Nellie needs 10 wins to pass Wilkens

(Don Nelson yells in a game. Photo by Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)

It hasn’t been a good year for Don Nelson and the Golden State Warriors. If the NBA season ended today, the Warriors’ 27.5% winning percentage would be the lowest of Nellie’s 31-year coaching career, and Nelson still faces rumors that he will be fired at the end of the season. Ironically, Nelson’s least-successful season as a coach could be the one that puts him on the apex of the coaching win list; with 1,323 wins, Nelson needs only 10 more w’s to pass Lenny Wilkens for the all-time record.

Golden State has 31 games left in the ‘09-10 season, which -- in theory -- should give Nelson a solid chance at passing the record. But the Warriors are the third-worst team in the league and 10 wins could be hard to come by. Prior to their 30-point domination of the Los Angeles Clippers, the Warriors had lost nine in a row and 13 of 15, with their only wins coming against the Bulls and Nets.