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Denver Nuggets

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For the original defunct Denver Nuggets, see Denver Nuggets (original). Template:NBA team

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

Home arenas

Denver Auditorium Arena (1967-1975)
McNichols Sports Arena (1975-1999)
Pepsi Center (1999-present)

Franchise history

Early years

A charter franchise in the American Basketball Association, the team was originally slated to play in Kansas City, Missouri before moving to Denver.

They tended to struggle in the postseason early 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. 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 20 rebounds per game in his only ABA season, then breached his Denver contract by signing with the Seattle SuperSonics and jumping to the NBA.

In 1974, in hopes of moving into the NBA, a contest was held to find a new nickname for the Rockets, as the nickname was already used by the Houston Rockets. The name Nuggets won, having been the nickname first used by the Denver 1949-50 NBA franchise. Their new logo was a miner holding an ABA ball.

With the drafting and signing of David Thompson and Marvin Webster and the acquisitions of Dan Issel and Bobby Jones and 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.

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 was ultimately successful in the postseason.

1980s

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.

Anchored by scoring machines Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe at the two forward spots, 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.) 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 Lafayette "Fat" Lever, undersized power forward Calvin Natt and center Wayne Cooper. Spearheaded by 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. However, they could not get past the dominant team of the era, the Los Angeles Lakers.

1990s

Moe left the team in 1990, and was replaced by Paul Westhead. Westhead also believed in a "run and gun" style of play, and gave the green light for players like Michael Adams and Chris Jackson to light up the scoreboards within seconds of possession.

However, Westhead cared even less about defense than Moe. As a result, while the Nuggets set more scoring records, they also set records for points surrendered. They finished with the worst record in the league for two seasons in a row. During this time, they were sometimes known as the "Enver Nuggets" (as in no "D").

Denver took a positive step in rebuilding by drafting 7-2 Georgetown University center Dikembe Mutombo in 1992. Mutombo would have a successful rookie year, finishing 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 1992-1993 season and hired ABA legend and former Nugget Player Dan Issel. The Nuggets had two lottery picks that year and drafted University of Notre Dame forward LaPhonso Ellis and Virginia University guard Bryant Stith. Denver improved to 36-46, just missing the playoffs that year. Denver ditched their rainbow colors for a dark blue and gold scheme starting in the 1993-1994 season. Led by Mutombo, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (who changed his name from Chris Jackson prior to the season), and Ellis, Denver would finish with its first winning season since the Doug Moe era at 42-40. Denver clinched the 8th 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 two games apiece. The Nuggets would make 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 would almost do the same in the next round, falling to the Utah Jazz in game seven of the second round.

Denver acquired Sonics sharp-shooter Dale Ellis in the off-season and drafted University of Michigan phenom Jalen Rose. Denver would struggle, causing Issel to resign as coach partway into the season. Assistant Coach Gene Littles would assume control for a brief period before relinquishing control to general manager Bernie Bickerstaff. Denver would rebound and get the 8th 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 would acquire Antonio McDyess in a draft day trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. McDyess would be the face of the franchise for the next few years, as Mutombo would leave after the 1995-96 season for the Atlanta Hawks, Ellis would miss the majority of the next few seasons due to recurring knee and leg injuries, and Abdul-Rauf was traded to the Sacramento Kings prior to the 1996-97 season.

Denver flirted with history in the 1997-98, by nearly setting the mark for fewest wins in an 82 game season (11). They would tie the NBA's all-time worst single-season losing streak at 23 games – only one game shy of the overall worst mark of 24 by the Cleveland Cavaliers of the early 1980s. Several years later, the Nuggets tied for the worst record in the NBA in 2002-03, also with the Cavaliers.

Present

The team has shown signs of another renaissance for the 2003-04 season, with the drafting of Carmelo Anthony and Keith Moore 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 on August 9, 2001. He added 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 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 2005-06, for the first time in 18 years, the club won the Northwest division title. 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 home court advantage. The first two games in the best-of-7 series were won by the Clippers 89-87 in game one and 109-101 for game two in LA. Game 3 was won by the Denver Nuggets in Denver 98-87. The Clippers went on to win the final two games and advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs for the first time in franchise history since the Clippers moved to L.A. for the 1984-85 season.

On, December 18, 2006, team co-captain, Carmelo Anthony, Keith Moore, Dallas Brown, shooting guard J.R. Smith, and power forward Nene were suspended by the NBA (15, 10, and 1 games respectively) for a fight that occurred in the last two minutes of a game against the New York Knicks two days earlier. Keith Moore and Dallas Brown were suspended the rest of the year. The fight was sparked by Knicks rookie Mardy Collins, when he tackled J.R. Smith on a breakaway layup. According to Anthony, Knicks coach Isiah Thomas warned him to not go in the paint shortly before the hard foul.

Iverson arrives

On December 19, 2006, the Nuggets traded Joe Smith, Andre Miller, and two first-round draft picks in the 2007 draft to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ivan McFarlin and superstar Allen Iverson (McFarlin was waived immediately following the trade's approval). The moves gave the Nuggets the top two scorers in the league at the time in Anthony, and Iverson who were both scoring over 30 points per game at the time of the trade. On January 11, 2007, Earl Boykins, Julius Hodge, and cash considerations were traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for point guard Steve Blake. With AI, many considered the Nuggets as one of the elite in the West, alongside the Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, and the San Antonio Spurs. However, chemistry would be an issue as the Nuggets finished the regular season with the #6 seed, giving them a first round matchup with the San Antonio Spurs. In the playoffs, the Nuggets got off to a fast start, winning game 1 and taking home court advantage away from the Spurs. However, in an eerie repeat of the 2005 playoffs, the Spurs bounced back to win the next four, as the Nuggets were eliminated in the first round in five games for the fourth straight year.

Uniforms

Season-by-season records

Note: W = wins, L = losses, % = win–loss %

Season W L % Playoffs Results
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
Denver Nuggets (ABA)
(Not included in W/L totals)
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
2006-07 45 37 .543 Lost First Round San Antonio 4, Denver 1
2007-08 0 0 .000
Totals 1162 1348 .463
Playoffs 43 75 .364

Players of note

Basketball Hall of Famers

File:DEN 5751.gif
Denver Nuggets alternate logo introduced for 2005-06 season. The logo has twin yellow pick axes with mountain peak on a blue circle.

Individual Awards

NBA Defensive Player of the Year

NBA Most Improved Player of the Year

NBA Coach of the Year

NBA Executive of the Year

All-NBA First Team

All-NBA Second Team

All-NBA Third Team

NBA All-Defensive First Team

NBA All-Defensive Second Team








NBA Rookie First Team

NBA Rookie Second Team


Other Notable Former Nuggets

Current Roster


Current Starting Five

Point Guard: Steve Blake
Shooting Guard: Allen Iverson
Small Forward: Carmelo Anthony
Power Forward: Nene
 Center: Marcus Camby

Template:NuggetsCoach

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