Peter Waldman of the Wall Street Journal reports that the relationship between the coach and his former boss is extremely bitter.
The crux of it is their legal wrangling: as has been reported, Don Nelson and his lawyers say Mark Cuban and the Mavericks still owe Nelson some $6.6 million. When Nelson signed his original contract with the Mavericks, before Cuban owned the team, he agreed to help the team's cash-flow by taking a chunk of his pay later. Now he'd like that money, but Cuban feels Nelson quit on the team, and isn't inclined to give it to him. Lawyers are on the case, and at some point it will likely go to arbitration.
It's not just about money, though. It's also about style, personality, and judgment. Waldman relates an anecdote (subscription required) UPDATE: The article is now free!:
But just as the Nelson-Cuban revival was peaking -- in the NBA's 2003 Western Conference finals -- it started to fall apart. With the Mavericks facing elimination by the San Antonio Spurs, the coach and owner exploded at each other over Mr. Nelson's refusal to fulfill his boss's wish to play an injured Mr. Nowitzki, according to Mavericks officials close to the team's owner.
Mr. Nowitzki had suffered sprained ligaments in his left knee in the third game of the best-of-seven series, but, with the Mavericks trailing three games to one, was cleared by team doctors to play again. Mr. Cuban confronted Mr. Nelson in the coach's office and demanded the star forward return to the court, Mavericks officials say.
Mr. Nelson refused, insisting that playing the young German with the ligament injury would jeopardize his career. The coach also confided in friends that he had promised Mr. Nowitzki's parents, when the Mavericks signed the young man at age 19, that he would look after the seven-footer in Texas like a son.
"You're just looking for excuses to lose," fumed Mr. Cuban, according to two people who heard the blowup. Mr. Nelson threw the Mavs' owner out of his office, these people say.
There's another angle too. Reportedly Nelson's Golden State contract is set up so that he currently makes less than what he would have made by staying in Dallas. But if the Warriors do beat the Mavericks, Nelson will essentially make up the difference with a bonus.
Should be a good game.
