Denver Nuggets

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

Franchise history

Early years

The Denver Nuggets emerged from the Denver Rockets (who were previously called the Denver Larks), a charter franchise in the American Basketball Association founded in 1967. The Rockets tended to struggle in the postseason early and failed to play in a championship game. 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 anticipation of moving into the NBA, the franchise held a contest to choose a new team nickname, as Rockets was already in use 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 "discovering" 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 "motion offense" philosophy, a style of play focusing on attempting to move the ball until someone got open. Moe was not as considerate to defense as some other coaches. The offense 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, the Nuggets gave up points almost as fast as they scored points. They finished with the worst record in the league for two seasons in a row, despite setting many scoring records. 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 1992–93 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 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 blue and gold 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 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.

Early 2000s

In 2003, the Nuggets drafted future All-Star Carmelo Anthony with the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.^[1] They also made a uniform change (powder blue and yellow).^[2] 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.^[3] 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 since the NBA went to an 82-game schedule.^[3] They were eliminated in the first round, four games to one, by the Minnesota Timberwolves.^[4]

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.^[5] The Nuggets later hired George Karl as a permanent replacement.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8] The Nuggets picked 20th in the 2005 NBA Draft; it was acquired from the Washington Wizards via the Orlando Magic.^[9] 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.^[9]

In 2005-06, for the first time in 18 years, the club won the Northwest division title.^[10] This placed the team in the third seed of the Western Conference playoffs. Denver played the Los Angeles Clippers who, despite their 6th seeding, had a better regular-season record. As a result, the Clippers received home court advantage. They defeated the Nuggets in 5 games.^[11]

On December 18, 2006, team co-captain Carmelo Anthony, shooting guard J.R. Smith and power forward Nenê were suspended by the NBA (15, 10 and one games respectively) for a fight that occurred in the last two minutes of a game against the New York Knicks two days earlier.^[12][13] 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.^[14]

Iverson arrives

On December 19, 2006, the Nuggets traded Joe Smith, Andre Miller and two first-round draft picks of the 2007 NBA 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 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, 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.

On March 16, 2008, the Nuggets scored 168 points in a 168–116 home win over Seattle SuperSonics.^[15] It was the third-most points scored for a regulation game in NBA history (The Nuggets and the Pistons hold the spot for most combined points scored in a game which was over 360 points total.)^[15]

The Nuggets finished the 2007–08 NBA season with exactly 50 wins (50–32 overall record, tied for the third-best all-time Nuggets record since the team officially joined the NBA in 1976), following a 120–111 home victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in the last game of the season.^[16] It was the first time since the 1987–88 NBA season that the Nuggets finished with at least 50 wins in a season.^[16] Denver ended up as the 8th seed in the Western Conference of the 2008 NBA Playoffs, and their 50 wins marked the highest win total for an 8th seed in NBA history.^[16] It also meant that for the first time in NBA history, all eight playoff seeds in a conference had at least 50 wins. The Nuggets faced the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers (57–25 overall record) in the first round of the 2008 NBA Playoffs. The seven games separating the Nuggets overall record and the Lakers overall record is the closest margin between an eighth seed and a top seed since the NBA went to a 16-team playoff format in 1983-84.^[16] The Lakers swept the Nuggets in four games, marking the second time in NBA history that a 50-win team was swept in a best-of-seven playoff series in the first round.^[17][18]

The departure of Allen Iverson and Marcus Camby and the return of Chauncey Billups

On July 16, at the end of the 2007–08 NBA season, the Nuggets traded former NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Camby to the Los Angeles Clippers for a second-round draft pick (that was then traded to the New York Knicks for Renaldo Balkman), which was often criticized by fans. This trade gave the Nuggets salary cap flexibility.

On November 3, 2008, guard Allen Iverson was traded to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheikh Samb. McDyess was waived though on November 10, 2008.

Season-by-season records

Main article: Denver Nuggets seasons

Home arenas

• Denver Auditorium Arena and Denver Coliseum (1967–75)
• McNichols Sports Arena (1975–99)
• Pepsi Center (1999–present)

Players

Main article: Denver Nuggets all-time roster

Basketball Hall of Famers

• Alex English
• Dan Issel
• David Thompson

Current roster

Denver Nuggets roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From 4.5 F/C 11 USA Andersen, Chris 82 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Blinn College TX (JC)* 3.0 SF 15 USA Anthony, Carmelo (C) 80 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Syracuse 1.0 PG 12 USA Atkins, Chucky 71 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) South Florida 3.5 F 32 USA Balkman, Renaldo 80 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 208 lb (94 kg) South Carolina 1.0 PG 7 USA Billups, Chauncey 75 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Colorado 1.0 PG 25 USA Carter, Anthony 74 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Hawaiʻi 4.5 F/C 45 USA Hunter, Steven 84 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) DePaul 2.5 G/F 30 USA Jones, Dahntay 78 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Duke 3.5 F 43 LTU Kleiza, Linas 80 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Missouri 4.0 PF 4 USA Martin, Kenyon (C) 81 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Cincinnati 4.5 F/C 31 BRA Nenê 83 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Brazil 5.0 C 35 SEN Samb, Cheikh 85 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Senegal 2.0 SG 1 USA Smith, J. R. 78 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) St. Benedict's Prep (NJ)* 2.0 SG 13 USA Weems, Sonny 78 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Akansas*	Head coach George Karl (North Carolina) Assistant coach(es) Adrian Dantley (Notre Dame*) John Welch (Nevada-Las Vegas) Tim Grgurich (Pittsburgh) Jamahl Mosley (Colorado*) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent Injured Roster • Transactions Last transaction: 2008-11-10

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Nenê	Chris Andersen	Cheikh Samb	Steven Hunter
PF	Kenyon Martin	Renaldo Balkman
SF	Carmelo Anthony	Linas Kleiza		Sonny Weems
SG	J. R. Smith	Dahntay Jones
PG	Chauncey Billups	Anthony Carter	Chucky Atkins

High points

Franchise leaders

Individual awards

References

External links

• Denver Nuggets Official Website
• Nuggets detailed history
• Denver Nuggets News
• Local Denver Nuggets news

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