Hall of Fame Coach Don Nelson, Celtics Legend, Dies at 86

Don Nelson, who lived 86 full years between the hardwood and the horizon, passed away Sunday — a man who came to professional basketball as a player and left it as something closer to a philosopher. His four decades coaching across four franchises were not merely a career but a sustained argument that the game could always be played more imaginatively. In losing Nelson, the sport loses one of the rare figures who did not simply participate in history but quietly redirected its course.