The Denver Nuggets were a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team based in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. The Nuggets joined the National Basketball League (NBL) for the 1948–49 season, and then joined the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

when the NBL was absorbed by the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

to create the NBA for the 1949–50 season. The Nuggets were the first major professional sports franchise in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, but disbanded after going 11–50 in their inaugural season. This franchise is not directly connected to the current

Denver Nuggets 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 (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

franchise of the NBA.

History

The team's roots can be traced back to 1932 when the original amateur Nuggets were formed as a member of the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU). Led by player-coach Jack McCracken, the Nuggets were one of the most powerful amateur athletic basketball teams in the country, winning the 1939 AAU championship and losing the 1940 championship to the

Phillips 66ers The Phillips 66ers (also known as the Oilers) were an amateur basketball team located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, sponsored and run by the Phillips Petroleum Company. The 66ers were a national phenomenon that grew from a small-town team to an orga ...

. Not playing professionally, its players were given extra jobs by team sponsors. Featuring players such as McCracken,

Ace Gruenig Robert F. "Ace" Gruenig (March 12, 1913 – August 11, 1958) was an American basketball player during the 1930s and 1940s. The 6 ft. 8 in. (203 cm) Gruenig is considered one of the game's first great big men. The Chicago, Illinois nati ...

and

Vince Boryla Vincent Joseph Boryla (March 11, 1927 – March 27, 2016) was an American basketball player, coach and executive. His nickname was "Moose". He graduated from East Chicago Washington High School in 1944. He played basketball at the University of ...

, the Nuggets continued as an AAU power throughout their existence, and the AAU has been credited by historians for helping put Denver on the national sports map. After the 1947–48 season, the Nuggets decided to step out of their amateur status. Rather than join the

National Industrial Basketball League The National Industrial Basketball League was founded in 1947 to enable U.S. mill workers a chance to compete in basketball. The league was founded by the industrial teams (teams sponsored by the large companies and made up of their employees) bel ...

(NIBL), which was founded in 1947 and remained amateur, the Nuggets' general manager, Hal Davis, secured a franchise in the nine-team National Basketball League to play in the 1948–49 season. The Nuggets finished last in the Western Division in the 1948–49 season. In the 1949–50 season, the team played in the newly-formed

(NBA). The Nuggets were led by player-coach Jimmy Darden, a star shooting guard who joined the Nuggets after leaving the Army as a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

veteran in 1946. The Nuggets started the 1949–50 season with a record of 0–15, and finished the season 11–51. In 1950, the Nuggets were one of seven teams, including the Anderson Packers,

Chicago Stags The Chicago Stags were a National Basketball Association team based in Chicago from 1946 to 1950. History 1946–47 season In the BAA's inaugural year, the Chicago Stags were originally meant to start out as the ''Chicago Atomics'', to the point ...

Sheboygan Red Skins The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) were a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–50 NBA season, 1949–50 season. History Overview The Re ...

, St. Louis Bombers,

Washington Capitols The Washington Capitols were a former Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the National Basketball Association) team based in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerb ...

, and

Waterloo Hawks The Waterloo Hawks were a National Basketball League and National Basketball Association team based in Waterloo, Iowa. The Hawks remain the only sports franchise ever based in Iowa from any of the current Big Four Leagues. They are not affili ...

, that dropped out of the

altogether. Briefly, in the 1950–51 season, the

Denver Refiners The Denver Refiners were a professional basketball team who played in Denver, Colorado, in 1950–1951 and were a member of the Western Division of the National Professional Basketball League, which lasted one season. History The National Basket ...

played in the National Professional Basketball League (NPBL), which was made up of franchises that left the NBA. That team moved to become the

Evansville Agogans :''Also see: Sports in Evansville''. The Evansville Agogans were a professional basketball team who played in Evansville, Indiana, in 1951 and were a member of the Western Division of the National Professional Basketball League. History The Na ...

the last six games of the season. After the demise of the Nuggets and the Refiners, Colorado was without any major league sports teams until the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

began play in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

Arena

The Nuggets played on the stage of the

Denver Auditorium Arena Denver Auditorium Arena was an indoor arena located at the corner of 13th and Champa Streets in Denver, Colorado. It was constructed as the Denver Municipal Auditorium in 1908 during the administration of Mayor Robert W. Speer. The building was o ...

Legacy

When the

Denver Rockets Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of ...

of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(ABA) joined the NBA, a contest was held in 1974 to give the team a new nickname since the NBA already had the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

. The Nuggets' name was selected as the moniker of the new team. In 1985,

joined the franchise as its president and general manager, and was awarded NBA Executive of the Year that same year. He was president and general manager of the Nuggets from 1985 to 1988. The current Denver Nuggets also started out in the same venue as the original Nuggets, the Denver Auditorium Arena, playing there from 1967 to 1975.

Awards and honors

* AAU National Tournament champions: 1937, 1939, 1942

Team record

References

External links

Original Denver Nuggets NBA Statistics

NBA Hoops Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Denver Nuggets (1948-1950) Defunct NBA teams Basketball teams in Colorado Sports clubs and teams in Denver Basketball teams established in 1948 Basketball teams disestablished in 1950 1948 establishments in Colorado 1950 disestablishments in Colorado