Elston Turner finds himself in the West finals again, after all these years

Former Trail Blazer assistant coach Elston Turner, now with Minnesota, will work the third Western Conference finals of his 26-year NBA coaching career when the Timberwolves face the Dallas Mavericks 

A couple of dozen assistant coaches are working for the four teams that have reached the conference finals in the NBA playoffs. I am guessing there is only one who has a street named for him in his hometown.

That is Elston Turner, the defensive coordinator and lead assistant for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who begin play against Dallas Wednesday night in the Western Conference finals.

Elston Turner Drive intersects with Harriet Tubman Street in the Austin Homes neighborhood of Knoxville, Tenn., where Elston was raised. He led Austin-East High to the state championship as a senior in 1977 and for 30 years has conducted a free basketball camp for youths at his prep alma mater. His coach at Austin-East, Clifford Ross, left a lasting impression.

In a ceremony in 2022, community leaders honored Turner by naming a street after him at a location near where he grew up playing basketball.

“It blew me away,” Turner told me in a phone conversation Monday night from Minneapolis. “Usually those things happen after you are dead and gone. I was real fortunate to be at the ceremony and participate in it.

“My street and (famed 19th-century abolitionist) Harriet Tubman on the same street pole? I was tickled to death. A proud moment.”

For four weeks every July, Turner plays host to his annual youth camp, giving kids the opportunity to be coached by professionals that he didn’t get as a child.

“I’m glad to be able to do it,” he says. “It’s my giving-back-to-the-city moment.”

I’m happy that Turner got his day in the sun in Knoxville. For 26 years, he has toiled under the radar as an NBA assistant, including a stint with the Trail Blazers from 1996-2000 in his first NBA job. Turner is one of the good guys in the profession — humble, hard-working and the ultimate professional.

And now Turner will be coaching in his third West finals series after the Timberwolves’ dramatic 98-90 Game 7 victory over the defending NBA champion Nuggets Sunday night in Denver. The last time was when he was coaching with the Sacramento Kings in 2002. The first came in 2000 with the Blazers.

“It feels good,” says Turner, who will turn 65 on June 10. “I am at the stage where you realize that these opportunities don’t come around that often. It has been 22 years since my last one. You have to seize the moment. I am glad to still be around and get back into the NBA’s Final Four.”

Minnesota’s defense held Denver to .410 shooting — and 8 for 33 from the 3-point line — in Sunday’s deciding game. The Nuggets managed only 37 points in the second half as the Timberwolves rallied from a 53-38 halftime deficit and from a 20-point third-quarter hole to score one of the greatest victories in franchise history. Could Turner have asked his players for a better defensive performance?

“No,” he says. “There are always things that go wrong when you single out individual plays, but collectively, it could not have been better, not against that team. They are efficient, they have the three-time MVP, and they were the defending champs. They move and they have great off-ball activity with their splits. I could not have asked for a better effort.”

For a decade, Turner coached under former Blazers coach Rick Adelman, first with Sacramento, then Houston. Denver’s lead assistant is Rick’s son, David Adelman, who handles the Nuggets’ offense.

Elston Turner, right, with mentor Rick Adelman during Adelman’s Hall of Fame induction in 2021 (courtesy Elston Turner)

“With David there, every now and then I see the stuff we were running in Sac when I was with Rick,” Turner says. “We expected them to come out throwing punches. At the start, they were more aggressive than we were.

“Jamal Murray had it going, had 24 points at the half. We wanted to be a little closer to him, running him off picks, trying to tire him out. We wanted to see how many times we could hit him, just like (Nikola) Jokic does to us. When we had Ant (Anthony Edwards) on Murray, every time you looked up, Ant was getting hit by screens. From the eye test, (the Nuggets) got a little fatigued down the stretch. We kept the pressure on them. There was a lot of punching and counter-punching. It was like a heavyweight fight.”

Turner has been in those before. Both of his previous experiences in the West finals have resulted in heart-breaking Game-7 losses to the Lakers — two of the most excruciating in NBA playoff history.

The first came with Portland in 2000. “We were loaded with quality veterans,” says Turner, rattling off the names of Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire, Brian Grant, Scottie Pippen, Steve Smith and Bonzi Wells.

“We were pretty stacked.”

The Lakers were, too, led by Shaquille O’Neal and a young Kobe Bryant.

“They had us down 3-1, but we walked them down and tied up the series,” Turner recalls.

Portland led by 15 points late in the third quarter of Game 7 and were in front much of the fourth period, too. But the Blazers missed 13 shots in a row and the Lakers had just enough to pull away with an 89-84 victory at Staples Center.

“It was a fourth-quarter collapse,” Turner says. “We just couldn’t make a basket. That was painful. To this day, (TV networks) show the clip of that Kobe-to-Shaq alley-oop late in the game. Stings a little bit every time I see it.”

Turner coached his first season in Portland under P.J. Carlesimo, the next three under Mike Dunleavy. After the 1999-2000 season, he left to join Rick Adelman in Sacramento. Turner had been a bench coach and scout for Dunleavy. Adelman offered a second-assistant role, a significant move up.

“Even so, it took some praying and a leap of faith,” Turner says. “(The Blazers) had just come off of that Western conference run. I was expecting to go back (to the West finals) the next year. To leave a team like that, I was asking myself, ‘Is it the right move?’

“But I knew some of the guys in Sacramento. I watched them all the time when I was doing my scouting. I knew they had some talent. I had never worked for Rick, but we would run across each other and have conversations in hotels or at the airport.”

Also, Turner had played with Sacramento assistant general manager Wayne Cooper at Denver.

“Coop put in some good words for me with (GM) Geoff Petrie, who gave me an interview and brought me on board,” Turner says. “One of the best decisions I made in my life.”

Two years later, Turner was back in the West finals with Sacramento, led by players such as Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Mike Bibby and Peja Stojakovic. The Kings took a 3-2 lead into Game 6 in Sacramento. The Kings led much of the way but lost 106-102 in a game in which the Lakers attempted 40 free throws — an unbelievable 27 in the fourth quarter.

“It was over before unknown forces had their way,” Turner says.

Many believe the league office wanted a Game 7 and in some way influenced the referees — Dick Bavetta, Bob Delaney and Ted Bernhardt — to favor the Lakers.

“I’m not going to say that while I’m still working,” Turner says. “But it had you scratching your head.”

The Kings took the Lakers into overtime in Game 7 before falling 112-106. Turner has not been back to the West finals, until now.

After six years in Sacramento, Adelman left for Houston and took Turner with him. They stayed together another four years for the Rockets before Adelman resigned.

“Rick was kind of burned out and said he wanted to take a year off,” Turner says, adding with a laugh, “he was in a different tax bracket than his assistant. I needed a job. I interviewed with Phoenix and (head coach) Alvin Gentry hired me. Not long after I signed, Rick called me. He got the job in Minnesota and was trying to get me up there with him. Phoenix wouldn’t let me go.”

Adelman left his impact on Turner.

“Rick was laid-back but also a good teacher,” Turner says. “I can remember times when I would ask him questions, and he would just look at me and walk away. I would be scratching my head, like, ‘You didn’t hear me?’ But that was his way of making me make a decision. He was teaching me the whole time to make a decision on my own. That’s coaching — make a decision and stand by it.

“I owe him so much because he taught me so much. He was real polished in his delivery to the players. Never brash and harsh. The times he would get upset in the locker room, it was an ‘oh-s**t’ moment. You could hear a pin drop. When he got to that point, everybody raised up in their seat. To see the way he put players in a position to succeed, it taught me a lot.”

When Adelman was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021 in Springfield, Mass., Elston and wife Louise were there.

Elston Turner with his wife of 35 years, Louise (courtesy Elston Turner)

“We wouldn’t have missed it,” Turner says. “There were a ton of former players and coaches there. It was a testament to the respect he earned.”

As a coach, Turner’s reputation is with defense, much as it was when he was an NBA journeyman through eight seasons with Dallas, Denver and Chicago from 1981-89, averaging 4.7 points in 505 career games.

“He is a laid-back dude, but he loves some defense,” Mike Conley, Minnesota’s veteran point guard, told the media earlier this season. “He loves to get after guys about their defense.”

Turner, however, was regarded as a two-way player at Ole Miss, where he averaged 20.6 points as a senior in leading the Rebels to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

“It doesn’t bother me that they think of me (as a defensive specialist) as a coach,” Turner says. “I was a good shooter and scorer at Mississippi, but I was also a hell of a defender. You get to the NBA, most teams have offensive guys. (Dallas Coach) Dick Motta drafted me, and he would put me on the other team’s best scorer. Once the scouting reports got out, I had the label, and it stuck with me. I hate that I allowed myself to be put in a box like that, but I guess I had to find my niche.

“When I went to Denver, (coach) Doug Moe had a running team with all of those scorers, but they needed a stopper. Me and T.R. Dunn served that role. It snowballed into me being considered a defender.”

Turner also played two seasons with the Bulls during Michael Jordan’s early tenure there.

“Jordan was such a popular league force,” Turner says. “We could be up 20 points late in a game and the fans still wanted to see Michael in the game. As far as a career move, to play behind that dude wasn’t too bright. My time was limited.

“Doug Collins was the coach. I was somewhat of a multi-position guy. He played us alongside each other a lot. I would bring the ball down sometime when John Paxson took a rest. I would be on the court with Michael. That was fun, and it certainly was entertaining.”

At the time, the Bulls traveled on commercial flights.

“It was the first time I had seen mobs of people forming in the airport or on the bus,” Turner says. “It was like traveling with Michael Jackson — you needed security to get from the door to the bus.”

Turner has landed now with a team that has plenty of talent and a solid head coach in Chris Finch.

“We have a good coaching staff and a great group of players,” Turner says. “A lot of young guys who want to learn. Nobody is a pain, pulling the group in a different direction than you are trying to go. I have been with some teams where every day it was a battle. With these guys, you can coach them hard. The staff, we work well together, and Chris is a pleasure to coach with. He gives everybody a job to do and he leaves you alone.”

The Wolves — who have been to the West finals only once in franchise history, in 2004 — face a Dallas team led by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

“Two of the best scorers in the league,” Turner says. “They offer problems. We have to figure out a way to slow them down. They are a good team. They wouldn’t have gotten this far if they weren’t.

“We hope we can give them problems with our size. It will be a good chess match. We feel good about our chances, but when you come off a series win like ours, you have to get your guys refocused. You have to turn the page real quick. It should be some good, entertaining basketball for the fans.”

Turner interviewed several times for head coaching positions through the years, the last time with Portland in 2012, when Terry Stotts was hired. “It came down to me and Terry,” Turner says.

At Turner’s age, it is unlikely he will be considered again. Is he disappointed to have never been an NBA head coach?

“The disappointing thing is some of the stories you get when (front-office executives) call to let you know what their decision is,” Turner says. “You hear the reasons why … some of them are polished up like fairy-tale stories. Who knows what to believe?”

But life is good. Elston and Louise, who make their offseason home in Houston, have been married 35 years.

“Boy, that’s crazy,” he says with a laugh. “Our kids are grown and out of the house. She is enjoying the ride.”

Turner has served his 26 years as an NBA assistant for six teams. Not many coaches have that kind of longevity. Turner doesn’t take it lightly.

“I am humbled,” he says. “More than a quarter of a century — you gotta be doing something right. You gotta offer something that people want to be around that long. I’m blessed, for sure.”

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