List of Denver Nuggets head coaches

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The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). [1] The Nuggets were founded as the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1967. [1] In 1974, in anticipation of moving to the NBA, the franchise held a contest to choose a new trademarked name for the team, as Rockets was already in use by the Houston Rockets and the name Nuggets won. [1] In 1976, the ABA folded, and the NBA decided to admit four ABA teams into the league, including the Nuggets, the San Antonio Spurs, the Indiana Pacers and the New York Nets. [1]

Contents

There have been 22  head coaches for the Nuggets franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Bob Bass, who led the team to the division semifinals, losing to the New Orleans Buccaneers. [1] Doug Moe (1988) and George Karl (2013) are the only Nuggets coaches to win the NBA Coach of the Year Award. [2] Michael Malone is the franchise's all-time leader in both regular season and playoff wins. [3] Larry Brown & George Karl are the only Nuggets coaches to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, although John McLendon was inducted as a contributor, but not a coach. [4] In 1976, Brown coached the Nuggets to the team's only ABA championship game. [1] John McLendon, Joe Belmont, Donnie Walsh, Dan Issel, Bill Hanzlik, Mike Evans, Jeff Bzdelik, Michael Cooper, and Brian Shaw spent their entire NBA coaching careers with the Nuggets. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] Michael Malone is the current head coach. [13]

Key

GCGames coached
WWins
LLosses
Win% Winning percentage
#Number of coaches [a]
*Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Nuggets
†Elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach

Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct of the 2024–25 season.

#NameTerm [b] GCWLWin%GCWLWin%AchievementsReference
Regular seasonPlayoffs
Denver Rockets
Bob Bass 1967–19691568967.5711257.417 [14]
John McLendon *196928919.321———— [5]
Joe Belmont *1969–1970694524.6521257.417 [6]
Stan Albeck 1970–1971712744.380———— [15]
Alex Hannum 1971–1974252118134.4681248.333 [16]
Denver Nuggets
Larry Brown †1974–1979 385251134.652452124.467Led team to and lost 1975–76 ABA Finals [1] [4]
Donnie Walsh * 1979–1980 1426082.423312.333 [7]
Doug Moe 1980–1990 789432357.548612437.3931987–88 NBA Coach of the Year [2] [3]
Paul Westhead 1990–1992 16444120.268———— [17]
Dan Issel * 1992–1995 19896102.4851266.500 [8]
Gene Littles 1995 16313.188———— [18]
Bernie Bickerstaff 1995–1996 1275968.4653030 [19]
Dick Motta 1996–1997 691752.246———— [20]
Bill Hanzlik * 1997–1998 821171.134———— [9]
Mike D'Antoni 1998–1999 501436.280———— [21]
Dan Issel * 1999–2001 19084106.442———— [8]
Mike Evans * 2001–2002 561838.321———— [10]
Jeff Bzdelik * 2002–2004 19273119.380514.200 [11]
Michael Cooper * 2004 14410.286———— [12]
George Karl † 2004–2013 680423257.622592138.3562012–13 NBA Coach of the Year [22]
Brian Shaw * 2013–2015 1415685.397————
Melvin Hunt * 2015 231013.435———— [23]
Michael Malone 2015–present762451311.590683731.544 NBA championship (2023) [24]

Notes

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The 2004–05 NBA season was the 29th season for the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association, and their 38th season as a franchise. During the offseason, the Nuggets acquired Kenyon Martin from the New Jersey Nets. Coming off their first playoff appearance in nine years, the Nuggets got off to a shaky start at 13–15. Head coach Jeff Bzdelik was fired after 28 games and was replaced with Michael Cooper as the team lost 10 of their next 14 games. Cooper was then replaced with George Karl, who then led the Nuggets with a 32–8 record for the remainder of the season, including a ten-game winning streak in April. The Nuggets finished second in the Northwest Division with a 49–33 record. Second-year star Carmelo Anthony led them in scoring with 20.8 points per game.

The 1988–89 NBA season was the Nuggets' 13th season in the NBA and 22nd season as a franchise. During the off-season, the team signed free agent All-Star guard Walter Davis. The Nuggets got off to an 11–4 start to the regular season, but played below .500 afterwards, as Bill Hanzlik only played just 41 games due to a back injury. At mid-season, the team traded Jay Vincent and Calvin Natt to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Dave Greenwood and Darwin Cook, and held a 25–23 record at the All-Star break. Despite losing six of their final eight games, the Nuggets finished in third place in the Midwest Division with a 44–38 record, while posting a very successful 35–6 home record at the McNichols Sports Arena.

The 1997–98 NBA season was the Nuggets’ 22nd season in the National Basketball Association, and 31st season as a franchise. The Nuggets received the fifth overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft, and selected Tony Battie out of Texas Tech University. During the off-season, the team acquired Eric Williams from the Boston Celtics, acquired Johnny Newman, Joe Wolf, and top draft pick Danny Fortson out of the University of Cincinnati from the Milwaukee Bucks, first-round draft pick Bobby Jackson out of the University of Minnesota from the Seattle SuperSonics, second-round draft pick Eric Washington out of the University of Alabama from the Orlando Magic, and signed free agent Dean Garrett.

This page details the all-time statistics, records, and other achievements pertaining to the Denver Nuggets.

References

General
Specific
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Nuggets: 1967 to 1979". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
  3. 1 2 "Doug Moe Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 8, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  4. 1 2 "Larry Brown Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
  5. 1 2 "John McLendon Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  6. 1 2 "Joe Belmont Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  7. 1 2 "Donnie Walsh Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  8. 1 2 3 "Dan Issel Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  9. 1 2 "Bill Hanzlik's Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  10. 1 2 "Mike Evans Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  11. 1 2 "Jeff Bzdelik Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  12. 1 2 "Michael Cooper Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  13. ↑ "Michael Malone Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Bob Bass Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 2, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  15. ↑ "Stan Albeck Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  16. ↑ "Alex Hannum Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  17. ↑ "Paul Westhead Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 25, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  18. ↑ "Gene Littles Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  19. ↑ "Bernie Bickerstaff Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  20. ↑ "Dick Motta Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  21. ↑ "Mike D'Antoni Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
  22. ↑ "George Karl Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  23. ↑ "Brian Shaw Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 9, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Nuggets name Michael Malone new head coach". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. June 15, 2015. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2015.

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