DeMarcus De'Juan Nelson (born November 2, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. Standing at 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) he played at the point guard position. He also holds Serbian citizenship as of 2014.
Nelson was not drafted in the 2008 NBA draft, but he was signed by the Golden State Warriors on September 9, 2008. He became the first undrafted rookie to start on opening night in the history of the NBA.[2] On November 14, 2008, he and teammate Richard Hendrix were assigned to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA D-League. He was recalled by the Warriors on December 16, 2008, but he was waived on January 6, 2009, to make room for Jermareo Davidson.[3]
Nelson joined the Croatian Adriatic League club KK Zagreb in January 2009, but only played a single game.[4] In March 2009, Nelson returned to the NBA D-League as a member of the Austin Toros.
On April 9, 2009, Nelson signed with the Chicago Bulls.[5] On July 30, 2009, he was waived by the Bulls.[6]
On August 23, 2010, he was signed by Cholet Basket of France.[9] Cholet Basket is qualified for the Euroleague for the 2010–11 season.
In July 2011 he signed with BC Donetsk in Ukraine.[10] On November 15, 2011, he returned to Cholet Basket by signing a contract for the rest of the season.[11]
In September 2012, he signed a one-year contract with the Serbian team Crvena zvezda.[12] In June 2013 he re-signed with them for one more season, with an option for a second year.[13] He became the first foreign player to stay at the club for two seasons.
On July 22, 2014, Panathinaikos announced the signing of Nelson, on a 1+1 year-deal.[18][19]
On September 25, 2015, he signed a one-month deal with the French team Monaco, with the role to replace injured Larry Drew II.[20] On December 23, 2015, he signed for the rest of the season with the Spanish team Unicaja, with the role to replace injured Stefan Marković.[21]
On October 15, 2016, Nelson signed with ASVEL Basket for the rest of the 2016–17 season.[22] On July 8, 2017, he re-signed with ASVEL for two more seasons.[23]
On January 29, 2020, he has signed with Limoges CSP of the LNB Pro A.[24] Nelson re-signed with the team to a two-year extension on July 8, 2020.[25]