"From his oceanfront home on Maui, Don Nelson acknowledges that his pursuit of the Minnesota Timberwolves coaching job might look odd.

He can explain.

"I love coaching, and I'm good at what I do," Nelson said this week. "It's kind of a gift that I have. I feel like I owe it to myself to do it as long as I can. I'm not ready to give it up."

But exchanging island breezes for upper-Midwest winters?

"I'm a lifer," he said, laughing.

Nelson, 71, the NBA leader in all-time coaching victories, recently interviewed for the Timberwolves job. That doesn't exactly put him in exclusive company.

"I think they've interviewed everybody who is out of work right now," Nelson said.

Since the dismissal of Kurt Rambis on July 12, the Minnesota job has been linked to Nelson, Larry Brown, Rick Adelman, Bernie Bickerstaff, Terry Porter and Mike Woodson.

Timberwolves general manager David Kahn is not discussing the interview process, a team spokesman said Wednesday. There's no reason for Minnesota to hurry, either, because the NBA lockout has shut down the league. The players union and owners remain far apart on how to divide an estimated $4 billion in annual league revenue.

Nelson was let go by the Warriors before last season; new ownership paid him $6 million not to coach. In April, Nelson told the San Francisco Chronicle that he wasn't planning to coach again, saying: "It's a perfect time to retire."

Clearly, there has been a change of heart."