Denver Nuggets

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1967 (ABA); 1976 (NBA)
• Home arena:Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
• Owner: Ann Walton Kroenke
• Team colors: Midnight blue, sunshine yellow, Flatirons red, and skyline blue

Overview

The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Western Conference. The franchise originated as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), although its path to Denver was anything but smooth. The team was originally named the Rockets after a local trucking company, and was later rebranded as the Nuggets prior to joining the NBA. Prior to the team's 2023 NBA championship victory against the Miami Heat, it was one of only six NBA franchises that had never made an appearance in the finals. In the twentieth century, Denver was home to several NBA superstars who were not household names outside of Colorado. Chief among these was Alex English, who led a potent Nuggets’ offense during the 1980s and became one of the top twenty scorers in NBA history. After being drafted by the Nuggets in 2014, Nikola Jokić emerged as one of the league's top stars and went on to become a five-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) before being named the NBA Finals MVP following the team's 2023 championship title.

History

The American Basketball Association (ABA) was founded in 1967 to challenge the dominance of the more-established NBA. With its unconventional style and up-tempo basketball, the ABA offered an alternative to the traditional game played in the NBA. Initially, an ABA franchise had been awarded to Kansas City, Missouri, but the prospective owner could not secure an arena where the team could play. ABA officials proposed that the team be moved to Denver, Colorado, where it could play in the Denver Auditorium Arena. The franchise was to be called the Denver Larks after Colorado’s state bird. However, as the deadline approached, the team owner was having trouble raising enough funds to meet the ABA’s franchise requirements. With the deal in danger of falling apart, the owner sold a controlling interest in the team to Denver trucking mogul Bill Ringsby. Ringsby referred to his truck fleet as the Ringsby Rockets, so he renamed his new franchise the Denver Rockets and adopted his company logo and colors for the team.

The Rockets quickly established themselves as one of the more competitive franchises in the new league, posting a winning record in four of their first six seasons. While many ABA franchises struggled with attendance and either folded or relocated, the Rockets enjoyed strong fan support. By the mid-1970s, it became apparent that the ABA would not survive much longer, and league officials began trying to a force a merger with the NBA. With the possibility of being absorbed into the NBA looming, Denver decided to change its franchise name so as not to conflict with the NBA’s Houston Rockets. The team chose the name Nuggets as a nod to the area’s mining history and to honor a short-lived Denver Nuggets franchise that played in the NBA in 1949–1950.

Denver’s final two seasons in the ABA were its best, as the Nuggets won their division twice and advanced to the ABA championship series in 1976. That offseason, the two leagues merged, with Denver joining the Indiana Pacers, New Jersey Nets, and San Antonio Spurs in moving to the NBA. The franchise’s success carried over to its new league, as Denver made the playoffs from 1977 to 1979 and even advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 1978. During the 1980s, the Nuggets continued to embrace the fast-paced, high-scoring style of play popularized by the ABA. Denver led the NBA in scoring from the 1980–1981 season to 1984–1985, and again in 1987–1988. The Nuggets made the playoffs nine times from 1982 to 1990 and played in the Western Conference Finals in 1985. However, its high-powered offense came with a price. By focusing on scoring, Denver ranked last in defense five times during the decade and next to last two other times.

For much of the 1990s and into the early 2000s, Denver struggled to win games, finishing above .500 just once. That season was 1993–1994 when the Nuggets went 42–40 and made the playoffs as an eighth seed. During the opening round, the Nuggets shocked the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics, winning the series 3–2. It marked the first time in NBA history that a number eight seed had knocked off the team with the conference’s best record. The Nuggets finished at .500 and made the playoffs again in 1995 but were eliminated in the opening round. The team would not make the postseason again until 2004.

The 2003–2004 season marked a turnaround for the franchise, as Denver began a streak of ten consecutive playoff appearances that included three division titles. However, in all but one of its postseason appearances, the Nuggets never made it out of the first round. The lone exception was 2008–2009 when Denver lost in the Western Conference Finals to the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. A long period of rebuilding, which saw the drafting of future NBA superstar Nikola Jokić in 2014 and the hiring of head coach Michael Malone in 2015, paid off during the 2022–23 season after the team finished at the top of the Western Conference with a 53–29 record. Success followed the Nuggets into the playoffs, where the team defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, and the Los Angeles Lakers to earn a spot in the NBA Finals for the first time in the history of the franchise. The Nuggets then bested the Miami Heat four games to one to claim their first-ever NBA championship.

In 2000, the Nuggets were purchased by businessperson Stan Kroenke, who also bought the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche at the same time. Kroenke owned several other professional sports teams and was then a part-owner of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams. In 2010, Kroenke became the majority owner of the Rams. Because NFL rules forbid team owners from owning other professional sports teams in NFL markets, Kroenke relinquished control of the Nuggets to his wife, Ann Walton Kroenke—the daughter of one of the cofounders of the Walmart retail chain.

When Denver’s ABA team became the Nuggets, the team changed its logo to a bearded, pickaxe-wielding cartoon miner excitedly holding up an ABA-style basketball. The figure became known as Maxie Miner and stuck with the franchise through the 1980–1981 season. Several rebranded logos from 1981 to 2018 featured the Rocky Mountains above the team name until Denver completely revamped its logo for the 2018–2019 season. The new logo featured two yellow pickaxes crisscrossing above a yellow-and-white basketball. Between the pickaxes was a yellow-and-white mountain peak. The image was set in a blue circle surrounded by the team name.

Notable players

The franchise’s first star was forward Spencer Haywood, who joined the team in 1969 after leaving college early. Haywood played just one season with Denver, leading the league in scoring, making the All-Star team, and winning the ABA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. He moved on to play in the NBA the following season. In his career, Haywood made four NBA All-Star teams and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. Guard David Thompson signed with the Nuggets in 1975 and played with the team until 1982. Over that span, he was an ABA All-Star once and an NBA All-Star three times. He reached fourth on the franchise all-time scoring list with 11,992 points and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1996.

Forward Dan Issel was a five-time All-Star with the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels when he was traded to the Nuggets in 1975. Issel spent the remainder of his career in Denver before retiring in 1985. A two-time All-Star with the Nuggets, Issel reached second on the franchise list with 16,589 points scored and was first in rebounds with 6,630. He was named to the Hall of Fame in 1993. Alex English was traded to Denver in the 1979–1980 season and quickly grew into one of the NBA’s best scorers. The forward played with Denver until 1990, averaging 25.9 points per game over that span and leading the NBA in scoring in 1982–1983. English finished his career as the franchise’s all-time leader in points scored with 21,645 and assists with 3,679. His 25,613 career points were at one point twentieth all-time in NBA history. English was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.

Seven-foot-two center Dikembe Mutombo was selected by Denver with the fourth overall pick in the 1991 NBA Draft. An imposing defensive presence on the court, Mutombo played in Denver until 1996. He made three All-Star teams with the Nuggets and was named the 1994–1995 Defensive Player of the Year. Mutombo would go on to win the award three more times with other teams, making him one of two players in history to win the honor four times. Mutombo held the Nuggets’ team mark for blocked shots with 1,486 and was third in rebounds with 4,811. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2015. Carmelo Anthony was drafted by Denver in 2003 and played with the team until 2011. He made four All-Star appearances and scored 13,970 points—third most in team history at the time. Anthony would go on to make six more All-Star games with the New York Knicks and lead the NBA in scoring in 2012–2013. Center Nikola Jokić from Serbia was a second-round choice by the Nuggets in the 2014 NBA Draft. Jokić grew into a star player for Denver in the late 2010s and early 2020s and was one of the main catalysts for the franchise’s success throughout that period. His performance in the 2023 NBA Finals earned him the 2023 Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.

Bibliography

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Powell, Shaun. “Born Into Great Wealth, Josh Kroenke Runs Nuggets Like ‘One of the Guys’.” NBA.com, 27 Nov. 2018, www.nba.com/article/2018/11/26/unassuming-josh-kroenke-could-become-influential-sports-owner. Accessed 20 Apr. 2020.

“Sports World Reacts to Denver Nuggets' First Title Win.” ESPN, 12 June 2023, www.espn.com/nba/story/‗/id/37827103/nuggets-win-finals-game-5-nba-world-reacts. Accessed 14 June 2023.