The idea originated from Wisconsin dairy farmer Clarence Willcome, to whom Nelson donated his $11,000 1986 NBA Playoffs bonus compensation. Nelson headed a weight loss drive to raise more money for Willcome and the Wisconsin Farm Fund. Nelson had prostate cancer surgery in 2000. Nelson graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in physical education in 2012. He left Iowa in 1962 with his degree coursework nearly completed. He later took Spanish classes to fulfill some of his missing 8 foreign language credit hours. He still lacked student-teaching credits. When Nelson called the university, after being inspired by Shaquille O'Neal to finish his degree, Iowa decided that his lifetime of teaching through NBA coaching would fulfill that requirement and invited him to the graduation ceremony in 2012. He attended and received his diploma with over 45 family and friends accompanying him. As of April 2018, Nelson lives in Maui, where he has a farm to grow flowers, coffee, and cannabis. He hosts local poker games with celebrities such as Willie Nelson, Woody Harrelson, and Owen Wilson. “I know how far I’ve come from being a hog farmer,” Nelson said of his career. “I’ve come a long, long way from being some country kid. I got in the fast lane, and I’ve stayed there a long time. I’ve done pretty well." "All I can tell you is he's happy. He's in Maui, drinking Mai Tais and watching sunsets and whales. Life's good," said his son Donnie. Honors In 1973, Nelson was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a player. Nelson's #19 jersey was retired by the Boston Celtics in 1978. Nelson was inducted into the Des Moines Sunday Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1987, Nelson was inducted into the Quad City Sports Hall of Fame. Nelson was inducted into the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in 1989. In 2012, Nelson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. NBA career statistics Regular season Playoffs Head coaching record |- | style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee | style="text-align:left;"| |64||27||37|||| style="text-align:center;"|6th in Midwest||—||—||—||— | style="text-align:center;"|Missed Playoffs |- | style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee | style="text-align:left;"| |82||44||38|||| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Midwest||9||5||4|| | style="text-align:center;"|Lost in Conf. Semifinals |- | style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee | style="text-align:left;"| |82||38||44|||| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Midwest||—||—||—||— | style="text-align:center;"|Missed Playoffs |- | style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee | style="text-align:left;"| |82||49||33|||| style="text-align:center;"|1st in Midwest||7||3||4|| | style="text-align:center;"|Lost in Conf. Semifinals |- | style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee | style="text-align:left;"| |82||60||22|||| style="text-align:center;"|1st