Q 01/05

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

A) Denver Larks

B) Denver Miners

C) Denver Prospectors

D) Denver Bighorns

Answer · why

A) Denver Larks

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

Q 02/05

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

A) A brewery

B) A trucking company

C) A radio station

D) An oil refinery

Answer · why

B) A trucking company

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

Q 03/05

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

A) Fans voted the old name too dated

B) A judge gave the name to the truck company

C) An NBA team in Houston already used it

D) The league banned space-themed names

Answer · why

C) An NBA team in Houston already used it

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

Q 04/05

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

A) San Antonio Spurs

B) Kentucky Colonels

C) Indiana Pacers

D) New York Nets

Answer · why

D) New York Nets

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.

Q 05/05

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

A) 1976

B) 1970

C) 1979

D) 1974

Answer · why

A) 1976

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 ...