victories in March 2022, Nelson was among the first to publicly congratulate him, celebrating his apprentice who built upon his framework.

For most of the event, the Spurs legend was overwhelmed by the atmosphere and grief. Reflecting on the turnout of basketball giants in the room, Popovich injected his signature humor into the solemn occasion.

“I’m trying to recover. I got a little PTSD here, looking around at all these people that were opponents, mostly,” Popovich joked to more laughter. “Oh God. That’s great. I think that it’s obviously sad for everyone that it has to be an event like this for everybody to get together, but it’s emblematic of what Nellie did for almost all of us in the room.”

Before becoming the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs in 1996 and eventually overtaking Nelson as the winningest coach in NBA history in 2022, Popovich served as an assistant under Nelson with the Golden State Warriors from 1992 to 1994.

Popovich has frequently referred to those two seasons alongside “Nellie” as the happiest years of his professional basketball journey.

Beyond the tactical innovations and the pursuit of wins, Popovich emphasized that Nelson’s impact was defined by his extraordinary generosity and human warmth. Towards the end of his eulogy, Pop was visibly emotional as he spoke about their decades-long friendship.

He underscored that behind the eccentric persona and revolutionary “Nellie Ball” offense was an extraordinarily compassionate figure.

“His heart is bigger than the moon, and it’s soft as marshmallows when you get to know him. That’s who he was to me,” Pop remarked when describing his lifelong mentor.

As the basketball fraternity paid its final respects in Dallas, Popovich ensured that Nelson’s foundational influence on modern basketball tactics and his irreplaceable spirit would remain forever enshrined.