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This Day in Basketball History

REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

Hint: This should be called "Don Nelson Day".

2001 - Don Nelson reaches 1,000 wins

Dallas Mavericks' head coach Don Nelson becomes the third NBA bench boss to win 1,000 games, following a 113-97 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Nelson ultimately retires nine years later from the Golden State Warriors, whom he joined in 2006, as the highest winning coach in NBA history, with 1,335 victories. 

Coincidentally, on the same day in 2001, Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan also wins his 800th career game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Sloan later joins the 1,000 club in 2008, becoming the first coach in NBA history to do so under a single brand. He currently ranks fourth all-time with 1,223 wins.

1997 - Bubba Wells fouls out in three minutes

In a moment of poor judgement, Mavericks coach Nelson sends out seldom-used shooting guard Bubba Wells to foul Dennis Rodman, a lousy free-throw shooter. 

Wells racks up six fouls in three minutes, breaking the 41-year-old NBA record previously set by Dick Farley of the Syracuse Nationals in 1956. Nelson's comical strategy fails, and Rodman converts nine of the 12 free throws. The Bulls win 111-105.

1987 - Nelson traded to Warriors

To complete the Dec. 29 Don Nelson trifecta, the coach - then under contract with the Milwaukee Bucks - is traded to the Golden State Warriors for a 1988 second-round draft pick. Nelson did not coach during the 1987-88 season, taking the helm of the Warriors for the first of two stints in 1988-89. 

Birthdays

1955 - Chubby Cox
1946 - Bud Odgen
1943 - Ron Perry

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