The Denver Nuggets are an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team based in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the

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

(NBA). The Nuggets were founded as the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1967. 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. 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 San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

, the Indiana Pacers and the

New York Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. There have been 22

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

es for the Nuggets franchise. The franchise's first head coach was

Bob Bass Robert Eugene Bass (January 28, 1929 – August 17, 2018) was an American basketball coach and executive who worked in college basketball, the American Basketball Association (ABA), and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Coaching career ...

, who led the team to the division semifinals, losing to the

New Orleans Buccaneers The New Orleans Buccaneers were a charter member of the American Basketball Association. After three seasons in New Orleans, Louisiana the franchise moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where it became the Pros, Tams and Sounds for four years before an ...

Doug Moe Douglas Edwin Moe (born September 21, 1938) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. As a head coach with the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1988. Ea ...

() and

George Karl George Matthew Karl (born May 12, 1951) is an American former professional basketball coach and player. After spending five years as a player for the San Antonio Spurs, Karl became an assistant with the team before getting the chance to become a ...

() were the only Nuggets coaches to win the

NBA Coach of the Year Award The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who le ...

. . Moe is the franchise's all-time leader in both regular season and playoff games coached and wins. 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. In 1976, Brown coached the Nuggets to the team's only ABA championship game.

John McLendon John B. McLendon Jr. (April 5, 1915 – October 8, 1999) was an American basketball coach who is recognized as the first African American basketball coach at a predominantly white university and the first African American head coach in any professi ...

Joe Belmont Joseph Elliott Belmont (July 12, 1934 – January 6, 2019) was an American basketball player and coach. He played college basketball at Duke University, and was selected in the 1956 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia Warriors. He never played in ...

Donnie Walsh Joseph Donald Walsh, Jr. (born March 1, 1941) is a front office adviser of the Indiana Pacers and a former professional basketball coach. He is also the former President of Basketball Operations for the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers. Early li ...

Dan Issel Daniel Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948) 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 ...

, Bill Hanzlik, Mike Evans,

Jeff Bzdelik Jeffrey Joseph Bzdelik () (born December 1, 1952) is an American professional basketball coach who most recently served as associate head coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was head coach of the Den ...

Michael Cooper Michael Jerome Cooper (born April 15, 1956) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the boys varsity coach at Culver City High School. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning ...

, and

Brian Shaw Brian Keith Shaw (born March 22, 1966) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play both guard positions, but wa ...

spent their entire NBA coaching careers with the Nuggets. Michael Malone is the current head coach.

Key

Coaches

''Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the .'' File:012308-TC-Twolves002-MikeDantoni.jpg, Mike D'Antoni coached the Denver Nuggets for 50 games during the

1998–99 NBA season The 1998–99 NBA season was the 53rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Due to a lockout, the season did not start until February 5, 1999, after a new six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached between the NBA and the ...

. File:George Karl.jpg,

was the 2004–2013 Denver Nuggets head coach. File:Brian Shaw.jpg,

was the 2013–2015 Denver Nuggets head coach. File:Coach Michael Malone in 2013.jpg, Michael Malone has been the Denver Nuggets head coach since 2015.

Notes

* A running total of the number of coaches of the Nuggets. Thus any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once. * Each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season, except for the seasons spent in the ABA.

References

;General * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Denver Nuggets head coaches Lists of National Basketball Association head coaches by team *

Head coaches A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...