Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson was not a fan of the Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic — and the former Warriors coach chose his footwear for Game 2 of the NBA Finals accordingly.

Nelson arrived for the news conference announcing him as the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award winner, as selected by the National Basketball Coaches Association, wearing a pair of Doncic’s signature Jordan Brand sneaker.

The reason: He was showing Doncic — who he calls “my dear friend” — support.

“As a matter of fact, I want everybody to know I’m wearing Luka’s shoes, his new shoes from Nike that just got on the market,” Nelson said. “I’m wearing them in protest for the trade from Dallas. Tremendous mistake by the Dallas franchise to trade him and I want everybody to know that.”

Doncic was traded by Dallas to the Los Angeles Lakers this season for Anthony Davis, a blockbuster that the entire league found stunning. Fans in Dallas were furious for months, though some of that seems to have subsided in recent weeks with the Mavericks winning the draft lottery and the chance to draft Cooper Flagg No. 1 overall later this month.

Nelson said his philosophy on generational players is the one that Red Auerbach taught him: Don’t trade those talents.

“His philosophy was when you have a great player — Bill Russell, (John) Havlicek, Sam Jones, you name ‘em — you don’t lose that player,” Nelson said. “You keep him for a lifetime. You put his number up and you honor that player. That’s been my philosophy.”

Nelson has deep ties to Dallas, so his reaction to the Doncic trade is understandable. He coached the Mavericks for eight seasons and his son, Donnie Nelson, was an executive with Dallas from 2005 through 2021.

Cavs’ Garland undergoes surgery

Cavaliers guard Darius Garland had surgery Monday on the injured left big toe that hampered him during Cleveland’s exit from the playoffs.

The Cavaliers said the procedure was performed by Dr. Nicholas Strasser at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, in consultation with team physician Dr. James Rosneck and Dr. Bob Anderson.

The All-Star guard missed the final two games of the regular season and four games during the playoffs with the injury, which was described as a sprain.

“Definitely wasn’t myself. It was pretty uncomfortable but trying to do everything to win the game. It was frustrating because I wasn’t 100 percent,” Garland said after the Cavaliers lost to the Indiana Pacers in five games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Garland is expected to send 4 to 5 months going through a progression of treatment and rehabilitation before resuming basketball activities by the start of training camp.

Garland averaged 20.6 points and 6.7 assists during the regular season to help the Cavs finish atop the Eastern Conference.