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DENVER NUGGETS

The Denver Nuggets franchise was founded in 1967 as the Denver Larks. The team never played a game as the Larks. The name changed to the Rockets before the team’s first season in the American Basketball Association (ABA). In 1974, the team was renamed the Nuggets and played in the last ABA Finals in 1976.

The Nuggets joined the NBA with the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. The franchise has had several pockets of success making the postseason nine straight seasons in the 1980s and ten straight from 2004 to 2013. Denver is the last of the ABA teams to never have made an NBA Finals appearance.

The Nuggets appear on nationally televised broadcasts on ABC, ESPN, ESPN+, and TNT. Fans can watch regional broadcasts on the Altitude Sports Network. The complete Denver Nuggets schedule is available for live streaming on NBA.tv.

HOME OF THE NUGGETS

The Nuggets had two homes in the ABA - the Denver Auditorium Arena and the Denver Coliseum. In 1975, the Nuggets moved into McNichols Arena in 1975. They spent 25 seasons there before moving to their current home, the Pepsi Center. The arena holds 19,520 Nuggets fans for home games.

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY

The Nuggets have won 11 division titles, three in the ABA (1970, 1975, and 1976) and eight in the NBA (1977, 1978, 1985, 1988, 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2019).

As mentioned, the Nuggets have never reached an NBA Finals. Denver has reached the Western Conference Finals three times but has never won a conference championship.

BEST OF THE NUGGETS

Alex English was one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history. He is the Nuggets all-time leading scorer with 21,645 points. English was an eight-time All-Star and was All-NBA Second Team three times. He led Denver to nine straight playoff appearances while averaging 24 or more points in each season. English is also the Nuggets all-time assist leader with 3,679 assists.

Dan Issel was drafted in the eighth round of the 1970 NBA draft and the first round of the ‘70 ABA draft. He chose the ABA where he was the league’s Rookie of the Year in 1971. He was a six-time ABA All-Star and the MVP of the 1972 All-Star Game. Issel was an NBA All-Star in 1977. Issel is second on the Nuggets scoring list with 25,198 points. He is also the franchise’s leading rebounder with 6,630. When Issel retired from professional basketball, only Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Julius Erving had scored more points.

David Thompson was the first overall pick in the 1975 NBA and ABA drafts. He chose to sign with the Nuggets of the ABA. He would play seven seasons with Denver. He was the ABA Rookie of the Year in 1976 and also the MVP of the 1976 ABA All-Star Game. Thompson was one of the game’s premier dunkers and participated in the first-ever dunk contest in the ABA. Thompson was a four-time NBA All-Star and MVP of the 1979 All-Star Game. Thompson is fourth on the franchise’s all-time scoring list with 11,992 points. He finished his career with a 22.1 points per game average.