Seems 65-year-old former Mavs coach Don Nelson is having a life the rest of us only dream about. That is, assuming you fantasize about getting drunk with Owen Wilson, acting in shows directed by George Clooney, sitting in A-list seats at the Academy Awards and bumpin' booties with Charlize Theron. And--almost forgot--getting paid a million or so by Mark Cuban for consulting for a Mavs team that's one of the best in the NBA with a record of 48-13. The line forms behind me.
Though Nellie and wife Joy sat two rows behind Clooney at the Oscars, he got the primo seats from Dallas buddy Wilson. "I was out drinking with Owen one night at my favorite dive, this little redneck bar, and he asked if I wanted to go," Nelson told The Ticket's Norm Hitzges. "I kind of blew it off, but then I made the mistake of mentioning it to Joy. She said she'd divorce me if we didn't go." (The bar, by the way, is Kings X on Forest near Greenville. Who knew?)
At The Oscars, Nellie sat next to Morgan Freeman, stared at Charlize--"My God, she's the most beautiful creature I've ever seen"--and was even called onto the post-show party dance floor by Jamie Foxx. "I'm not a big dancer," he said. "But it was so crowded I just kind of bounced up and down like a cork." When's he not hob-nobbing with Robin Leach's chums, Nellie took Joy on a vacation to New Zealand, spent some time at his home in Maui and played--surprise!--a basketball coach in a pilot created by Clooney. He also got a slam-dunk nomination for basketball's Hall of Fame, prompting the most ridiculous sports column (registration required) in the history of The Dallas Morning News.
On a more mundane note, Nelson will soon open his own sports bar--Nellie's--inside Gilley's downtown. "Very exciting," he says, "we're putting in the shuffleboard tables today."
Nice, but wake us up when George and Charlize and Owen pop in for a drink. —Richie Whitt
