A Matter of Control and Vision

The Jeff Van Gundy Firing is nothing new. The NBA is a business and the coach works for the man writing the checks. In business, he who has the money makes the rules. If the guy writing the checks tells you to run an uptempo offense, guess what. You do that. Jeff Van Gundy knows how to run uptempo. He knows basketball inside and out. If he wanted to adjust he could do it but he steadfastly refused to. This firing has all the same earmarks as the Don Nelson/Mark Cuban conflict that eventually led to Nellie's firing. The two men just didn't like each other. Bottom line is that like Nellie, Jeff Van Gundy didn't get on the same page as the owner.

The Don Nelson Firing

Nellie vs. Cuban

Don Nelson and Mark Cuban didn't like each other long before they started squabbling over $6 million Nellie says he's owed.

Like most business relationships gone bad, the Nellie-Cuban beef was all about control.

Nellie wanted -- demanded, actually -- the final word. Cuban figured that as long as he signed the checks, he was the boss. A strained relationship got ugly when they disagreed about whether Dirk should sit out Game 6 of the 2003 Western Conference finals.

They tried their best to ignore each other until they finally found something they could agree on -- that everybody would be better off if they parted ways.

With the Mavs and Nellie's Warriors meeting in the playoffs, I figure it's my duty to try to stir up all those hard feelings. David Moore's story written on the one-year anniversary of the divorce is the best I've read about the nasty relationship. Judge for yourself by following the jump.

By DAVID MOORE
Staff Writer

Don Nelson settles his big, bear of a frame into the couch. He sips a latte and wears a relaxed smile, the kind never seen on a coach's face at this time of year.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Nelson's decision to walk away from the Mavericks bench. He retains a passionate interest in the team, having attended or watched every game, but is no longer burdened by the decisions and responsibilities that go with coaching.

The transition has been seamless. Owner Mark Cuban has a vibrant franchise and a coach he enjoys being around, a relationship he hasn't experienced since first purchasing the club. Avery Johnson is blessed with a talented group that has given him more victories in 82 games than any other coach in NBA history. There is less tension in the front office and no sniping behind the scenes now that the top figures in the organization get along.

Nelson has been to Maui, New Zealand and the Oscars, scoring tickets over beers and shuffleboard with actor Owen Wilson. He has a role in a series likely to be picked up by HBO and will open a bar on the edge of downtown Dallas in the next few days.

Is there any need to ask how he's doing?

"I don't know how it can be any better," Nelson said.

Life is certainly better than it was in his final two years as coach when Cuban openly questioned Nelson's commitment and practices. The two men locked horns on a series of issues that left their relationship in shambles and opened the door for Johnson.

It's easy to forget that Cuban and Nelson started off on good terms.

Donnie Nelson, the club's president of basketball operations, was an assistant coach when Cuban purchased the franchise in January 2000. Donnie Nelson said Cuban helped energize his father and the whole organization after spending what he called two years in the desert.

Cuban respects Don Nelson's offensive creativity. But both men, in the view of Donnie Nelson, possess "a drive that is abnormal," and that led to conflict.

Cuban believes that commitment, focus and passion are essential to success. The irony is the more success the Mavericks achieved, the more his reservations grew about those qualities in Nelson.

Mounting tension

The Mavericks hit a bit of a lull shortly after opening the 2002-03 season with 14 consecutive wins. Cuban expressed his concerns to Nelson, who took it as an attack of his philosophy and practice habits. The coach assembled his staff and a few key players in a room and told them their boss had something to say.

"Guys, we need a sense of urgency," Cuban remembers saying. "We have got something to prove. If he [Nelson] doesn't want to say it, I will.

"That was it. I didn't like being put on the spot like that, but that was the extent of it, and it was never brought up again."

Nelson doesn't know if he handled the issue correctly. But he does know he offended Cuban and said their relationship was never the same afterward. The rift widened later that season during the Western Conference Finals.

Forward Dirk Nowitzki sprained his left knee in Game 3 of the team's series against San Antonio. He missed the next two games as the Mavericks went down, 3-2.

Doctors cleared Nowitzki for the crucial Game 6. Nowitzki said he wanted to play. But Nelson suffered a similar injury during his playing career and believed his young star was unrealistic. His refusal to play Nowitzki led to a heated exchange with Cuban in which Nelson told his owner the only way the forward would take the court was if he was fired on the spot.

"He actually thought about it," Nelson said. "I could tell."

Cuban said he didn't consider firing Nelson. But he asked why the club employed doctors if they weren't going to trust their opinion. He couldn't understand why Nelson refused to dress Nowitzki and let him try.

"It was there I realized what I had suspected before, that Nellie really preferred to be the underdog," Cuban said. "Even with the possibility of a championship at stake."

The accusation that he used Nowitzki's injury as an excuse to fail infuriated Nelson, who maintains what was said in that meeting "helped destroy our relationship."

The Mavericks lost the game, and the Spurs advanced to win the championship. What is Nowitzki's take on that whole episode today?

"It was the right decision," he said. "I remember going down to shoot before the game. I was going on adrenaline because I wanted to play.

"But I remember when I was standing in a timeout, my leg was real tired. So I don't think I could have played."

There were other incidents. Those close to Cuban and Nelson say the harsh feelings and mistrust escalated during Nelson's contract negotiations in the summer of 2003. Cuban grew skeptical of Nelson's personnel judgment, wondering why he assumed big contracts for players his coach failed to play.

At the half of a road game in Memphis during the 2003-04 season, Cuban offered advice during the coaches meeting. Nelson tried to throw the owner out, but Cuban said, "If we work together, we work together. So I'm staying."

Nelson turned and left.

There was something else at work here, something Donnie Nelson labels a generational divide. Nelson is 65, making him 18 years older than Cuban. One of the few things the two agreed on at the end was that Johnson should be the team's next coach.

"The difference was, I was so much his senior," Nelson said. "I was almost like his father. As he grew in stature, there was a conflict there.

"I'm set in my ways. I want to do it a certain way. When I say something, I always expected it to be done. It was the final word. When it wasn't the final word anymore, he was the final word, there was a conflict.

"With Avery, they're closer to the same age. It's more like brothers now. That's working real well, at least it seems."

Smooth sailing

Cuban and Nelson rarely talked at the end. That's why assistant coach Del Harris served as the intermediary who brokered the deal that led to Nelson leaving with 18 games left in the regular season.

Cuban and Johnson talk all the time. If the owner misses a game, Johnson will e-mail or phone. Cuban calls the relationship a beautiful thing.

"For me, one of the healthiest things about the organization is our relationship," Johnson said. "That's one of the great things about where we are now. We communicate.

"Nellie would always complain about Mark being around the huddles. Mark being around the huddles gave him a chance to see what I do strategically, see how I communicate, hear how I handle adversity, hear how I discipline, see what plays I draw up in the last seconds of a game.

"Had he not been around, I don't know if his comfort level would have been as high to hire me as coach."

That's another difference. Johnson is at the stage of his coaching career where he needs to earn Cuban's trust and confidence. He doesn't view it as an intrusion.

Nelson viewed it as usurping his authority.

Not that Johnson is a yes man. He listens to Cuban's ideas but isn't afraid to tell the owner when he thinks he's off base. Both men treat each other with the respect that was missing at the end of the relationship between Cuban and Nelson.

"Even though we may be on the same street, we have different addresses," Johnson said. "That's OK. The way he [Cuban] shows his passion may not be the way I show my passion.

"Instead of always being dissatisfied with each others differences, celebrate them."

Johnson is clearly uncomfortable talking about what went wrong with Cuban and Nelson. He's adamant that he shouldn't be portrayed as a superhero while Nelson comes across as a bad guy. Johnson wonders why people don't talk about all the good Nelson did for the franchise and allow him to ride off into the sunset.

One never knows where the sun will set on Nelson these days. It could be Los Angeles, where the former coach is scheduled to be two days a week for 14 weeks if HBO picks up that series.

Nelson said he has never had a better year in his life but refuses to rule out a return. His close ties with Sacramento owners Joe and Gavin Maloof - who set up his role on the proposed series and invited Nelson and his wife, Joy, to a party after the Academy Awards - has led to speculation he will wind up with the Kings.

For now, Nelson simply enjoys life and feels a tremendous sense of pride for what Johnson has accomplished. He and Cuban have communicated only once in the past year, by e-mail. Nelson said it's too soon for the two to renew their friendship but believes one day they will. Cuban said no business relationship is perfect but still "thinks the world of Nellie."

All three know the decisions made one year ago were best for them and the franchise.

"Absolutely," Nelson said. "It couldn't be better. All sides are happy. It's the only time I've ever seen it in this business.

"There are no negatives at all."