The Nuggets are a professional basketball team that’s part of the NBA’s Western Conference Northwest Division, and their home court is the Pepsi Center located in Denver, Colorado.
Denver Nuggets Brief History
This franchise was born with the name of the Denver Larks, and it became part of the American Basketball Association or ABA since 1967.
The team switched its name to the Rockets before its first season and switched it again to the Nuggets in 1974.
Two years later, the Nuggets joined the NBA and made it to the postseason nine straight times during the 1980s.
And then it qualified to the playoffs another ten straight seasons from 2004 to 2013, but despite those positive runs, they have never made it to the finals since their last year as part of the ABA.
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Denver Nuggets Interesting Facts
1 - The original name of this team was the Rockets, but it was switched to honor the 19th-century mining boom in Colorado.
2 - They are the least televised team in the league.
3 - Despite many terrible seasons, they have never obtained the first overall pick at the NBA draft.
Denver Nuggets Awards and Accomplishments:
- Championships: 0
- Conference titles: 0
- Division titles: 11 ABA: 3 (1970, 1975, 1976) NBA: 8 (1977, 1978, 1985, 1988, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2019)
Denver Nuggets Hall of Famers and Famous Players
Here’s a list of the top 3 Hall of Famers for the Denver Nuggets:
Alex English: He led the Nuggets to 9 straight playoffs appearances, and helped Denver to acquire two Midwest Division titles, and the 1985 Western Conference Finals. He also set 31 team records during his 11 years as part of this team.
- 11 seasons with the Nuggets, 8 times All-Star, averaged 25 points per game
- Basketball Hall of Fame: Inducted in 1997
- College Basketball Hall of Fame: Inducted in 2006
Dan Issel: He remains as the second historical top scorer for the Nuggets. And, after his retirement in 1985, only Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have been able to score more professional points.
- 9 seasons with the Nuggets, 1 time NBA All-star (6 times ABA All-Star), averaged 20 points per game
- Basketball Hall of Fame: Inducted in 1993
- College Basketball Hall of Fame: Inducted in 2006
Denver Nuggets Rivalries
Do the Nuggets have an actual rival? Well, when it comes to the NBA, a true rival is that team that’s a long-time opponent that’s always fighting against you for division and conference titles.
In that sense, Denver doesn’t actually have a real rival. But, there are three possible options when it comes to rivals of the Nuggets: The Lakers, the Jazz, and the Spurs.
Los Angeles Lakers
A lot of fans really believe this Los Angeles team is their real rival, and the main reason for that is because the Nuggets have competed with the Lakers a total of six times during the playoffs.
The only real problem with this “rivalry” is that Denver has never defeated LA in a postseason series, and are 52-98 against them.
Utah Jazz
A good argument for this rivalry is locality, as these are the only two teams from the Rocky Mountains.
Another argument is how many times they’ve faced each other, a total of 167.
And the third argument is that they have competed in four postseason series.
San Antonio Spurs
This rivalry dates back to when these two belonged to the ABA.
Back then, the Spurs were called the Chaparrals, and the Nuggets were known as the Rockets.
They have competed against the other an amazing 264 times, which is the most versus a rival for either of these two franchises.
The only real problem with this rivalry is that each team has lacked talent when the other it’s at its best.
And the last factor that can signal this team as a rival for the Nuggets is that current Denver head coach George Karl started his career in San Antonio at the ABA, with the aforementioned Chaparrals.
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