“Every day when we came in, it was …

“Every day when we came in, it was about Dwight wanting to be traded and about Dwight wanting Stan to be fired and things like that,” Nelson said. “Everybody found anything but positive things to say to us. But I thought we handled it well. We still continued to win; we still played and we fought through it. But it was just a lot of weight on everybody’s shoulders. From the players to the coaching staff. It took a lot out of you, dealing with all of that negativity. A lot of things that happen in professional sports just need to stay in the locker room or in the office. Whether it’s with the general manager, the owner or the team president, if you want to have a conversation with that person, just let it stay there. If you want to request a trade, request it quietly. Then, things won’t trickle down to your coach, your teammates and your fans. It had an effect on everybody, the people working on the business side. Nobody was having any fun anymore. It was almost like the ending to a great movie, and it was a sad ending.”