NBA Leaves the franchise after 24 years
AP
LThe Dallas Mavericks announced Wednesday that their general manager, Donnie Nelson leaves the franchise after 24 years on the team.
Nelson was instrumental in acquiring European Mavs stars Dirk Nowitski and Luka Doncic, and was responsible for the NBA championship that the team won in 2011, when they beat the Miami Heat in six games.
Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavs, stated after the news was released: “Nelson was instrumental in our success and helped bring a championship to Dallas.”
Donnie Nelson joined the franchise in 1998 when his father, Don Nelson, was named the team’s coach. After a few months, the Mavs acquired Nowitzki in a trade with Milwaukee in the draft.
The 7-foot-tall German has led Dallas to win a ring in his 21 seasons with the team (1998-2019).
In the twilight of Dirk’s career, Nelson and the Mavericks leaders brought Slovenian teenager Luka Doncic to the franchise in 2018, in another change on draft night that caused Trae Young to play for the Atlanta Hawks.
Nowitzki and Doncic played together for one season, the German’s last. Since then, Luka has been an All-Star twice and was part of the All-NBA first team once.
Although the acquisitions of the European stars were successful for those in Dallas, the team has not won a playoff series since winning the ring, plus other questionable draft pick decisions both before and after the 2011 championship.
In the last 21 seasons of which Donnie Nelson was a club leader, the Mavs made the playoffs 17 times.
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