[Source](https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/warriors/article/former-nba-coach-don-nelson-opens-hawaii-homes-18295447.php)
> Former Golden State Warriors coach Don Nelson has spent much of the past week on the phone, working to give his short-term Maui rentals to people who lost their houses in the nation’s deadliest wildfires in more than a century.
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> “We’re doing the best we can, but we only have space for about 24 people,” Nelson said in a phone interview Monday. “There are thousands of people homeless right now. It’s overwhelming.”
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> In 2011, shortly after settling in West Maui full-time following a Hall of Fame coaching career, Nelson started to invest in local real estate. What started as a side gig has blossomed into a thriving rental company. Desperate to help evacuees from the recent wildfires that devastated Lahaina and other nearby communities, Nelson, 83, has leased his properties for free to anyone in need.
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> Helping provides Nelson some peace. None of his properties, including the family home he bought 24 miles south of Lahaina almost 30 years ago, were damaged in the wildfires.
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> But even though Nelson didn’t lose a house or loved one in a natural disaster that as of Monday afternoon had killed almost 100 people and destroyed more than 2,200 structures, he feels a profound grief. Maui is his chosen home.
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> With the government struggling to meet evacuees’ needs, local volunteers have mobilized in droves. Nelson’s daughter, Lee Anderson, converted the Kihei wedding venue she runs into a distribution center for essential goods. Joy has spent much of her time there, handing out meals to the homeless, stacking Amazon packages and calling nearby shelters.
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> Whenever a spot comes open at one of the family’s rental properties, the Nelsons fill it quickly. Chris Fontian, one of Nelson’s daughters who was visiting from Chicago when the fires started, has helped clean the rental units for new guests. When someone needs a ride, Don and Joy try to drive them — even if gasoline can be hard to find in certain parts of Maui these days.
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> “I’m not going anywhere,” Nelson said. “This is home. Right now, it needs all our help.”
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by NokCha_
35 Comments
Saint!
Nelson doing more than the president is
What a boss. Was always a fan of his coaching back in the day. Glad he seems to be a good person, too.
This is awesome and needs more traction!
Weed makes you nice! What a gem of a man
Nelson coached run and gun teams for years before it became the normal thing. Nellie was way ahead of his time. Nothing short of a basketball genius. Now I find he’s a true saint
I wish i could have his hair at 83, damn~
maybe i’m reading this wrong but isn’t part of the issue with hawaii and why the maui fires are having worse impacts on native people that non-native hawaiians are buying up housing and making it unaffordable for native hawaiians and making all of it rental/airbnb type for tourists?
not trying to dunk on nelson specifically bc he’s not the only one doing this and the general trend is what’s actually damaging, and because he is trying to help rn which is commendable but idk it feels weird of the writer to write a hero narrative for someone that required them carrying out damaging actions to exist
correct me if i’m wrong tho
Opposite of curry
I love basketball more because of Nellie. I’ve always wanted to rent one of his properties in Maui… but it might be a while.
Damn he has my respect
Seems like a classy dude and actually cares about people
Further solidifies what a true legend Nellie is.
My favorite Don Nelson story was from Chris Herring’s Knicks book, where the team was stuck on the tarmac delayed for something like 8 or 10 hours and Nelson slept the entire time to the point where his assistant coaches thought he might be dead. When they finally took off and then landed at home, he woke up said “Wow that was a quick flight!” and the players were so fucking mad lol.
I forgot that Don Nelson moved to Maui.
Shout out to him for the big help.
This is great and all but it’s a little bit like a thief letting you use your own stuff lol. Ask locals how they feel about investors buying up all the housing stock and renting it out to tourists.
Again, this is truly a great thing for him to be doing at this moment. I’m sure the people he’s helping are grateful for it. But the fact that he owns these “short term rental properties” in the first place is actually part of a big problem in Hawaii.
r/orphancrushingmachine
I mean that’s better than nothing but call me when he straight up gives this land back to its rightful owners. Natives have nowhere to live because rich people like him keep buying up property and using it for tourism.
So why does this need to be public knowledge? People can’t do anything now without looking for social media attention
Doing more than fucking Biden has
doing more than Biden is
A nice gesture, but
> short term Maui rentals
is a nice way to drive up housing costs and the gentrification levels
The guy coached the Warriors teams that made me an NBA fan diehard.
Those We Believe teams brought out the whole bay area, those shirts were everywhere. 2007 was a magical year.
So he ruins the housing market for locals with short-term rentals just so he can give back later
“Good people” don’t own short term rentals
Good deed. Good PR piece. But FEMA is gonna reimburse him at market rate (or ~ 90%) regardless.
Good deed. Good PR piece. But FEMA is gonna reimburse him at market rate (or ~ 90%) regardless.
Based af.
Meanwhile greedy billionaire corpo’s are trying to get residents to sell their property on the cheap like the life sucking shit bags they are.
Least he could do for hogging up housing units that were barely available to local residents. Probably an unpopular view but airbnbs should be heavily restricted in places like Maui or Kona where the housing costs are punishing for the people that live there.
Willie “The Don” Nelson
I’d rather that he not own multiple properties….
Very commendable. Now, how do you ever get these people out once they are in?
Good man Nelly
That is a *nice* shirt.
People here complaining about him owning short term rentals and painting him as a bad guy are wrong. The Hawaii government could ban and crack down on these rentals, but they’re corrupt and prefer to make the vacation tax money instead of helping out locals.