Sports Radio Interviews

Don Nelson: “What I’m trying to do is set the table for the next guy so he’s got a better team than I have this year”

November 20, 2009 – 8:15 am by Chris Fedor

Don Nelson got his wish and so did a lot of people in Golden State.  Stephen Jackson is no longer a Golden State Warrior.  Why would a team that is so bad trade away the guy that was arguably the team’s best player?  And why would they do it when all they got back was Vladimir Radmanovic, his not-so-friendly contract and Raja Bell, who is about to have surgery on his wrist?  There are a couple of reasons.  The biggest reason is because they couldn’t tolerate Captain Jack anymore.  Stephen Jackson was a huge headache, he was not happy in Golden State, he is already 31 years old and he has a bad contract that would’ve handcuffed the Warriors and prevented them from making moves to improve the team in the next couple of years.  However, after listening to this interview I came up with another reason.  The Warriors are not good enough to win this season and they know it.  I know it sounds bizarre to say that a team is not trying to win, but anytime a team trades away a guy who is arguably their best player and only get Vladimir Radmanovic and an injured Raja Bell back in return, they are not looking to win now, they are looking towards the future.  That is exactly what Golden State is doing. 

Don Nelson and the Warriors understand what they have.  They have a lot of young and talented players that have some growing to do before they can be consistently competitive.  When they go up against some of the top teams in the NBA, they are unmatched.  Even when they have all their pieces in place, they are just not good enough yet to consistently win.  By trading away Stephen Jackson and taking back what they did, the Warriors can now once again look towards the future and try to add to this roster in the next couple of years.

Don Nelson joined KNBR in San Francisco to talk about trading away Stephen Jackson, what they got in return for Stephen Jackson, his altercation with Monta Ellis and the future of the Warriors.

On the way the team has played the last couple of games after the trade: 

“Yeah, it was alright.  I thought we gave it our best effort.  I felt we got a little tired in both games towards the end.  I thought it was really, really nice that Raja played in Boston.  Those guys were pretty tired and he gave us some minutes.  I think an awful lot of that young man.  I hope his surgery is simple and he can come back and play after four weeks.”

On whether they knew that Raja Bell was going to need surgery:

“I didn’t know for sure, but I knew it was a possibility.  We were just following your instructions, you said get rid of that guy and we did.  (Host: I said get his ass out of town is what I said.)  Ok, well isn’t that what we did?  (Host: Absolutely)  We feel really good about the trade.  I think if he had one arm we probably would’ve done the deal.”

On the players they got in return for Jackson:

“No, I think we got two guys that can play in the NBA and be factors.  Raja is a very good player.  He’s got this problem with a tendon in his wrist, but they’ll fix that.  I would hope that we can have him this year, but if we can’t, we’d like to participate in the free agency when he’s a free agent.”

On what happened in New York between him and Monta Ellis:

“I just disciplined Monta.  I didn’t think he was doing the right thing in practice and disciplined him.  It’s over and that’s all I have to say about it.  (Host: Is he fine with it?)  You have to talk to him about it.”

On his relationship with Monta Ellis:

“I think the relationship can be better as we go along and it’ll have to get back to where it was at the beginning.  He’s going through a lot too.  Jack (Stephen Jackson) was his best friend, but it’ll get better I’m sure.”

On what he wants to see from Ellis going forward:

“I always thought it was important that he passed the ball and his assist numbers are better.  I haven’t changed my opinion of that.  We showed him the areas in which we feel people were open and he’s gotta find them a little bit more.  He’s playing hard, he’s doing his best and I really think he did give good effort even after Jack.  I know that was tough for him to play that first game without Jack and I though he gave good effort.”

On whether or not he has a role in financial decisions of the team:

 “I’m a coach now.  I do give my opinions when I’m asked, but that’s as far as it goes.  The management is upstairs and I coach downstairs.  Management has a lot of decisions to make up there.  Managing the budget and the cap is one of them.  It’s kind of a difficult thing to do, who gets the money and where that all goes.  I give my opinions when I’m asked about what players do I like and don’t I like.  It’s not always listened to in the past, but I would give it.  These are the players that I have to coach.  (Host: I imagine that your opinion counts for a lot.  They would be stupid not to listen.)  Not when it comes to managing the budget and how much this guys gets or that guy gets.  I’ve never been asked my opinion on those things.  There’s a separation between coaching and those decisions.  That’s the way it is and it’s fine.”

On players being disgruntled:

“Those were the guys that got the money.  They’re supposed to be our soldiers.  They’re supposed to be the guys that make us win because they’re the guys that got the money as far as managing our cap goes.  For those guys to be unhappy after they got the money, I don’t think that’s right.”

On when the Warriors will be competitive again:

“Next couple of years.  It wouldn’t be fair if I would say that I think this is a playoff team.  We have work to do this year.  What I’m trying to do is set the table for the next guy so he’s got a better team than I have this year.  We’ve got a young team; we’ve got work to do, get it in a position where it can succeed, that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Listen to Don Nelson with Razor and Mr. T on KNBR

Tags: Don Nelson, Golden State Warriors, KNBR, Monta Ellis, NBA, Stephen Jackson