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.
Eduardo Alonso Nájera Pérez is a Mexican former professional basketball player who is currently a scout for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is also a pregame and postgame analyst on Mavericks Live on Fox Sports Southwest, where he is identified as Eddie Avila. Before being promoted to a scout with the Mavs, he was head coach of the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League. He is regarded as one the best Mexican basketball players ever.
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.
Ernest Maurice "Kiki" VanDeWeghe III is a German-born American-Canadian former professional basketball player, coach and executive who is an advisor for the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, he was a two-time NBA All-Star.
Johan Petro is a French former professional basketball player of Guadeloupean descent, who last played for the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA Development League. He was selected by the SuperSonics with the 25th overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft.
Nikoloz Tskitishvili is a Georgian former professional basketball player. At 7 feet tall, he played as forward-center. Tskitishvili was selected fifth overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 2002 NBA draft. He also played for the senior Georgian national basketball team.
William Bynum is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Arizona and Georgia Tech before going undrafted in the 2005 NBA draft. He was the 2007 Israeli Basketball Premier League Finals MVP.
Maurice Rodney "Mardy" Collins is an American former professional basketball player. He completed his college basketball career at Temple University, and was drafted by the New York Knicks with the 29th pick of the first round of the 2006 NBA draft. Collins played for the Knicks for two seasons and then played for the Los Angeles Clippers from 2008 to 2010. Since 2011, Collins has played in various international leagues.
Victor Joe Alexander is an American former professional basketball player. Listed at 6'10" tall, and 273 pounds (124 kg) in weight, he played as a center and power forward. Alexander played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Golden State Warriors and Detroit Pistons. He also found success in Europe, playing in the top leagues in Greece, Israel, Spain and Russia.
Danilo Gallinari is an Italian professional basketball player who last played for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After spending his first four years as a professional in his native Italy, Gallinari was drafted sixth overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. He played with the Knicks for two and a half seasons before being traded to the Denver Nuggets in 2011. He has also played for the Los Angeles Clippers, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Atlanta Hawks, the Washington Wizards and the Detroit Pistons.
Wilson Jamall Chandler is an American former professional basketball player who played in the NBA for 13 seasons, mainly with the New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets. He has also played for Zhejiang Guangsha of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) during the 2011 NBA lockout. He played college basketball for the DePaul Blue Demons for two years before declaring for the 2007 NBA draft, where he was a first-round selection of the Knicks. Chandler is listed at 6 ft 8 in. and 225 lbs. He can play both forward positions.
Clarence "Sonny" Weems is an American professional basketball player for the Shenzhen Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the University of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. He was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 2008 NBA draft and shortly thereafter traded to the Denver Nuggets. He has since played for the Toronto Raptors, Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA, and has had stints in Lithuania and Russia. At 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), Weems plays both the shooting guard and small forward positions. He was an All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2014.
Jeremy Raymon Pargo is an American professional basketball player who last played for the NBA G League Ignite of the NBA G League. Standing at 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), he plays at the point guard position. In 2011 he reached the EuroLeague Final with Maccabi Tel Aviv, earning an All-EuroLeague Second Team selection in the process. He was the 2015 Israeli Basketball Premier League Assists Leader, and the 2016 Chinese Basketball Association assists leader. He is the brother of Jannero Pargo, who also played in the NBA.
Quincy Cortez Miller-Scott is an American professional basketball player for the San Miguel Beermen of the East Asia Super League. He played for the Detroit Pistons, Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as the Reno Bighorns, Iowa Energy and Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League.
Chukwudiebere "Chu" Maduabum, sometimes credited as "Chuk", "Chuck", or "Chu Chu", is a Nigerian professional basketball player for the Veertien Mie of the B.League. He was drafted 56th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2011 NBA draft before his rights were traded to the Denver Nuggets.
The 2002–03 NBA season was the Nuggets' 27th season in the National Basketball Association, and 36th season as a franchise. The Nuggets had the fifth overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, and selected Nikoloz Tskitishvili from the Republic of Georgia. Prior to the start of the season, the Nuggets acquired Marcus Camby and top draft pick Nenê Hilario from the New York Knicks, acquired second-year guard Rodney White from the Detroit Pistons, signed free agents Mark Blount and undrafted rookie Junior Harrington, and acquired Chris Whitney from the Washington Wizards. After a 2–9 start to the season with new head coach Jeff Bzdelik, the Nuggets won three straight games, but then lost 15 of their next 16 games, which included a ten-game losing streak, as Camby only played just 29 games due to ankle and hip injuries. In December, James Posey was traded to the Houston Rockets in a three-team trade, while Blount was traded back to his former team, the Boston Celtics in exchange for Shammond Williams in February. Also, that same month, Whitney was released and signed with the Orlando Magic for the rest of the season.
Jamaal Eric Franklin is an American professional basketball player. Franklin played college basketball for San Diego State, where he was the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year as well as an All-American in his junior season. He was selected with the 41st overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies and spent two seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Grizzlies and Denver Nuggets. Franklin played eight seasons in the Chinese Basketball Association from 2014 to 2022. He has also played in the NBA Development League, Puerto Rico and the Philippines.
Rodney Christian McGruder is an American professional basketball player who last played for Olimpia Milano of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Kansas State Wildcats.
Monté Robert Morris is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones.
Deividas Sirvydis is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague. Sirvydis was selected 37th overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2019 NBA draft and was then traded to the Detroit Pistons.
