Fire at will

He seems genuinely happy to be a coach in the NBA again. He jokes that it's a harder job than being GM, but nothing a few beers--and a few wins--can't fix.

"This is the worst time to make a change, when you're this far into the season," Nelson said, taking a swig of cold Bud. "We made it at a bad time, and how you going to get another quality guy to come in here? It's just a hard job to come in at mid-season. Some schmuck's gotta do it, and it might as well be me."

Especially when Perot, the man who signs your $1.4 million paycheck, asks real nice.