Denver Nuggets

For the original defunct Denver Nuggets, see Denver Nuggets (original).

The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Home arenas

Denver Arena Auditorium (1967-1975)

McNichols Sports Arena (1975-1999)

Pepsi Center (1999-present)

Franchise history

A charter franchise in the American Basketball Association, the team was originally slated to play in Kansas City, Missouri before moving to Denver. They were named the Denver Larks before they changed their name and became known as the Rockets for their first seven years of existence, winning division titles in 1970 and 1975.

However, they tended to struggle in the postseason and failed to make a championship game during this span. They had a solid lineup led by Byron Beck and Larry Jones, then later by Beck and Ralph Simpson. During the 1969-1970 season, the team also had a controversial rookie named Spencer Haywood. Haywood was one of the first players to turn pro before graduating from college, and the NBA initially refused to let him play in the league. Haywood averaged 30 points in his only ABA season, then was allowed to sign with the Seattle SuperSonics to start a productive NBA career.

In 1974, a contest was held to find a new nickname for the Rockets. There was already a Rockets team in the NBA (Houston). The name Nuggets won, having been the nickname first used by the Denver 1949-50 NBA franchise. Their new logo was a miner apparently discovering an ABA ball.

With Larry Brown coaching, they had their best seasons in team history in their first two seasons as the Nuggets, with the team making the ABA finals in 1975-76. They would get no second chance to win a league championship, as the ABA folded after the 1975-76 season. The Nuggets were one of four ABA teams taken into the NBA, along with the New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers. The Nuggets and Nets had actually applied to join the NBA in 1975, but were forced to stay in the ABA by court order.

Led by Dan Issel, Bobby Jones, and David Thompson, Denver (and their memorable rainbow-striped jerseys) were quite strong early on in the NBA, as they won division titles in their first two seasons in the league, and missed a third by a single game. However, neither of these teams were ultimately successful in the postseason.

Brown left the team in 1979, helping usher in a brief decline in their team's performance. It ended in 1981, when they hired Doug Moe as a head coach. Moe brought with him a "run and gun" philosophy, a style of play focusing on attempting to score rapidly with little interest in defense, and it helped the team become highly competitive. During the 1980s, the Nuggets would often score in excess of 115 points a game, and during the 1981-82 season, they scored at least 100 points in every game. It was a novel strategy, but it rarely led to playoff success. (On December 13 1983, the Nuggets and the visiting Detroit Pistons combined for an NBA record 370 points, with Detroit winning in triple overtime, 186-184.) Only once, in 1984-85, did they even make it to the Western Conference finals, and that year they lost in five games to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Moe left the team in 1990, and his departure ended their run as a competitive franchise. The team had a brief resurgence in 1993-94 (a year they ditched their rainbow colors for a dark blue and gold scheme) finishing 42-40 and stunning the top-seeded Supersonics in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, falling to the Utah Jazz in game Seven of the second round, but it was a rare highlight following Moe's departure. The Nuggets were swept in the following year by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. Denver was an also-ran for nearly a decade, and flirted with having the worst record NBA history in 1997-98, winning only 11 games in an 82 game season. They tied for the worst record in the NBA in 2002-03 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ironically, Cleveland (LeBron James) and Denver (Carmelo Anthony) would eventually have a twin pair of rookie dynamos enter their ranks the very next year.

The team has shown signs of another renaissance for the 2003-04, with the drafting of Carmelo Anthony and yet another uniform change (powder blue and yellow). In just two months of the season, they recorded more wins than they had in 5½ months of play in 2002-03. Much of the reason for this incredible turnaround were the front-office moves of General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe a former Nuggets player who assumed General Manager duties August 9, 2001, adding crucial personnel including: point guard Andre Miller, power forward Nenê, point guard Earl Boykins, center Marcus Camby and shooting guard Jon Barry. In April, the turnaround was complete as they became the first franchise in NBA history to qualify for the postseason following a sub-20-win campaign the previous year. They were eliminated in the first round four games to one by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On December 28, 2004, head coach Jeff Bzdelik was fired from the organization and replaced by interim coach, former Los Angeles Laker player and Los Angeles Sparks head coach Michael Cooper, before finally hiring veteran coach George Karl as a permanent replacement. Karl lived up to his reputation by leading the team to an astounding record of 32-8 in the second half of the regular season which vaulted the team into the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

In the playoffs, however, the Nuggets could not survive the powerhouse defense of Manu Ginobili and the San Antonio Spurs. After winning an incredible game one in San Antonio, the Nuggets proceeded to lose the next four games and lost the series 4-1. The Nuggets picked 20th in the 2005 NBA Draft; it was acquired from Washington via Orlando.

In 2005-2006, for the first time in 18 years, the club won title to a weak Northwest division. This placed the team in the third seed of the Western Conference Playoffs. Due to their relatively weak record the Nuggets were forced to play the Los Angeles Clippers who, despite their 6th seeding, had a better record following a great season behind their NBA Most Valuable Player Award candidate Elton Brand. Based on their regular season records the LA Clippers received homecourt advantage. The first game in the best-of-7 series was won by the Clippers in 89-87 in LA. The next game was won by the Denver Nuggets in 98-87. The Clippers went on to sweep the final four games and advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs for the first time for them since the franchise moved to L.A. for the 1975-76 season.

Season-by-season records

Denver Rockets (ABA)
(Not included in W/L totals) 1967-68 45 33 .577 Lost Division Semifinals New Orleans 3, Denver 2 1968-69 44 34 .564 Lost Division Semifinals Oakland 4, Denver 3 1969-70 51 33 .607 Won Division Semifinals
Lost Division Finals Denver 4, Washington 3
Los Angeles 4, Denver 1 1970-71 30 54 .357 Lost Division Tiebreaker Texas 115, Denver 109 1971-72 34 50 .405 Lost Division Semifinals Indiana 4, Denver 3 1972-73 47 37 .560 Lost Division Semifinals Indiana 4, Denver 1 1973-74 37 47 .440 Lost Division Tiebreaker San Diego 131, Denver 111 1974-75 65 19 .774 Won Division Seminfinals
Lost Division Finals Denver 4, Utah 2
Indiana 4, Denver 3 1975-76 60 24 .714 Won ABA Semifinals
Lost ABA Finals Denver 4, Kentucky 3
New York 4, Denver 2 Denver Nuggets (NBA)
(Included in W/L totals) 1976-77 50 32 .610 Lost Conference Semifinals Portland 4, Denver 2 1977-78 48 34 .585 Won Conference Semifinals
Lost Conference Finals Denver 4, Milwaukee 3
Seattle 4, Denver 2 1978-79 47 35 .573 Lost First Round Los Angeles 2, Denver 1 1979-80 30 52 .366 1980-81 37 45 .451 1981-82 46 36 .561 Lost First Round Phoenix 2, Denver 1 1982-83 45 37 .549 Won First Round
Lost Conference Semifinals Denver 2, Phoenix 1
San Antonio 4, Denver 1 1983-84 38 44 .463 Lost First Round Utah 3, Denver 2 1984-85 52 30 .634 Won First Round
Won Conference Semifinals
Lost Conference Finals Denver 3, San Antonio 2
Denver 4, Utah 1
LA Lakers 4, Denver 1 1985-86 47 35 .573 Won First Round
Lost Conference Semifinals Denver 3, Portland 1
Houston 4, Denver 2 1986-87 37 45 .451 Lost First Round LA Lakers 3, Denver 0 1987-88 54 28 .659 Won First Round
Lost Conference Semifinals Denver 3, Seattle 2
Dallas 4, Denver 2 1988-89 44 38 .537 Lost First Round Phoenix 3, Denver 0 1989-90 43 39 .524 Lost First Round San Antonio 3, Denver 0 1990-91 20 62 .244 1991-92 24 58 .293 1992-93 36 46 .439 1993-94 42 40 .512 Won First Round
Lost Conference Semifinals Denver 3, Seattle 2
Utah 4, Denver 3 1994-95 41 41 .500 Lost First Round San Antonio 3, Denver 0 1995-96 35 47 .427 1996-97 21 61 .256 1997-98 11 71 .134 1998-99 14 36 .280 1999-2000 35 47 .427 2000-01 40 42 .489 2001-02 27 55 .329 2002-03 17 65 .207 2003-04 43 39 .529 Lost First Round Minnesota 4, Denver 1 2004-05 49 33 .598 Lost First Round San Antonio 4, Denver 1 2005-06 44 38 .537 Lost First Round LA Clippers 4, Denver 1 Totals 1117 1311 .460 Playoffs 42 71 .372

Stats updated June 10, 2006

Players of note

Basketball Hall of Famers

Retired numbers

2 Alex English, F, 1980-90
33 David Thompson, F, 1975-82
40 Byron Beck, C, 1967-77
44 Dan Issel, C, 1975-85
432 Doug Moe, Head Coach, 1981-90 (432 victories coaching the Nuggets)

Beck was the only player to play all nine seasons of the ABA with one team. These men, and team trainer Chopper Travaglini (1975-99), have also been elected to the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.

Not to be forgotten

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (formerly known as Chris Jackson)
Michael Adams
Lafayette "Fat" Lever
Dikembe Mutombo
Nick Van Exel

Current roster

External links

National Basketball Association teams | Denver Nuggets | 1967 establishments

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