The history of this successful team dates back to the days of the ABA. They were called the Denver Larks for a couple years. They were then sold and called the Denver Rockets. They spent 9 seasons on the ABA until the NBA-ABA merger in 1976. In preparation of joining the NBA they changed their name is the Denver Nuggets because the name “Rockets” was taken by Houston. Denver started there NBA franchise with head coach Larry Brown. They were very successful in their division winning the division their first 2 seasons in the NBA.
The 1980s brought great success to the Nugget franchise. They brought in a new head coach, Doug Moe, who brought with him a “motion offense” philosophy. The Nuggets set many scoring records during the 80’s which they still hold today. They averaged 126.5 point per game in the 1981-82 season, and on December 13, 1983 they combined for an amazing 370 points in a triple overtime game with the Detroit Pistons. They were a power hungry offense and had Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe at the two forward spots. They were true scoring machines in the paint and with the jump shot respectively.
The 90’s brought along a painful couple seasons, but then success, and pain again. They were able to become a greater threat on the court with picking up great players such as Dikembe Mutombo, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (who changed his name from Chris Jackson prior to the 1993-94 season), Jalen Rose, and Antonio McDyess. The talent seemed to be there for some season in the 90’s but they still flirted with the worst record in NBA history for a couple of seasons.
The 21st century then brought on a new era of Nuggets all together.
The Denver franchise went through 3 head coaches. First there was Jeff Bzdelik who was fired during the 04’-05’ season and replaced by interim head coach Michael Cooper. Cooper finished out the season and then the Nuggets hired head coach George Karl. George has been an amazing coach for a team with many egotistical and cocky players. Coach Karl dealing with his cancer can’t possibly make it any easier for him to run a team.
This was the era of Carmelo Anthony(2003-2011), Allen Iverson(2006-2008), and Chauncy Billups(2008-2011). Anthony was drafted as the third overall pick in the 2003 draft, which was one of the most talent packed drafts of all time (The 2003 three draft also brought in LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Chris Kaman, David West, and Mo Williams.). Anthony took his talent on the court, and helped turn around the Nugget team as they began to win more games. Carmelo was then able to join forces with an aging Allen Iverson. The years played together by these two where somewhat over rated. Carmelo and Allen where the two top scorers in the league which lead to lots of chemistry problems and lots of first round knock outs in the playoffs. The nuggets then traded Iverson for Chauncy Billups in 2008. This would prove to be a better teammate for Anthony. The duo was able to put together a 54-28 record, which matched the most wins Denver has ever had in a season. The duo of Anthony and Billups seemed to be working out really well for the team. But it soon came to a screeching halt when they were both traded to the New York Knicks during 2011 season.
After the mess of rumors that floated around Carmelo all year had finally been vindicated by his trade to New York, many people, including myself, thought it was the end of the season, and the Nuggets would just give up and try for a good rebuilding season in the 2011-12 season. I can’t imagine anyone saw them becoming a winning team and making the playoffs as a 5 seed or maybe even better. Since the trade of Anthony and Billups the Nuggets have gone 13-4 with a perfect record on their home court. Somehow the team chemistry has never been better even with the hot head of J.R. Smith, and crazy antics of Chris Anderson still on the team. George Karl has taken the great talent he was given and understood perfectly how to mesh the team together.
The Denver Nuggets have proved to be one of the best teams in the league and will be a huge threat in the playoffs this year. Any team playing the Nuggets will take them for granted and Denver is not a team to do that with these days. I am not a Denver fan; I am a Utah Jazz fan through and through. I won’t however be seeing my team in the playoffs this year and will be rooting for the underdog Nuggets to make a run. Props to the Nuggets and the hard work they put into the game and never giving up. If anyone should be scared it is the team the Nuggets will face in the first round of the playoffs.
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