The year was 1976 and it was the bicentennial year, 100 years after Colorado became a state when the Denver Nuggets joined the NBA after the ABA merger and the Nuggets won their first two division titles in their first two years in, on the shoulders of forward Alex English.
The Nuggets then hired offensive minded coach Doug Moe in 1981 to right a ship that had blown off course in the late 70’s early 80’s. The following years resulted in the Nuggets setting league-scoring records for the highest points per game.
At the start of the 80’s the Denver Nuggets acquired Kiki VanDeWeghe from the Dallas Mavericks after VanDeWeghe refused to play for Dallas and asked for a trade. VanDeWeghe was later traded to the Portland Trailblazers for guard; Fat Lever and the Nuggets went on to win 54 games in the 87-88 season, the most by any Nuggets team in history at the time.
The Nuggets were stagnant in the late 80’s and early 90’s before the ’55,’ era started. Dikembe Mutombo a center from Georgetown University was Denver’s 1991 draft pick. In the 1993-94 season the Mutombo led Nuggets slipped into the playoffs as the number 8 seed, defeating the number one seeded Seattle Supersonics becoming the first 8th seed ever to defeat a number one seed in NBA history.
From the mid 90’s through the early 2000’s the Nuggets struggled, but in July 2000, real estate entrepreneur Stan Kroenke bought the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche and the Pepsi Center for a cool $450 million. Kroenke immediately placed the Nuggets and Avalanche in a trust, ensuring that the teams would stay in Colorado through 2025.
Under new ownership, the Nuggets drafted future all-star Carmelo Anthony in the 2003 draft. The new Nuggets with new logos, uniforms, players and even head coach George Karl brought back the excitement of Mile High basketball to the City of Denver. Despite some really productive years with the Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony was just unable to get Denver to the ‘Ship’ even with the help of Alan Iverson.
Anthony was eventually traded to the New York Knicks, which left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of Nuggets fans. For three years the Nuggets competed with a modge podge of players and even went as far as clinching the third seed in the 2012-13 season, with players like Andre Miller, Kenneth Faried, Danilo Gallinari and Andre Iguodala.
In 2015 everything changed. The Denver Nuggets drafted a slightly pudgy Serbian kid who was the 41st overall pick during a Taco Bell commercial. One year later the Denver Nuggets added an intrinsical piece to the roster in Jamal Murray.
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic were no strangers to one another as they were teammates during a Hoop Summit in 2014 just before Jokic was drafted by Denver.
Since 2015 both have experienced a series of setbacks which resulted in a delay of the inevitable, a NBA Finals Championship. In April of 2021 Jamal Murray suffered a torn ACL and would not return to the Denver Nuggets until October 19th of 2022 when Murray played his first game in 18 months.
Chris Martinez and son J.C. Martinez celebrate the first ever Denver Nuggets NBA Championship win over the Miami Heat 89-94.
Murray’s return alongside Jokic was storybook as they both put the league on notice that they are the league’s best duo after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. The Nuggets went on to play the Phoenix Suns a team many thought to be Denver’s downfall, however; the Nuggets put them away in six games.
Next came the Lakers who despite their best efforts as a number 8 seed to get to the Finals, were dashed in a four-games sweep by none other than your Denver Nuggets. The final task ahead of the Nuggets was a highly-charged Miami Heat team who also came in as a number 8 seed in the East lead by Heat forward Jimmy Butler. Butler was phenomenal in Miami’s run through the East.
On Monday night in Denver the Nuggets hosted the Miami Heat for game five of the series and a must win for Miami. The Nuggets came out flat and were outhustled in the first half. It wasn’t until the second half when the Nuggets came back from a 7-point deficit to leading late in the fourth. The Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat 94-89 in a gentlemen’s sweep to secure their first title as NBA Champions!
