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The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA merged into the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976, resulting in four ABA teams joining the NBA and the introduction of the NBA 3-point shot in 1979.
The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. The team was founded as the Denver Larks in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association (ABA) but changed their name to the Rockets before the first season. The Rockets then changed their name again to the Nuggets in 1974. After the name change, the Nuggets played for the final ABA Championship title in 1976, losing to the New York Nets.
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo is a Congolese-American former professional basketball player. Mutombo played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Mount Mutombo" for his defensive prowess, he is commonly regarded as one of the best shot-blockers and defensive players of all time. He received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times, tied with Ben Wallace for the most awards. Mutombo led the NBA in blocked shots three times, led the league in rebounds twice, and was named to eight All-Star teams. On January 10, 2007, Mutombo reached second place on the list of NBA career leaders in blocked shots. Outside of basketball, he is well known for his humanitarian work.
Chauncey Ray Billups is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball with the Colorado Buffaloes, he was selected third overall in the 1997 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. Billups spent the majority of his 17-year basketball career playing for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he won the NBA Finals MVP in 2004 after helping the Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. He was given the nickname "Mr. Big Shot" for making late-game shots with Detroit. A five-time NBA All-Star, a three-time All-NBA selection and two-time NBA All-Defensive selection, Billups also played for the Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Clippers during his NBA career.
Robert Clyde Jones is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Denver Nuggets in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Secretary of Defense", Jones won an NBA championship with the 76ers in 1983, was a four-time NBA All-Star, an eight-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team, and was the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 1983.
Antonio Keithflen McDyess is an American former professional basketball player. Listed at 6'9" and 240 lb (111 kg), McDyess played as a power forward.
Daniel Paul Issel is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per game for his career. The American Basketball Association Rookie of the Year in 1971, he was a six-time ABA All-Star and a one-time NBA All-Star.
The 1995–96 NBA season was the Nuggets' 20th season in the National Basketball Association, and 29th season as a franchise. The Nuggets had the 15th overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft, and selected Brent Barry out of Oregon State University, but soon traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for top draft pick Antonio McDyess from the University of Alabama, and acquired Don MacLean and Doug Overton from the Washington Bullets during the off-season. However, the team got off to a horrible start losing eight of their first nine games, as LaPhonso Ellis missed the first 37 games of the season with a knee injury. Despite the slow start, the Nuggets would then recover winning eight of their next nine games leading to a 9–9 start, but later on lost six straight games in January slipping below .500 with a 20–27 record at the All-Star break.
The 1994–95 NBA season was the Nuggets' 19th season in the National Basketball Association, and 28th season as a franchise. The Nuggets had the thirteenth overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft, and selected Jalen Rose from the University of Michigan, and signed free agent Dale Ellis during the off-season. Coming off their improbable playoff run, the Nuggets were bitten by the injury bug, losing LaPhonso Ellis for all but the final six games of the season due to a knee injury from an off-season pickup game. Without their star forward, second-year forward Rodney Rogers became the team's starting power forward, while the Nuggets also replaced scoring leader Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf as the team's starting point guard with Robert Pack, as the team won five of their first six games. However, head coach Dan Issel resigned with the team holding an 18–16 record. Under his assistant Gene Littles, the Nuggets struggled losing 13 of their next 16 games as Littles was replaced with General Manager Bernie Bickerstaff. The team was out of playoff position with a 20–26 record at the All-Star break.
The 2008–09 Denver Nuggets season was the 42nd season of the franchise, 33rd in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They finished the regular season with 54 wins and 28 losses, the franchise's best record since 1987–88. In the playoffs, the Nuggets defeated New Orleans Hornets in five games in the first round; this series included a notable 58-point bludgeoning of the Hornets in Game 4. The Nuggets then defeated the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the Western Conference Semi-finals to reach the conference finals for the first time since 1985, ending their streak of five straight first-round exits. However, the Nuggets lost to the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, ending their playoff run. This was the second straight year the Nuggets had their season ended by the Lakers.
The 1992–93 NBA season was the Nuggets' 17th season in the National Basketball Association and 26th season as a franchise. In the 1992 NBA draft, the Nuggets selected LaPhonso Ellis out of Notre Dame University with the fifth overall pick, and selected Bryant Stith from the University of Virginia with the thirteenth overall pick. During the off-season, the team acquired second-year guard Robert Pack from the Portland Trail Blazers, and brought back Dan Issel as their new head coach; Issel starred for the Nuggets for ten seasons as a player. Under Issel, the Nuggets got off to a 7–7 start, but then suffered a 14-game losing streak from December 5, 1992 to January 5, 1993. At midseason, the team signed free agent Tom Hammonds, who was previously released by the Charlotte Hornets. Despite the losing streak, the Nuggets showed significant improvement holding a 20–30 record at the All-Star break, and missed the playoffs by three games with a record of 36–46, fourth in the Midwest Division.
The 1976 ABA All Star Game was the ninth and final American Basketball Association All-Star Game, played at McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, on January 27, 1976. This time, the league abandoned the usual East vs. West format it used from the 1967-68 season onward and instead had the league's first-place team at the All Star break face off against a team of ABA All Stars. The change was decided given the league's reduction from ten to seven teams and from two divisions to only one. At the All-Star break, the Denver Nuggets were in first place, which was convenient as the Nuggets had also been selected to host the game in McNichols Arena. Kevin Loughery of the New York Nets coached the All-Stars while Larry Brown led the Denver Nuggets. This was the second year in a row that Loughery and Brown coached against each other in the ABA All-Star Game.
The 1975–76 ABA season was the ninth and final season of the American Basketball Association. The shot clock was changed from 30 to 24 seconds to match the NBA. Dave DeBusschere was the league's new commissioner, its seventh and last. This was also the only season that did not use the East-West division setup. The NBA would adopt the ABA's three-point shot for the 1979–80 season.
The 1999–2000 NBA season was the Nuggets' 24th season in the National Basketball Association, and 33rd season as a franchise. It was also their first season playing at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets had the 18th overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, and selected James Posey out of Xavier University. During the off-season, the team acquired Ron Mercer and Popeye Jones from the Boston Celtics, and signed free agent George McCloud. With Dan Issel back as head coach, the Nuggets had a solid nucleus of second-year star Raef LaFrentz, Antonio McDyess and Nick Van Exel with a 17–15 record to start the season. However, the Nuggets would struggle and slip below .500, holding a 21–27 record at the All-Star break.
The 2001–02 NBA season was the Nuggets' 26th season in the National Basketball Association, and 35th season as a franchise. During the off-season, the Nuggets signed free agents Isaiah Rider and Avery Johnson. However, Rider would play in just ten games before being waived on November 20. After finishing just two games below .500 the previous season, the Nuggets suffered another disastrous setback as Antonio McDyess suffered a preseason knee injury, which limited him to just ten games. The Nuggets got off to a 6–5 start, but then lost nine of their next ten games.
The following are the basketball events of the year 1976 throughout the world.
The 1975–76 Denver Nuggets season was Denver's ninth and final season in the American Basketball Association (ABA). At the conclusion of the season the team would join the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was led by an eventual hall of fame coach, Larry Brown.
Nikola Jokić is a Serbian professional basketball player who is a center for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Joker", he is regarded as one of the greatest players and centers of all time, and is often considered the greatest draft steal in NBA history. A six-time NBA All-Star, Jokić has been named to the All-NBA Team on five occasions, and won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for the 2020–21, 2021–22, and 2023–24 seasons. He represents the Serbian national team, with which he won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Carl Scheer was an American basketball executive. Over his career, he served as the general manager of the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and Charlotte Hornets. He was also the commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association. He was the first GM in Hornets history and is credited as the inventor of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
References
- ↑ "Denver Nuggets Career Leaders : Statistics". Basketball Reference. 2016-11-29. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
- ↑ "Denver Nuggets Players | Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
- ↑ "Legends profile: Dan Issel". NBA. September 13, 2021.
- 1 2 "Legends profile: Alex English". NBA. September 13, 2021.
- ↑ "Denver Nuggets legend Lafayette "Fat" Lever cements "legacy" with jersey retirement". Denver Post. December 1, 2017.
- ↑ "Draft Memories: Dikembe Mutombo". NBA. June 24, 2015.
- ↑ Zillgitt, Jeff (June 12, 2023). "Nikola Jokic named NBA Finals MVP after leading Denver Nuggets to first championship". USA Today.
- ↑ "Sports People: Basketball – Mutombo Honored". New York Times. May 2, 1995.
- ↑ "Report: Marcus Camby Defensive Player of the Year". ESPN. April 27, 2007.
- ↑ "New York City Basketball Hall of Fame". March 1, 2024.
- ↑ "George Karl named 2012-13 NBA Coach of the Year". NBA. May 7, 2013.
- ↑ "Pistons G Chauncey Billups wins sportsmanship award". The Denver Post. May 5, 2008.
- ↑ "Nuggets' Kenneth Faried named as NBA's citizen of the year". The Denver Post. May 1, 2013.
- ↑ "Billups trade earns Warkentien honors". ESPN. May 3, 2009.
- ↑ "Denver Nuggets' Masai Ujiri named NBA's top executive". USA Today. May 9, 2013.
- ↑ Tomasson, Chris (February 24, 2024). "Ex-Nuggets star David Thompson attends 50th reunion of North Carolina State title team and, yes, he still can dunk". The Denver Gazette.
- ↑ "Denver Nuggets All-Star Game Selections". Basketball-Reference. March 1, 2024.
- ↑ "Iverson, Anthony voted in as All-Star Game starters". Denver Post. January 24, 2008.
- ↑ "Billups an NBA all-star, Melo shut out". Denver Post. January 29, 2009.
- ↑ "Nikola Jokić Voted as Starter for 2024 NBA All-Star Game". NBA. January 25, 2024.
- ↑ "Karl to coach West at All-Star Game". ESPN. January 29, 2010.
- ↑ "Nugget can't run but can still shoot". ESPN. February 8, 2005.