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Warriors coach Don Nelson doesn't give a lot up to the media these days. He's acknowledged losing interest in the daily give-and-take with the team's beat writers and looks to end his postgame press conferences as quickly as he can.Nelson has said, though, that he likes doing radio because it's a way to speak directly to the fans. To that end, Nelson had one of his most open exchanges on Thursday while speaking on his weekly radio show on KNBR.
Co-host Tom Tolbert, who once played for Nelson, asked the Warriors coach about what happened in New York last week with Monta Ellis. According to various reports, Ellis asked Nelson why the coach seemingly blamed him for everything, and Nelson ended up waving Ellis off.
"I just disciplined Monta," Nelson said. "I didn't think he was doing the right thing in practice. I disciplined him and it's over, and that's really all I have to say about (it). ... I think the relationship can be better as we go along. It will have to get back to where it was at the beginning. But he's going through a lot, too. (Stephen Jackson) was his best friend. It will get better, I'm sure."
Later during the interview Tolbert's partner, Ralph Barbieri, pressed Nelson about Nelson's relationship with players, specifically Ellis. Nelson was asked a hypothetical question about whether or not the Warriors would trade Ellis if Ellis were unhappy."I'm not even going to go there," Nelson said. "I'm not going to anticipate any negative stuff. If it happens, we'll deal with it. Talk to me if it happens, would you please?"
When Barbieri suggested it wasn't unreasonable to ask about Nelson's relationship with Ellis, and how disciplining Ellis might further deteriorate the relationship, Nelson interrupted.
"It's not unreasonable to think that the coach will discipline his player when the player isn't doing the right thing in practice," Nelson said. "What's the problem with that? That's my job description. That's what happened and that's what I did. ... Evidently, some people are having a problem with that. I'll do it tomorrow and I'll do it the next day and I did it with Tolbert."
Barbieri then said it wasn't an issue of whether Nelson was right or wrong in disciplining Ellis, but rather the issue was that now he had a "pissed-off" Ellis on his hands.
"You know what ... that's Monta's problem," Nelson said. "If he's pissed off at me, he can be pissed off at me. All he's got to do is play for me. He doesn't have to like me. He can be pissed off at me. All he's got to do is give his best effort. Do what the coach says and be the best player he can be. If he can do that, we won't have a problem."
More Steinmetz on Twitter: @matt_steinmetz
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