With the basketball world currently engrossed with all the wonderful moments from the recently-concluded Hall of Fame induction ceremony, former NBA coach Don Nelson has somehow made his way to the top of the trending list of the Twitterverse. The 78-year-old can credit his rather questionable look as his recent claim to fame.
As pointed out by Jamie Cooper of Dime Magazine, Nelson has been keeping busy with other, non-basketball-related matters since retiring from the sport years ago.
“By his own accounts, he leads a pretty quiet life these days on his farm in Maui where he grows weed and hangs out with Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson. No, really. That’s what he does.”
This is shocking news to those who are unfamiliar with Nelson's post-NBA activities. However, this pretty much explains why the three-time Coach of the Year winner looked like a completely different person when he showed up to the Hall of Fame festivities on Friday.
As expected, Twitter went absolutely nuts. Here are some of the best of the bunch.
Don Nelson has been hanging out with Owen Wilson so long that he turned in to Sting. pic.twitter.com/14UtfTTlSy
— Taco Trey Kerby (@treykerby) September 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/SkinWade/status/1038176289629380608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1038187685687558145%7Ctwgr%5E383231323b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fuproxx.com%2Fdimemag%2Fdon-nelson-hall-of-fame-ceremony-look-reactions%2F
Don Nelson about to fight John Wick to the death pic.twitter.com/0eBbxHmeTf
— Justin Rowan (@Cavsanada) September 7, 2018
Don Nelson retired and became George Carlin pic.twitter.com/iEblitvSiH
— Alex B. (@KnicksCentral) September 8, 2018
Barely recognized him RT @CuffsTheLegend: Don Nelson signed with Death Row Records pic.twitter.com/7VGl53orx7
— 💪 (@Gym2Lift) September 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/JoeyDevine/status/1038181966707798017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1038181966707798017%7Ctwgr%5E383231323b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fuproxx.com%2Fdimemag%2Fdon-nelson-hall-of-fame-ceremony-look-reactions%2F
I need to move to Hawaii, Don Nelson looks like a cross between Pat Riley and Harvey Keitel. Also, Steve Nash pic.twitter.com/SNgtpyLqQR
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) September 7, 2018
Nelson is just obviously living his best life. Retirement has apparently done wonders for the former coach and player, and after everything he has contributed to the sport, no one has the right to tell him otherwise.