The Luka Doncic trade broke more hearts than headlines. It was devastating news for the 1.3 million-strong city of Dallas. But there was one more from the outside – one man who loved Doncic like one of his own. He wanted nothing but the best for the Don. One man who never wanted him to wear anything other than the Mavericks’ royal blue and black. And that man is Don Nelson.

To win the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, your honors as a coach have to be more than extraordinary. Turns out that Don himself will be the 20th confirmed recipient of the award. But that’s not what makes the headlines. “Luka is my dear friend,” Nelson said. “And to protest his being traded from the Mavericks to L.A., I’m going to wear a pair of his new shoes. I wanted to mention that. My philosophy was always, when you’ve got a great player, he’s yours for a lifetime. You don’t get rid of great players. When that happened, I was pretty disappointed.”

Nothing like the Dallas mafia looking after each other, right? With both the Dons having each other’s backs, the North of Texas is in happy tears. So let’s break it down.

Dallas fans in glee seeing Don Nelson’s support of Luka Doncic

To be honest, Mavs fan or not, everyone feels a bit like Nelson from the inside. So do the people, as they said stuff like “Lol…loved Don N. Good for him,” “Much love for Nellie. He saved this franchise from the abyss,” and “No lies detected from The Don.”

Nelson winning it was just a matter of time. But him making an ode to Luka’s trade just reflects how Dallas fans feel. “I get 15 seconds on national TV. I don’t have to say anything. Look for those shoes, goddammit.” Of course, he was their golden boy. And he didn’t wanna leave until the very end of his career. Why did this hurt? Nelson was at the heart of the Mavericks’ draft-day trade to acquire Doncic’s rights from Atlanta in June 2018.

Nico Harrison not catching strays is impossible. One fan saying “Don did not approve the trade and his phone never rang” should tell you the story of why Luka Doncic is getting pity. But it’s about the fans saying things like “Dumont please for the love of all that is holy please fire Nico and let us all start to heal properly” which more accurately sums up the mindset.

Did Nico deserve it? To an extent, yes. But what he didn’t deserve was the hate and the death threats from the fans. He even spoke of the mental breakdown that he went through after the fact. It was so bad that his first public press was at the end of the Mavs’ season. Tough stuff.

Don Nelson’s ode to Luka Doncic makes him an automatic hero in Dallas. There’s no two ways about it. And you better watch his 15 seconds of glory that he has chosen to dedicate to the Mavs’ former knight in shining armor. Dallas residents would be digging this for sure.