Denver Nuggets

This article is about the current NBA team. For the original Denver Nuggets NBL/NBA team from 1948-1950, see Denver Nuggets (original).

Denver Nuggets
2011–12 Denver Nuggets season
Conference	Western Conference
Division	Northwest Division
Founded	1967 (Joined NBA in 1976)
History	Denver Rockets 1967–1974 Denver Nuggets 1974–present
Arena	Pepsi Center
City	Denver, Colorado
Team colors	Powder Blue, Gold, White, Navy
Owner(s)	Stan Kroenke (sale pending)
General manager	Masai Ujiri
Head coach	George Karl
D-League affiliate	Idaho Stampede
Championships	0
Conference titles	ABA: 1 (1976) NBA: 0
Division titles	ABA: 3 (1970, 1975, 1976) NBA: 7 (1977, 1978, 1985, 1988, 2006, 2009, 2010)
Official website	nuggets.com
Home Away

The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams. After changing their name in anticipation of a merger, they joined the NBA in 1976. They play home games at the Pepsi Center.

Franchise history

Early years

In 1967, one of the 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 native and former NBA player Vince Boryla as general manager, Trindle moved his team to Denver as the Denver Larks, named after the Colorado state bird.^[1] 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 two-thirds 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.^[2]

The Rockets struggled early in the postseason and failed to play in a championship series. 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.

Denver Rockets (1967–1974)

Ringsby sold the team to San Diego businessmen Frank Goldberg and Bud Fischer in 1972.^[1] 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 winning choice was Nuggets, in honor of the original Nuggets team who played in the city from 1938 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 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 an ABA league championship, as the ABA-NBA merger took place 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 for the 1976–77 NBA season. 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 was ultimately successful in the postseason.

Red McCombs bought the team in 1978.

1980s

Classic "Rainbow" logo (1982–1993)

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 also known for not paying as much attention to defense as his colleagues. 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—136 consecutive games (NBA record).^[3] During the 1981–82 season the Denver Nuggets set the league scoring record for the highest average points per game at 126.5 points.

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. They even managed to win a franchise-record 54 wins in the 1987-88 season. However, the Dallas 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.

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 during the 1990-91 season, despite setting many scoring records. As an insult, many sportswriters nicknamed the team at the time as the "Enver Nuggets" (as in 'no D' or no defense).

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 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 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 (then) 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. The losing streak would later be broken by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2011 with 26 consecutive losses. Several years later, the Nuggets tied for the worst record in the NBA in 2002–03, also with the Cavaliers.

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 the 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.^[1] 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.^[4]

After almost two years, Ascent sold the Avalanche and Nuggets to Wal-Mart 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.^[5]

However, a new wrinkle appeared when the city of Denver refused to transfer the parcel of land on which the Pepsi Center stood unless Sturm promised to keep the Avalanche and Nuggets in Denver for at least 25 years. Sturm had made his bid in his own name, and the city wanted to protect itself in case Sturm either died or sold the teams before the 25 years ran out. While Sturm was willing to make a long-term commitment to the city, he wasn't 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.^[6] 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 that there were several decisions he simply couldn't make due to the unstable ownership situation.^[7]

Finally, in July 2000, the Avalanche, Nuggets and Pepsi Center were bought by real estate entrepreneur Stan Kroenke in a $450 million deal.^[1] Kroenke is the brother-in-law of the Lauries; his wife Ann is Nancy Laurie's sister. Liberty retained only a 6.5% stake of the sports franchises. 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.^[6] After the deal, Kroenke organized his sports assets under Kroenke Sports Enterprises.

2003–2011: The Carmelo Anthony era

2003–2006

Logo from 2003–08. Identical to the current logo, but with navy blue replacing royal blue. A previous version in navy, metallic gold and dark red was used from 1993–2003.

In 2003, the Nuggets drafted future All-Star Carmelo Anthony with the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.^[8] 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 2009.^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[11] The Nuggets later hired George Karl as a permanent replacement.^[12] 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.^[13]

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.^[14] The Nuggets picked 20th in the 2005 NBA Draft; it was acquired from the Washington Wizards via the Orlando Magic.^[15] 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.^[15]

In 2005–06, for the first time in 18 years, the club won the Northwest division title.^[16] 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. Shortly after, the Nuggets announced that General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe's contract would not be renewed. He was replaced by Mark Warkentien.^[17]

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.^[18][19] 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.^[20]

2006–2008: Iverson and Anthony

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.^[21] 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.)^[21]

The Nuggets finished the 2007–08 NBA season with exactly 50 wins as well as finishing the first half of that season 25–16 (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.^[22] It was the first time since the 1987–88 NBA season that the Nuggets finished with at least 50 wins in a season.^[22] 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.^[22] 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.^[22] 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.^[23][24]

2008–2011: Anthony and 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). This trade was to reduce the Nuggets' payroll costs.^{[citation needed]}

On November 3, 2008, guard Allen Iverson was traded to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheikh Samb (part of the trade exception from the Marcus Camby trade was used to allow the deal to go through). McDyess was waived though on November 10, 2008, and he returned to Detroit shortly afterwards.

With Carmelo Anthony averaging 22.8 ppg and Billups averaging 6.4 assists in the 2008–09 NBA season the Nuggets accomplished a great number of franchise milestones. Their 54–28 record matched the most wins the franchise had gotten since their induction in the NBA; their 27–14 start was also a record for wins in the first half of a season. This also marked the first time in the franchise's history the team had back-to-back 50-win seasons. They led the Northwest division for much of the season, eventually winning the division and placing #2 in the Western Conference, matching the highest the team has ever been seeded for the playoffs. General Manager Mark Warkentien won the NBA Executive of the Year Award for the Nuggets' improvement. They won Game 1 of the playoffs in a blowout victory against the New Orleans Hornets on April 19, 2009, the first time they had home-court advantage since 1988 and also, the 29-point victory was the largest victory for any team for Game 1 of the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs. Chauncey Billups set a Nuggets franchise record with the most three-pointers in a playoff game with 8, and his 19 three-pointers in total is also a Nuggets record for threes made in a playoff series.^[25][26] They went on to beat the Hornets in five games, including a 58-point victory in Game 4 which matched the most lopsided win in NBA playoff history. They then went on to beat the #6 seed Dallas Mavericks 4 games to 1 in the Conference Semifinals to make their first trip to the Western Conference Finals since 1985. That was also the first time the Nuggets had ever led 3–0 in a best-of-seven series. Up to that point, they held an NBA Playoffs-high in three-pointers made and a 16-point average margin of victory, the largest average margin of victory in the first 10 playoff games in NBA Playoff history. They lost the first game of the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers but won the second game to tie the series 1–1. Carmelo Anthony became the first Denver player to score at least 30 points in five consecutive playoff games since the Nuggets joined the NBA in 1976. They lost the series 4–2, ending Denver's longest playoff run in team history.^[27]

In the 2009 NBA Draft, the Nuggets traded a first-round draft pick acquired from the Charlotte Bobcats to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the rights to rookie Ty Lawson, who was drafted 18th overall. On July 13, 2009, the Nuggets traded a second-round draft pick to the Detroit Pistons for Arron Afflalo (part of the trade exception from the Iverson trade was used to allow the deal to go through) and Walter Sharpe. Afflalo replaced starting guard Dahntay Jones, who signed with the Indiana Pacers.^[28] However, on August 10, the Nuggets lost forward Linas Kleiza, who signed with the Olympiacos Piraeus of the Greek League.^[29]

The 2009–10 season saw Carmelo Anthony average 28.2 ppg and Chauncey Billups average a career-high 19.6 ppg. In the opening two games of the season, Anthony totaled 71 points, scoring 30 points in the home opener and 41 the next night, in wins against division rivals Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers, respectively. Anthony became one of two players in the Nuggets' history to open with more than 70 points through two games (Alex English also accomplished this feat). It was also only the second time since 1987 that the Nuggets started the season 2–0.^[30] They later went 3–0, 4–0, and then 5–0 for the first time since 1985 after defeating the Memphis Grizzlies, Indiana Pacers, and New Jersey Nets respectively. Despite injuries which caused all three captains - Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, and Kenyon Martin – to miss a total of 46 games, and then later on in the second half of the season the absence of head coach George Karl, who underwent treatment for neck and throat cancer, the Nuggets were still able to win 53 games (third consecutive 50-win season, which was the first time in Nuggets history) for the season which also allowed them to clinch their second consecutive Northwest division title and finish as the fourth seed in the West Conference. However, they were eliminated in six games by the Utah Jazz, their seventh first-round elimination in 16 years. Carmelo Anthony averaged a career-high 30.7 ppg in the playoffs.

On July 14, 2010, the Nuggets bolstered their frontcourt depth by signing Al Harrington.^[31] During the 2010 off-season, Masai Ujiri replaced Mark Warkentien as the General Manager, while Josh Kroenke was named the Nuggets' team president.

Stan Kroenke bought full ownership in the St. Louis Rams of the NFL in 2010. Since the NFL does not allow its owners to hold majority control of major-league teams in other NFL cities, Kroenke turned over day-to-day control of the Nuggets and Avalanche to Josh toward the end of 2010, and must sell his controlling interest in both teams by 2014.^[32]

2011: Rebuilding

On February 22, 2011, after months of speculation that he wanted to leave the Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony was traded along with Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Shelden Williams and Renaldo Balkman to the New York Knicks in a multi-player deal also involving the Minnesota Timberwolves in which the Nuggets received Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and Kosta Koufos. On the day when the trade was done, the Nuggets were left with nine players to play against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Nuggets won the game, 120-107, where they led by as many as 27 points. George Karl said after the game, "Our guys, when their backs are confronted with a difficult situation, they usually play at a high level. We always react to tough situations in a very positive way." Some people said after the trade the Nuggets would become the "Cleveland Cavaliers" of the West, that is, would falter in the standings and lose their playoff hopes due to the loss of their franchise player, Carmelo. However, the trade only seemed to make them better. Post-trade, the Nuggets averaged 24.1 assists, showing their newfound teamwork. The defense of the Nuggets also improved, from allowing 105.2 ppg before the trade to of 97.1 ppg for the remainder of the season. ^[33] Despite the franchise changing trade which saw eighteen different starting lineups through the whole season, Denver finished with 50 wins (fourth consecutive 50 win seasons for the first time in Nuggets history), clinching the 5th seed of the Western Conference. They met the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs and lost four games to one.

Season-by-season records

Main article: List of Denver Nuggets seasons

Home arenas

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

Uniforms

The Nuggets have worn numerous uniforms throughout their franchise history, including their days in the ABA as the "Denver Rockets." From the early to mid-1970s, the Nuggets wore gold and purple (Columbine blue) uniforms.

When the Nuggets joined the NBA in the 1976–77 season, they retained the pick-axe logo on their jerseys from the ABA days. The home uniforms feature 'Nuggets' in red with a red pick-axe inside a blue oval, and gold numbers with blue trim in front, blue numbers and letters at the back. The road uniforms were blue, with 'Denver' in blue with a blue pick-axe in a red oval, and gold numbers in front, white numbers and letters at the back.

The Nuggets simplified their uniforms following their inaugural season in the NBA. From 1977-82 their home uniforms were white, with a "Nuggets" script written across the chest in a darker royal blue, with gold trim around the script and jersey numbers. The royal blue away jersey had "Denver" written across the chest in white, with gold trim.

From the early-1980s until the 1992–93 season, the Nuggets wore the Denver "rainbow city" skyline across the chest and back on both the home and away uniforms. Some fans also call the iconic 80s logo the "Tetris" logo, due to the buildings that shadow the mountains on the logo. The initial home uniforms were white with navy and green trim, with "Nuggets" and the uniform number in gold with blue trim. In 1985, they changed the shade of blue to royal and eliminated green, and in 1986 changed the back numbers to royal blue. In 1991, coinciding with the debut of Dikembe Mutombo, the word "Nuggets" became white with royal blue and gold trim. The road uniforms were initially navy blue with green trim, with "Denver" and the uniform number in white with gold trim. In 1985, the shade of blue on road uniforms was changed to royal and eliminated green, with the word "Nuggets" and the uniform number in white with royal blue and gold trim.

For the 1993–94 season, the Nuggets drastically changed their look, with a dark navy, metallic gold and wine color scheme on their uniforms. The home jerseys had a "Nuggets" script in a modified version of the typeface Aachen across the chest in navy blue, with dark red and metallic gold trim around the script and numbers, while the navy blue away jerseys had the same script in metallic gold, with dark red and white trim. The Nuggets wore these uniforms for a decade, until the 2002–03 season.

For the 2003–04 season, the Nuggets made another uniform change, with a new color scheme of powder blue, gold and royal blue. Like the 1990s uniforms, the new Nuggets jerseys also have the Aachen typeface across the chest – it's "Nuggets" in powder blue, with royal blue and gold trim on the home white jersey, while the new powder blue road jersey has "Denver" in white, with gold and royal blue trim. These jerseys were tweaked prior to the 2008–09 season, with the royal blue trim replaced by navy blue, as well as a circle patch of the Nuggets alternate pick axe logo placed above the nameplate on the backs of the jerseys.

In the 2005–06 season, the Nuggets also introduced an alternate navy blue uniform, with an alternate Nuggets script in gold, with navy blue interior trim and powder blue outlining.

For the 2010–11 season, the Nuggets' uniform set was once again tweaked, with the NBA's introduction of the "Revolution 30" jerseys. On the home white and alternate navy blue jerseys, the collars are powder blue with gold exterior outlines, while on the powder blue jersey, the collar is white with gold exterior outlines.^[34]

Players

Main article: Denver Nuggets all-time roster

Basketball Hall of Famers

• Alex English
• Dan Issel
• David Thompson

Retired numbers

• 2 Alex English, F, 1980–1990
• 33 David Thompson, FG, 1975–1982
• 40 Byron Beck, FC, 1967–77
• 44 Dan Issel, FC, 1976–1985
• 432 Doug Moe, Head Coach, 1980-90 (Number represents his total number of regular season victories)

Current roster

Denver Nuggets rosterv · d · e
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight DOB (Y–M–D) From 2.0 !SG 6 Afflalo, Arron (FA) 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1985–10–15 UCLA 6.0 !C 11 Andersen, Chris 82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1978–07–07 Blinn College TX (JC)* 6.0 !C 34 Ely, Melvin (FA) 82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 261 lb (118 kg) 1978–05–02 Fresno State 4.5 !PF 35 Faried, Kenneth (DP) 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1989–18–11 Morehead State* 3.0 !SF 0 Forbes, Gary (FA) 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1985–02–25 Massachusetts 3.0 !SF 8 Gallinari, Danilo 82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1988–08–08 Italy 2.5 !G/F 1 Hamilton, Jordan (DP) 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1990–06–10 Texas 4.5 !PF 7 Harrington, Al 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1980–02–17 St. Patrick High School (NJ)* 4.5 !PF 31 Hilario, Nenê (FA) 83 !6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1982–09–13 Brazil 6.0 !C 41 Koufos, Kosta 84 !7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 265 lb (120 kg) 1989–02–24 Ohio State 1.0 !PG 3 Lawson, Ty 71 !5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1987–11–03 North Carolina 4.5 !PF 14 Maduabum, Chukwudiebere (DP) 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1991–03–19 Nigeria 1.0 !PG 24 Miller, Andre 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1976–03–19 Utah 6.0 !C 25 Mozgov, Timofey 85 !7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1986–07–16 Russia	Head coach George Karl (North Carolina) Assistant coach(es) Melvin Hunt (Baylor) John Welch (UNLV) Chad Iske (Kansas) Stacey Augmon (UNLV) Athletic trainer(s) Jim Gillen (Fort Hays State*) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured * High school Roster • Transactions Last transaction: 2011-09-21

International rights

F		Sani Bečirovič	2003 NBA Draft	47th pick
F-C		Xue Yuyang	2003 NBA Draft	58th pick
F		Wilson Chandler

High points

Franchise leaders

Bold denotes still active with team. "Name*" includes points scored for the team while in the ABA. Italics denotes still active but not with team.

Points scored (regular season)(as of the end of the 2010-11 season)^[35]

• 1. Alex English (21,645)
• 2. Dan Issel* (16,589)
• 3. Carmelo Anthony (13,970)
• 4. David Thompson* (11,992)
• 5. Ralph Simpson* (10,130)
• 6. Byron Beck* (8,603)
• 7. Fat Lever (8,081)
• 8. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (7,029)
• 9. Kiki Vandeweghe (6,829)
• 10. Antonio McDyess (6,555)

• 11. Nene Hilario (6,492)
• 12. Dave Robisch* (6,181)
• 13. Reggie Williams(5,934)
• 14. Larry Jones* (5,745)
• 15. Michael Adams(5,534)
• 16. LaPhonso Ellis (5,201)
• 17. J. R. Smith (5,084)
• 18. Dikembe Mutombo (5,054)
• 19. Danny Schayes (5,029)
• 20. Bryant Stith (4,982)

• 21. Bobby Jones (4,806)
• 22. Bill Hanzlik (4,546)
• 23. Chauncey Billups (4,378)
• 24. Kenyon Martin (4,353)
• 25. Nick Van Exel (4,325)
• 26. Blair Rasmussen (4,319)
• 27. Andre Miller (3,753)
• 28. Marcus Camby (3,748)
• 29. Walter Davis (3,659)
• 30. Mike Evans (3,642)

Other Statistics (regular season)(as of the end of the 2010-11 season)^[36]

Minutes Played

• 1. Alex English (29,893)
• 2. Dan Issel* (25,198)
• 3. Carmelo Anthony (20,521)
• 4. Byron Beck* (19,197)
• 5. T.R. Dunn (18,322)

Rebounds

• 1. Dan Issel* (6,630)
• 2. Byron Beck* (5,261)
• 3. Dikembe Mutombo (5,054)
• 4. Alex English (4,686)
• 5. Julius Keye* (4,547)

Assists

• 1. Alex English (3,679)
• 2. Fat Lever (3,566)
• 3. Michael Adams(2,181)
• 4. Nick Van Exel (2,047)
• 5. Dan Issel* (2,005)

Steals

• 1. Fat Lever (1,167)
• 2. T.R. Dunn (1,070)
• 3. Alex English (854)
• 4. Dan Issel* (798)
• 5. Bobby Jones (660)

Blocks

• 1. Dikembe Mutombo (1,486)
• 2. Marcus Camby (1,126)
• 3. Wayne Cooper (830)
• 4. Bobby Jones (625)
• 5. Alex English (624)

Individual awards

NBA Defensive Player of the Year

• Dikembe Mutombo – 1995
• Marcus Camby – 2007

NBA Most Improved Player of the Year

• Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf – 1993

NBA Coach of the Year

• Doug Moe – 1988

NBA Sportsmanship Award

• Chauncey Billups – 2009
• Conor Lee 2011

NBA Executive of the Year

• Vince Boryla – 1985
• Mark Warkentien – 2009

All-NBA First Team

• David Thompson – 1977, 1978

All-NBA Second Team

• Alex English – 1982, 1983, 1986
• Lafayette Lever – 1987
• Carmelo Anthony - 2010

All-NBA Third Team

• Antonio McDyess – 1999
• Carmelo Anthony – 2006, 2007, 2009
• Chauncey Billups - 2009

NBA All-Defensive First Team

• Bobby Jones – 1977, 1978
• Marcus Camby – 2007, 2008

NBA All-Defensive Second Team

• T.R. Dunn – 1983, 1984, 1985
• Bill Hanzlik – 1986
• Lafayette Lever – 1988
• Dikembe Mutombo – 1995
• Marcus Camby – 2005, 2006

NBA Rookie First Team

• Dikembe Mutombo – 1992
• LaPhonso Ellis – 1993
• Antonio McDyess – 1996
• Nenê – 2003
• Carmelo Anthony – 2004

NBA Rookie Second Team

• Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf – 1991
• Mark Macon – 1992
• Jalen Rose – 1995
• Bobby Jackson – 1998
• James Posey – 2000

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Denver Nuggets history at FundingUniverse
2. ^ ABA-era team notes
3. ^ "Regular Season Records: Points". http://www.nba.com/history/records/regular_points.html. Retrieved 2009-11-20. 
4. ^ Liberty buys Ascent/Nuggets, Avs, arena still on block. The Gazette, 2000-02-23.
5. ^ Schley, Stewart. Stan Kroenke's full-court press. Colorado Biz, 2006-06-01.
6. ^ ^{a b} Moore, Paula. Why one deal went smoothly. Denver Business Journal, 2000-07-17.
7. ^ Nuggets roster moves put on hold. ESPN, 1999-11-11.
8. ^ "Denver ecstatic to get Anthony with third pick". CNN. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/2003/draft/news/2003/06/26/nuggets_anthony_ap/. Retrieved May 1, 2010. 
9. ^ NBA.com: Going Retro: Denver Nuggets
10. ^ NUGGETS: Kiki Vandeweghe
11. ^ "BASKETBALL; Slumping Nuggets Fire Their Coach". The New York Times. December 29, 2004. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E5DF1739F93AA15751C1A9629C8B63. Retrieved May 1, 2010. 
12. ^ "Nuggets Hire Karl to Right the Ship". Los Angeles Times. January 28, 2005. http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jan/28/sports/sp-nbarep28. Retrieved June 6, 2010. 
13. ^ NUGGETS: George Karl
14. ^ Deseret News Publishing Co. (May 5, 2005). "Spurs oust Denver in 5 games."
15. ^ ^{a b} NUGGETS: 2005 Draft Central
16. ^ Nuggets 110, Trail Blazers 98 - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
17. ^ ESPN - Denver VS. Los Angeles - Recap - May 01, 2006
18. ^ ESPN - Denver vs. New York - Recap - December 16, 2006
19. ^ ESPN - Suspensions total 47 games from Knicks-Nuggets fight - NBA
20. ^ ESPN - Answering the hard questions after Garden brawl - NBA
21. ^ ^{a b} ESPN – Seattle vs. Denver – Recap – March 16, 2008
22. ^ ^{a b c d} ESPN – Memphis vs. Denver – Recap – April 16, 2008
23. ^ NBA.com: Nuggets Put Up a Fight, but Lakers Get Sweep
24. ^ NBA – 2004 Playoffs Memphis Grizzlies vs. San Antonio Spurs – Yahoo! Sports
25. ^ "Denver Nuggets on Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games". Sports.yahoo.com. 2009-11-10. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/den. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
26. ^ "NBA - Standings - Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/standings;_ylt=ArAJsNgZKZ7mx6JlbB3o.hV70bYF. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
27. ^ By BETH HARRIS, AP Sports Writer, May 22, 2:04 am EDT. "Nuggets beat Lakers 106-103 in Game 2 - NBA - Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=AlNN2XjoZYQHYEqbjaNlBrN70bYF?gid=2009052113&prov=ap. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
28. ^ By Chris Dempsey The Denver Post (July 14, 2009). "Nuggets' deal for Afflalo fills Jones' role". The Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_12830172. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
29. ^ "NBA free agents: Denver Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza takes Olympiakos' offer - ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. 2009-08-11. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4389053. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
30. ^ Hochman, Benjamin (2009-10-31). "Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony, armed with a new mind-set, is off to sizzling start for 2-0 Denver". The Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_13681618. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
31. ^ http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/07/14/harrington-heading-to-denver-for-five-tear-deal/
32. ^ "Stan Kroenke is new Rams owner". ESPN. 25 August 2010. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5496516. 
33. ^ Hochman, Benjamin; Dempsey, Chris (February 21, 2011). "Carmelo Anthony traded to New York Knicks in blockbuster deal". Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_17443219. 
34. ^ Chris Creamer's Sports Logos Page
35. ^ "Nuggets Career Leaders : Statistics". Baskeball Reference. 2011-06-27. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DEN/leaders_career.html. Retrieved 2011-06-27. 
36. ^ "Nuggets Career Leaders : Statistics". Baskeball Reference. 2011-06-27. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DEN/leaders_career.html. Retrieved 2011-06-27. 

External links

• Denver Nuggets official website
• Denver Nuggets detailed history
• The Denver Post - All Things Nuggets