Nuggets
Nuggets
Nuggets Highlights
The Denver Nuggets are only one of the four teams left from the American Basketball Association (ABA). The franchise holds the dubious distinction of being the only one of these teams to not make an NBA Finals appearance. Several stars like Alex English, who leads the Denver Nuggets’ team stats, have made Denver formidable, albeit without a title.
Despite not having made the NBA Finals, the Nuggets have been a proficient franchise. Their all-time win-loss record is around .500 and the team tends to be playoff-caliber. Hence, you can find NBA odds to favor the Nuggets more often than not.
General Information
Conference & Division
- Founded: 1967
- Conference: Western
- Division: Northwest
City: Denver, Colorado
Stadium: Wells Fargo Center
Championships & Titles
Years:
- 11 Division Titles
Denver Nuggets All-Time Records
Most points all-time:
- Alex English, 21,645
Most rebounds all-time:
- Dan Issel, 6,630
Most assists all-time:
- Alex English, 3,679
Most steals all-time:
- Fat Lever, 1,167
Most blocks all-time:
- Dikembe Mutombo, 1,486
Most wins all-time (coach):
- Doug Moe, 432
Denver Nuggets Stats & Team History
The franchise started in 1967 as the “Rockets”. The team then rebranded to the Nuggets in 1974 and joined the NBA during the merger in 1976. Its first taste of consistent success came under head coach Larry Brown. He led the Nuggets to 65 wins in 1974, which is still a franchise record as of 2022.
The team could not translate the regular season success to playoff success, an issue that would plague the Nuggets as a franchise. During the 1980s, Denver acquired English. The talented scorer led the team to repeat playoff appearances as well as the Nuggets’ team stats.
The 1984-85 season was the peak of English’s reign with Denver ,as the team made it to its first NBA Conference Finals. After his departure in 1990, the Nuggets became an also-ran and made just two playoff appearances from 1990 to 2003.
One of these playoff runs was a memorable one as the eighth-seeded Nuggets, led by Dikembe Mutombo, upset the top-seeded Seattle Supersonics. Denver won just 42 games while Seattle won an NBA-best 63 games.
During the 2002-03 season, Denver finished with a franchise-worst 65 losses. This gave the team the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, in which they took Carmelo Anthony. He went on to become the face of the franchise.
George Karl joined the team as the coach and star point guards like Allen Iverson and Chauncey Billups also had brief tenures with the team. With Karl and Anthony, the Nuggets never missed the playoffs. But the team also only made it past the first round once.
After Denver shockingly fired Karl, who had just won Coach of the Year in 2013, the team went back to rebuilding. The Nuggets struck gold during the 2015 NBA Draft when they selected Nikola Jokic in the second round.
Jokic blossomed to become one of the best centers in the NBA. He became the first Nugget to win the MVP, a feat he did twice. The Nuggets became perennial playoff contenders with him and won at least one NBA playoffs series for three straight postseasons.
With other stars like Jamal Murray returning, the Nuggets may have their best team. At some point, a trip to the NBA Finals is not impossible.
