Denver Nuggets

Denver Nuggets
2024–25 Denver Nuggets season
Conference	Western
Division	Northwest
Founded	1967
History	Denver Rockets 1967–1974 (ABA) Denver Nuggets 1974–1976 (ABA) 1976–present (NBA)[1][2][3]
Arena	Ball Arena[4]
Location	Denver, Colorado
Team colors	Midnight blue, sunshine yellow, Flatirons red, skyline blue[5][6][7]
Main sponsor	Ibotta[8]
CEO	Josh Kroenke
President	Josh Kroenke[9]
General manager	Calvin Booth[10]
Head coach	Michael Malone
Ownership	Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (Stan Kroenke, Owner/Governor)[11][12]
Affiliation(s)	Grand Rapids Gold[13][14]
Championships	1 (2023)
Conference titles	1 (2023)
Division titles	12 ABA: 2 (1970, 1975) NBA: 10 (1977, 1978, 1985, 1988, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2020, 2023)
Retired numbers	6 (2, 12, 33, 40, 44, 55, 432)
Website	www.nba.com/nuggets
Association Icon Statement

The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. The team was founded as the Denver Larks in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association (ABA) but changed their name to the Rockets before the first season.^[15] The Rockets then changed their name again to the Nuggets in 1974.^[16] After the name change, the Nuggets played for the final ABA Championship title in 1976, losing to the New York Nets.

The team has had some periods of success, qualifying for the ABA playoffs in every season of the ABA's existence (except 1971 and 1974), losing in the 1976 ABA Finals to the New York Nets.^[17] The team joined the NBA in 1976 after the ABA–NBA merger and qualified for the NBA playoffs in nine consecutive seasons in the 1980s and ten consecutive seasons from 2004 to 2013.^[17] In 2023, the Nuggets, led by Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, reached their first NBA Finals and defeated the Miami Heat to capture the franchise's first NBA championship. The Nuggets were the last of the four surviving former ABA teams to reach the NBA Finals, and the second former ABA team to win an NBA title (after the San Antonio Spurs).^[17][18] The Nuggets play their home games at Ball Arena,^[4] which they share with the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League (NLL).

Franchise history[edit]

1967–1969: Franchise background and founding[edit]

Prior to the 1948–49 National Basketball League (NBL) season, the original Denver Nuggets were founded. Following that season, the NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America (BAA), with the newly unified circuit named the National Basketball Association to reflect the merger. The Denver Nuggets played the 1949–50 season as one of the charter NBA teams before folding. This franchise's records and statistics remain separate from the modern-day Denver Nuggets.

The current franchise traces its roots to 1967, when one of the American Basketball Association (ABA)'s charter franchises was awarded to a group in Kansas City, Missouri, headed by Southern California businessman James Trindle. However, Trindle was unable to find a suitable arena in the Kansas City area. League commissioner George Mikan suggested moving the team to Denver. After agreeing to name Denver resident and former NBA player Vince Boryla as general manager, Trindle moved his team to Denver as the Denver Larks, named after Colorado's state bird.^[19] The Trindle group was severely undercapitalized, leading Mikan to order the Larks to post a $100,000 performance bond or lose the franchise. Hours before the deadline, Trindle sold a ⅔ controlling interest to Denver trucking magnate Bill Ringsby for $350,000. Ringsby then renamed the team the Rockets, after his company's long-haul trucks.^[20]

1969–1976: ABA years[edit]

Playing at the Denver Auditorium Arena, the Rockets had early successes on the court, developing a strong fan base along the way.^[21] However, the team had a history of early playoff exits and only once played in the ABA championship series.

Early, Denver had a solid lineup led by Byron Beck and Larry Jones, then later by Beck and Ralph Simpson. Lonnie Wright of the American Football League's Denver Broncos signed with the Rockets during that first season and became the first player to play professional football and basketball in the same season. Wright played four seasons with Denver.^[21] Controversial rookie Spencer Haywood joined the team for the 1969–70 season. 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 nearly 30 points and 19.5 rebounds per game in his only ABA season, being named ABA MVP, ABA rookie of the year, as well as the All-Star Game MVP. The team finished 51–33, winning their division, before exiting the playoffs in the 2nd round.

Just before the start of the 1970–71 season, Haywood signed with the Seattle SuperSonics, jumping to the NBA. The team tumbled to a 30–54 record and attendance suffered.^[21]

Becoming the Denver Nuggets[edit]

Ringsby sold the team to San Diego businessmen Frank Goldberg and Bud Fischer in 1972.^[19] In 1974, in anticipation of moving into the NBA, and the new McNichols Arena, the franchise held a contest to choose a new team nickname, as "Rockets" was already in use by the Houston Rockets. The winning choice was "Nuggets", in honor of the original Denver Nuggets team from 1948 to 1950, the last year as a charter member of the NBA. Their new logo was a miner "discovering" an ABA ball. Goldberg and Fischer in turn sold the team to a local investment group in 1976.

With the drafting and signing of future Hall of Fame player David Thompson out of North Carolina State and Marvin Webster, and the acquisitions of Dan Issel and Bobby Jones (all signed for the 1975–76 season), with Larry Brown coaching, they had their best seasons in team history in their first two as the Nuggets. Playing in the Denver Auditorium Arena for the last season the 1974–75 team went 65–19, including a 40–2 record at home. However, they lost in the Western Conference Finals in 7 games, to the Indiana Pacers.^[22]

In 1975–76, playing at their new arena, the Nuggets, with the acquisitions of Thompson, Jones and Dan Issel who had come via a trade after he won an ABA title with the 1974–75 Kentucky Colonels, the team went 60–24, edged the reigning champion Kentucky Colonels four games to three to make the 1976 ABA finals for the first time. Eventually, they lost to the New York Nets and Julius Erving in 6 games.^[22] They did not get a second chance to win an ABA league championship, as the ABA–NBA merger took place after the 1975–76 season. The Nuggets, Nets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs were merged into the NBA. The Spirits of St. Louis and Kentucky Colonels were disbanded.^[23]

1976–1982: Early NBA years[edit]

The Nuggets and Nets had actually applied to join the NBA in 1975, but were forced to stay in the ABA by a court order. The Nuggets continued their strong play 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. Similarly to the other new NBA teams, the Nuggets were saddled with stiff financial obligations upon joining the NBA, including a $2 million entry fee. Red McCombs bought the team in 1978.

In 1979, Brown left the team, helping usher in a brief decline in their performance. It ended in 1981, when they hired Doug Moe as a head coach. Moe brought with him a "motion offense" philosophy, a style of play focusing on attempting to move the ball until someone got open. Moe was also known for not paying as much attention to defense as other NBA coaches. The offense helped the team become highly competitive. During the 1980s, the Nuggets often^[quantify] scored in excess of 115 points a game, and during the 1981–82 season, they scored at least 100 points in every game. The NBA-record streak was halted at 136 consecutive games.^[24] During the 1981–82 season, the Nuggets set the league scoring record for the highest points per game average at 126.5 points.

1982–1989: The Alex English era[edit]

Anchored by scoring machines Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe at the two forward spots, and Dan Issel at center, Denver led the league in scoring, with English and Vandeweghe both averaging above 25 points per game. It was a novel strategy, allowing the Nuggets to top the Midwest Division and qualify for the playoffs during that span. (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.) At the end of the season, English won the NBA scoring title, becoming the only Nugget to win the award despite the heavily favored offensive play of Doug Moe. In 1984–85, they made it to the Western Conference finals after being perennial playoff contenders, and they lost in five games to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Vandeweghe was traded before the 1984–85 season to the Portland Trail Blazers for 6–3 rebounding guard Fat Lever, undersized power forward Calvin Natt and center Wayne Cooper. Spearheaded by Alex English and supported by the three new acquisitions and defensive specialists Bill Hanzlik and TR Dunn, the team replicated its success in the Western Conference despite the loss of Vandeweghe. They even managed to win 54 games in the 1987–88 season, the most they had ever won as an NBA team. However, the Mavericks eliminated the Nuggets in the second round of the 1988 NBA Playoffs. McCombs sold the team to Sidney Shlenker in 1985. Shlenker, in turn, sold the team to COMSAT in 1989.

1989–1991: A period of decline[edit]

Moe left the team in 1990, and was replaced by Paul Westhead. Westhead also believed in a "run and gun" style of play allowing players to speed down the court to shoot rather than creating set plays.^[25]

1991–1996: The Dikembe Mutombo era[edit]

Denver took a positive step in rebuilding by drafting Georgetown University center Dikembe Mutombo in 1991. Mutombo finished runner-up to Larry Johnson for the NBA rookie of the year that season. Denver finished 24–58 that year.

Denver fired Westhead prior to the 1992–93 season and hired former star player Dan Issel as his successor. The Nuggets had two lottery picks that year and drafted University of Notre Dame forward LaPhonso Ellis and University of Virginia guard Bryant Stith. Denver improved to 36–46, just missing the playoffs that year.

Denver ditched their rainbow colors for a dark navy, metallic gold and wine color scheme starting in the 1993–94 season. Led by Mutombo, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (who changed his name from Chris Jackson prior to the season), and Ellis, Denver finished with its first winning season since the Doug Moe era at 42–40. Denver clinched the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs, playing the first place Seattle SuperSonics. Denver was a heavy underdog, having only a couple of players on their roster with actual NBA playoff experience. After dropping the first two games of the five-game set in Seattle, the series returned to Denver. Denver won both games and tied the series at 2. The Nuggets made NBA history in Game 5, upsetting Seattle in overtime 98–94. They became the first 8th-seeded team to defeat a 1st-seeded team in NBA playoff history. Denver almost repeated the feat before falling to the Utah Jazz in Game 7 of the second round.

Denver acquired Sonics sharp-shooter Dale Ellis in the off-season and drafted University of Michigan guard Jalen Rose. Denver struggled, causing Issel to resign as coach partway into the season. Assistant Coach Gene Littles assumed control for a brief period before relinquishing control to general manager Bernie Bickerstaff. Denver rebounded and earned the eighth seed again in the playoffs, finishing 41–41. The Nuggets were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs that season.

Following that season, Denver acquired Antonio McDyess in a draft-day trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. McDyess was the face of the franchise for the next few years, as Mutombo left after the 1995–96 season for the Atlanta Hawks, Ellis missed the majority of the next few seasons due to recurring knee and leg injuries, Rose was traded to the Indiana Pacers for Mark Jackson, and Abdul-Rauf was traded to the Sacramento Kings prior to the 1996–97 season.

1996–2003: Another period of struggle[edit]

After finishing the 1996–97 season with the fourth-worst record in the league (21–61), the Nuggets sent Antonio McDyess to the Phoenix Suns, and Dale Ellis returned to Seattle. Denver flirted with history in the 1997–98, by nearly setting the mark for fewest wins in an 82-game season (11). They tied the then-NBA's all-time worst single-season losing streak at 23—only one game shy of the overall worst mark of 24 by the Cleveland Cavaliers of the early 1980s. The losing streak was later broken by the Cavaliers in 2011 and the Philadelphia 76ers in 2014 with 26 consecutive losses. Several years later, the Nuggets tied for the worst record in the NBA in 2002–03, also with the Cavaliers.

New ownerships[edit]

The team's struggles in the late 1990s were due in part to ownership instability. COMSAT bought the NHL's Quebec Nordiques in 1995 and moved them to Denver as the Colorado Avalanche. However, its diversification into sports ownership was proving a drain on the company. In particular, cost overruns associated with the construction of Pepsi Center had shareholders up in arms. Finally, in 1997, COMSAT agreed in principle to sell Ascent Entertainment Group, the umbrella corporation for its sporting assets, to Liberty Media.^[19] However, Liberty was not interested in sports ownership at the time (though it has since bought the Atlanta Braves), and made the deal contingent upon Ascent selling the Avalanche and Nuggets.^[26]

After almost two years, Ascent sold the Avalanche and Nuggets to Walmart heirs Bill and Nancy Laurie for $400 million. However, a group of Ascent shareholders sued, claiming that the sale price was several million dollars too low. Ascent then agreed to sell the Avalanche and Nuggets to Denver banking tycoon Donald Sturm for $461 million.^[27]

However, a new wrinkle appeared when the city of Denver refused to transfer the parcel of land on which Pepsi Center stood unless Sturm promised to keep the Avalanche and Nuggets in Denver for at least 25 years. Sturm had bought the teams in his own name, and the city wanted to protect taxpayers in the event Sturm either died or sold the teams. While Sturm was willing to make a long-term commitment to the city, he was not willing to be held responsible if he died or sold the teams. After negotiations fell apart, Liberty bought all of Ascent, but kept the Nuggets and Avalanche on the market.^[28] In the meantime, Issel had returned as head coach in 1999, but the protracted ownership negotiations made it difficult for him to rebuild the team. Just before the start of the 1999–2000 season, he told reporters there were several personnel moves he simply could not make due to the unstable ownership situation. Under the terms of Strum's purchase agreement, all basketball decisions required the approval of both Ascent/Liberty and Sturm.^[29]

Finally, in July 2000, the Avalanche, Nuggets and Pepsi Center were bought by real estate entrepreneur Stan Kroenke in a $450 million deal.^[19] Kroenke is the brother-in-law of the Lauries; his wife Ann is Nancy Laurie's sister. Liberty retained a 6.5% interest. As part of the deal, Kroenke placed the teams into a trust that would ensure the teams will stay in Denver until at least 2025.^[28] After the deal, Kroenke organized his sports assets under Kroenke Sports Enterprises.

2003–2011: The Carmelo Anthony era[edit]

In 2003, the Nuggets drafted future All-Star Carmelo Anthony with the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft.^[30] That same year, the team also updated their logos and uniforms, with a new color scheme of powder blue, gold and royal blue; the latter color was changed to navy blue in 2008.^[31] In just two months of the season, the Nuggets 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 on August 9, 2001.^[32] 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 since the NBA went to an 82-game schedule.^[32] They were eliminated in the first round four games to one by the Minnesota Timberwolves.^[33]

On December 28, 2004, head coach Jeff Bzdelik was fired from the organization and replaced by interim coach, former Los Angeles Lakers player and Los Angeles Sparks head coach Michael Cooper.^[34] The Nuggets later hired George Karl as a permanent replacement.^[35] Karl led the team to a record of 32–8 in the second half of the regular season, which vaulted the team into the playoffs for the second consecutive year.^[36]

In the playoffs, however, the Nuggets could not survive the San Antonio Spurs. After winning game one in San Antonio, the Nuggets proceeded to lose the next four games and lost the series 4–1.^[37] The Nuggets picked 20th in the 2005 NBA draft; it was acquired from the Washington Wizards via the Orlando Magic.^[38] Denver selected Julius Hodge with the pick. The Nuggets also had the 22nd overall selection in the draft, in which they selected Jarrett Jack, but sent him to the Portland Trail Blazers for rights to Portland's 27th overall pick, Linas Kleiza.^[38]

In 2005–06, for the first time in 18 years, the club won the Northwest division title.^[39] This placed the team in the third seed of the Western Conference playoffs. Denver played the Los Angeles Clippers who, despite their sixth seeding, had a better regular season record. As a result, the Clippers received home-court advantage. They defeated the Nuggets in 5 games. Shortly after, the Nuggets announced that general manager Kiki Vandeweghe's contract would not be renewed. He was replaced by Mark Warkentien.^[40]

On December 18, 2006, team co-captain