The famed Warriors coach let out a hearty laugh. Just like nearly ever Warriors fan, Don Nelson has watched his beloved team with keen interest lately. And even if he has become familiar with the Warriors' seemingly annual tradition with competing for an NBA championship, Nelson often has to pinch himself.
After all, Nelson gave an honest answer on if he ever saw this coming during his second stint coaching the Warriors (2006-2010 when he played an influential role in the Warriors selecting Stephen Curry with the No. 7 pick in the 2009 NBA draft.
"Of course not," Nelson said, chuckling. "I just knew I had a really great player."
Now the Warriors have several really good players. Beyond Curry, the Warriors have one of the NBA's best scorers (Kevin Durant), one of the best shooters (Klay Thompson) and one of the best defenders (Draymond Green). They also have a collaborative head coach (Steve Kerr) and a collaborative general manager (Bob Myers).
All of which paved the way for the Warriors to make history. They became only the second team in NBA history to make five consecutive NBA Finals appearances. Only the Boston Celtics did that when they won nine NBA championships out of 10 consecutive Finals stints (1959-1969).
Incidentally, Nelson is the bridge between those two franchises. After losing in two NBA Finals to Boston with the Los Angeles Lakers (1963 and 1964), Nelson signed as a free agent with the Celtics for the 1965-66 season and played a key role on that year's championship team. Decades later, Nelson coached the Warriors (1988-1995) and became one of the leading pioneers of small ball during the 'Run TMC' era.
So we caught up with Nelson about both the Celtics and Warriors dynasties...
