50 Fun Facts About Denver Nuggets

Under what name was the franchise founded in 1967, before a last-minute ownership change renamed it?

The name honored Colorado's state bird, the lark bunting. Trucking magnate Bill Ringsby bought control hours before a league deadline and renamed the team the Rockets.

The team was called the Rockets from 1967 to 1974 after what kind of business owned by Bill Ringsby?

Ringsby Rocket Truck Lines ran long-haul trucks called Rockets, and the early team logo echoed the company's branding.

Why did the Denver Rockets change their name to the Nuggets in 1974?

The franchise was preparing to jump to the NBA and held a naming contest; the new logo showed a miner discovering an ABA ball.

Which team beat the Nuggets in the ABA's final championship series?

It was Denver's only ABA championship series. The ABA-NBA merger followed that summer, so the Nuggets never got a second chance at an ABA title.

In which year did the Nuggets join the NBA as part of the ABA-NBA merger?

They came in with three other ABA survivors. Denver and New York had actually applied to join the NBA a year earlier but were forced by a court order to stay in the ABA.

Which team did the Nuggets defeat to win their first NBA championship in 2023?

It was Denver's first NBA Finals appearance after 47 seasons in the league. The Nuggets became the second former ABA team to win it all, after the Spurs.

Who was named Finals MVP in 2023 by a unanimous vote?

He averaged 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists in the series, and became the lowest draft pick ever to win the award.

The Nuggets share Ball Arena with the NHL's Avalanche and which National Lacrosse League team?

The building hosts NBA, NHL and National Lacrosse League tenants. It opened in October 1999 with a sold-out Celine Dion concert.

Before it became Ball Arena in 2020, what was the Nuggets' home arena called?

PepsiCo held the naming rights from the 1999 opening until 2020, when Broomfield-based Ball Corporation took over as the arena's sustainability partner.

Which venue did the Nuggets and Avalanche leave behind when Ball Arena opened in 1999?

Groundbreaking for the new arena took place in November 1997 on a 4.6-acre site.

What is the name of the Nuggets' mountain lion mascot?

He has been the official mascot since the 1990-91 season and is known as the highest-paid mascot in the NBA, as well as for a long-running feud with Charles Barkley.

With which overall pick did the Nuggets draft Nikola Jokić in 2014?

He was the team's first pick of the second round, taken out of Mega Basket in Serbia at age 19, and is now widely called the biggest draft steal in NBA history.

In which Serbian city was Nikola Jokić born?

He grew up in a two-bedroom apartment with his parents, grandmother and two much older brothers, and competed in harness racing as an amateur.

What is Nikola Jokić's widely used nickname?

The nickname plays on his surname. Away from basketball, his lifelong passion is harness racing.

When Jokić won his first MVP in 2020-21, he became the first center to win the award since which player?

He was also the first player in Nuggets franchise history to be named MVP. O'Neal had won the award in 2000.

Whom did Jokić beat out for his third MVP award in May 2024?

He became the ninth player with three MVPs, tying names like Moses Malone and Larry Bird.

On March 7, 2025, Jokić became the first NBA player with 30 points, 20 rebounds and how many assists in a game?

The 30-20-20 game came in a season in which he averaged a triple-double and finished second in MVP voting.

Which medal did Jokić win with Serbia at the 2016 Summer Olympics?

Serbia lost the final to the United States. He added a bronze at the 2024 Paris Games.

Jamal Murray was born and raised in which Canadian city?

His father Roger, a Bruce Lee devotee, once competed in youth sports against fellow Kitchener resident Lennox Lewis before Lewis turned to boxing.

Where did Jamal Murray play his one college season before Denver drafted him seventh in 2016?

His 20.0 points per game are the most by any freshman in the program's history and the most for any player under John Calipari.

In the 2020 bubble, Murray scored 50 points twice in a first-round series against which team?

His 50 in Game 4 came the same night Donovan Mitchell scored 51, the first time two opponents had scored 50 in the same playoff game.

What NBA first did Jamal Murray achieve while scoring 50 against Cleveland in 2021?

He also became only the second player to reach 50 while shooting over 80 percent from both the field and three-point range.

Which injury caused Jamal Murray to miss the entire 2021-22 season?

He was hurt against Golden State in April 2021, weeks before the playoffs, and the Nuggets were swept by Phoenix without him.

From which team did the Nuggets acquire Alex English, the NBA's top 1980s scorer, in 1980?

Denver gave up George McGinnis, a former Pacers star from their ABA days. English's No. 2 was retired by the Nuggets in 1992.

Beyond basketball, which art form is Alex English especially known for pursuing?

He graduated from South Carolina with a degree in English literature and later sat on the university's board of trustees.

What was David Thompson's nickname during his Nuggets years?

Michael Jordan said the whole meaning of vertical leap began with him. Thompson later introduced Jordan at his 2009 Hall of Fame induction.

David Thompson scored 73 on the last day of 1977-78 but lost the scoring title to whom?

Gervin answered with 63 points in a game played later that same day and won the title by less than a tenth of a point per game.

Dan Issel came to Denver after winning the 1975 ABA title with which team?

He remains the second-leading scorer in Nuggets history and was the second-leading scorer in the entire history of the ABA.

Dikembe Mutombo was drafted fourth overall by Denver in 1991 out of which university?

He had arrived from Kinshasa intending to become a doctor before coach John Thompson recruited him; he graduated with degrees in linguistics and diplomacy.

Mutombo's famous finger wag after blocked shots was developed in 1992 for what reason?

He said he wanted a signature move to boost his product-endorsement appeal. It became one of the most recognizable gestures in the league.

Which team did the eighth-seeded Nuggets face in the 1994 playoffs?

Denver finished 42-40, its first winning season in years, and drew the first-place SuperSonics.

What was on the chest of the Nuggets' uniforms from 1982-83 through 1992-93?

The design has become the team's most beloved look, and it was brought back on alternate jerseys beginning in 2012-13.

The Nuggets and Pistons scored an NBA-record 370 points in 1983. What was the final score?

The record still stands. Denver's run-and-gun teams of the era routinely scored 115 or more.

What league record did the Nuggets set in the 1981-82 season?

That same season they scored at least 100 points in every game, part of an NBA-record 136-game streak of triple-digit scoring.

Which coach, hired in 1981, presided over the high-scoring Nuggets of the 1980s?

His teams led the entire league in scoring and topped the Midwest Division behind a frontcourt of English, Vandeweghe and Issel.

With which pick in the 2003 draft did the Nuggets take Carmelo Anthony?

He had just led Syracuse to its first NCAA title as a freshman. LeBron James and Darko Miličić went ahead of him.

In December 2006 the Nuggets acquired Allen Iverson from which team?

Denver sent Joe Smith, Andre Miller and two first-round picks, pairing the league's top two scorers in Iverson and Anthony.

The 2007-08 Nuggets won 50 games yet finished as the West's No. 8; what record did that set?

They finished just seven games behind the top-seeded Lakers, the closest gap between a No. 1 and No. 8 since the 16-team format began.

Whom did the Nuggets receive from Detroit in November 2008 when they traded away Allen Iverson?

The Denver-raised guard helped the team to 54 wins and its first Western Conference Finals since 1985.

Carmelo Anthony was traded in February 2011 to which team?

Denver got Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and Kosta Koufos, and fans chanted 'Who needs Melo?' at the first meeting.

George Karl was fired after the 2012-13 season despite what?

His team went a franchise-best 57-25 but lost in the first round to Golden State, the eighth first-round exit of his tenure.

Who bought the Nuggets, the Avalanche and their arena in a $450 million deal in July 2000?

He placed the teams in a trust guaranteeing they would stay in Denver until at least 2025, and later gathered his holdings under Kroenke Sports Enterprises.

Which team had Michael Malone coached before Denver hired him in June 2015?

His father Brendan was also an NBA head coach, making them only the second father-son pair to lead NBA teams. Malone was fired in April 2025.

Who replaced Michael Malone as the Nuggets' head coach in 2025?

He finished the season as interim coach after Malone and general manager Calvin Booth were both dismissed on April 8, then had the job made permanent.

What playoff feat did the 2020 Nuggets accomplish for the first time in NBA history?

They rallied past Utah and then the Clippers in the Orlando bubble before falling to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

Which Rockets rookie was named ABA MVP and Rookie of the Year in 1969-70 before jumping to the NBA?

He averaged nearly 30 points and 19.5 rebounds in his only ABA season; his move to Seattle triggered the court case that opened the draft to underclassmen.

Bronco Lonnie Wright signed with the Rockets in 1967-68 and became the first to do what?

The Rockets played at the Denver Auditorium Arena in those early years and built a strong following despite early playoff exits.

The Nuggets' 2023-24 City Edition uniform carried the number 5280 to symbolize what?

The black design also had blue lines representing the mountains, and it was paired with a special blue court during the in-season tournament.

From which team did the Nuggets acquire Aaron Gordon during the 2020-21 season?

Gary Harris went the other way. Gordon later scored a buzzer-beating playoff dunk in 2025 and shares a franchise record with Murray for 50 points on 10 threes.

How many points did the Nuggets score in a March 2008 home win over Seattle, the third-most in a regulation game in NBA history?

They beat the SuperSonics 168-116 in the season Anthony and Iverson were both scoring more than 30 a night.