Don Nelson has always been an unconventional and distinctive coach, and this became especially evident after he arrived in Dallas.
In the 1998 draft, Nelson finally got the big man he had dreamed of, a young player whose offensive skills could reach Ah Gan’s heights.
From the Bucks to the Lakers, to the Warriors, then to the Knicks, and finally to the Mavericks, Nelson was always in search of a giant who was comprehensive in offense and without any offensive weak spots.
In Nelson’s view, such a player is the rarest and hardest to come by; substitutes can be found for players of other positions, but such a big man is a rare gem, encountered once in decades.
Like Pat Riley, Don Nelson is also a devoted fan of Gan Guoyang, always hoping to coach Gan Guoyang.
However, Riley valued Gan Guoyang’s defense and nearly limitless stamina, as well as his steel-like physique.
In Riley’s mind, around Ah Gan, he would build a team with ironclad defense, keeping opponents’ scores under 80.
Nelson admired Gan Guoyang’s extraordinary offensive talent, his genius creativity, and rich imagination.
In Nelson’s mind, he would build a super offensive team around Ah Gan, one even more fierce than the 1998 Trail Blazers, scoring over 120 points each game.
Clearly, whether in defense or offense, Gan Guoyang was the ideal core in the minds of these top coaches.
In fact, in the 1980s, the coaching philosophies of these two coaches were opposite; Riley followed the fast-paced route, while Nelson was a representative of cunning defense.
However, time, environment, opportunities, and the reveal of innate personality with age led to a fundamental shift in their coaching paths.
Generally speaking, a coach with a controlling personality will gradually lean towards defense; the older they get, the more they demand defense, the stronger their desire for control.
On the other hand, coaches with a carefree and unconventional personality, as their experience deepens, will increasingly favor offense, enjoying the players showcasing their talents on the court.
Nelson is undoubtedly carefree and unconventional, and in his coaching style, he increasingly emphasizes the importance of offense, even at the cost of sacrificing some defensive strength.
In terms of daily talent development, Nelson highly values the exploration of player individuality; he is skilled at discovering young players’ traits and then developing training plans centered around those traits, even creating playing styles and tactics for them.
This is different from many defense-focused coaches; for many defense-focused coaches, the word "development" doesn’t exist—the development and growth of young players is something to be completed in college; playing on my team is about work, and work must meet my requirements and criteria.
Don’t meet my criteria? Then either you change, or you leave, or I leave, with no option for me to change.
This is a characteristic of defense-focused coaches; they have their own systems, and players are just pieces in that system. How you develop for your future benefit doesn’t matter to them; playing for them means meeting the requirements of the pieces.
Nelson is clearly different; he also has a system, but he values the individual characteristics of young and talented players more, tailoring training plans to suit them.
The current Dallas Mavericks have three talented young players; one is Mike Finley, traded from the Trail Blazers, another is Eddie Jones, acquired through the draft, and the last is the dream giant—Dirk Nowitzki.
The youngest, Nowitzki, is undoubtedly the one Nelson values most and is also the most challenging to nurture.
As a foreign player and a White player, Nowitzki faces undoubtedly greater difficulties in surviving and achieving in the NBA compared to domestic players.
In the 1998-1999 rookie season, Nowitzki’s performance was mediocre, with an average of 8 points and 3 rebounds, and his poor defense and subpar resistive ability made people doubt whether Nelson’s choice was correct.
At that time, some harsh Dallas fans gave Nowitzki a nickname, "Irk Nowitzki," dropping the "D" from "Dirk," leaving only "Irk," with a clear meaning pointing out Nowitzki’s lack of defense (Defense).
Unable to find his rhythm in offense and naturally weak in defense, Nowitzki felt quite lost, doubting his own abilities.
He even considered quitting and ending his contract with the Dallas Mavericks to return to Germany to play, thinking he couldn’t adapt to NBA basketball, let alone catch up to Ah Gan.
When he first joined the Mavericks, Don Nelson told Nowitzki, "Your future target, the one you have to catch up to, is Ah Gan."
Nowitzki certainly knew what level Ah Gan was at and the great achievements he had in the NBA; he couldn’t imagine that his target would be Ah Gan.
Although Gan Guoyang was also foreign, from a player development perspective, he was a local American player; he didn’t face any of the integration difficulties or pressures of joining the NBA.
Nowitzki was different; he grew up in Germany and had hardly played any American-style games before coming to the NBA, and life in America was very different from Germany.
The all-around pressure, challenges, and various dissatisfaction inevitably made him want to give up.
Fortunately, Old Nelson not only painted a rosy future for Nowitzki but also helped him solve all kinds of problems both on and off the court, allowing Nowitzki to persist.
This season, Nowitzki’s performance improved significantly, with an average scoring reaching 17 points, though his defense remained consistently poor, and he still lacked tenacity in contests—both physically and mentally.