DENVER NUGGETS FRANCHISE HISTORY
Previous Franchise Names: Denver Rockets
Principal Owner: E. Stanley Kroenke
President: Josh Kroenke
General Manager: Tim Connelly
Head Coach: Michael Malone
Best Season: 1974-75 (65-19, .774)
Playoff Appearances: 33
NBA Championships: 0
LANDOVER, MD – CIRCA 1990: Alex English #2 of the Denver Nuggets looks on from the bench against the Washington Bullets during an NBA basketball game circa 1990 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. English played for the Nuggets from 1980-90. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
The team that narrowly avoided coming into existence as something called the Colorado Lark Buntings has played in Denver as both the Rockets and Nuggets since entering the old American Basketball Association for that league’s inaugural 1967-68 season.
The team’s first general manager, Dennis Murphy, wanted to call the new club the Lark Buntings—after Colorado’s state bird—but after trucking magnate Bill Ringsby took control of the team, he named them the Rockets, after his Rocket Truck Lines.
In anticipation of a potential move to the NBA, the franchise in 1974 renamed itself the Denver Nuggets—harkening back to a team in the old National Basketball League and NBA in the 1940s—to avoid a nickname conflict with the NBA’s Houston Rockets.
The Nuggets made the jump to the NBA as part of a merger between the rival leagues in 1976, joining the Indiana Pacers, New York (now Brooklyn) Nets and San Antonio Spurs.
Denver has long been a very good regular-season team that has never been able to make a title run. Despite 33 playoff appearances, 24 since coming to the NBA, Denver has only reached a championship series one time, losing the ABA Finals in six games to the Nets in 1975-76.
The Nuggets of the 1980s were one of the most entertaining—if not one of the most successful—teams in NBA history, playing a high-scoring, free-wheeling brand of basketball under coach Doug Moe that included a lot of points from Hall of Famer Alex English but little defense, something that cost them over the course of nine playoff appearances under Moe from 1982-90.
Under Hall of Famer Dan Issel in 1994, the Nuggets were the first eighth seed to upset a No. 1 seed in the playoffs, beating the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round before losing in the conference semifinals.
The Nuggets reached the Western Conference Finals most recently in 2009 before bowing out to the Los Angeles Lakers, as a group led by coach George Karl and superstar Carmelo Anthony could never quite get over the hump, losing in the first round of the playoffs under Karl eight times in nine tries.
Moe remains the winningest coach in team history with a 432-357 record after taking over from Donnie Walsh with 31 games to go in the 1980-81 season until he was fired in September 1990. His teams were just 24-37 in the playoffs.
Denver Nuggets Career Leaders (as of 3/9/2016)
- Games, Alex English, 837
- Points, Alex English, 21645
- Rebounds, Dan Issel, 6630
- Assists, Alex English, 3679
- Steals, Fat Lever, 1167
- Blocks, Dikembe Mutombo, 1486
WASHINGTON – 1978: Denver Nuggets’ David Thompson #33 stands on the court during a game against the Washington Bullets at Capital Centre circa 1978 in Washington, D.C.. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Denver Nuggets Retired Numbers
- 2, Alex English
- 33, David Thompson
- 40, Byron Beck
- 44, Dan Issel
- 432, Doug Moe
Denver Nuggets Official Links
Official Team Site: nba.com/nuggets
Official Twitter Handle: @nuggets
Official Facebook Page: Denver Nuggets
Official Instagram Page: Denver Nuggets
Official Arena Page: Pepsi Center
Denver Nuggets Beat Writers
Chris Dempsey, Denver Post, @dempseypost
Related Denver Nuggets Blogs and Links
Denver Nuggets Logo History, courtesy of Chris Creamer’s Sportslogos.net
Salary Page: Denver Nuggets Salaries at Spotrac
FanSided Denver Nuggets: Nugg Love
SB Nation Denver Nuggets: Denver Stiffs
ESPN TrueHoop Denver Nuggets: Roundball Mining Company
HoopsHabit Denver Nuggets Archive: Denver Nuggets
Bleacher Report Denver Nuggets Team Stream: Denver Nuggets
RealGM Denver Nuggets Page: Denver Nuggets
Stats and retired number information courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com
