The

1990–91 NBA season The 1990–91 NBA season was the 45th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Chicago Bulls winning their first NBA Championship, eliminating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals. This season wo ...

was the Nuggets' 15th season in 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 ...

, and 24th season as a franchise.

Bernie Bickerstaff Bernard Tyrone Bickerstaff (born February 11, 1944) is an American basketball coach and front office executive, currently serving as the Senior Basketball Advisor for the Cleveland Cavaliers. As a coach, he previously worked as the head coach for ...

took over as General Manager and decided it was time to rebuild the Nuggets. At the time, the club had the oldest team in the league. The Nuggets would make radical changes trading off stars for draft picks. The team selected

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

guard Chris Jackson with the third overall pick in the

1990 NBA draft The 1990–91 NBA season, 1990 NBA draft took place on June 27, 1990, in New York City, New York. One of the standouts of this draft is Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton. He became a nine-time All-Sta ...

, while acquiring

Orlando Woolridge Orlando Vernada Woolridge (December 16, 1959 – May 31, 2012) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1981 to 1994. He was known for his scoring ability, especially on slam dunks. He playe ...

from the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

during the off-season. Under new head coach

Paul Westhead Paul William Westhead (born February 21, 1939) is an American former basketball coach. He was the head coach for three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an assistant for four others, and also coached in the National Collegiate Ath ...

, the Nuggets got off to a bad start losing their first seven games. At midseason, the team acquired Reggie Williams from 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 Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, and traded Walter Davis to the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

. The Nuggets won six consecutive games between January and February, but their struggles continued as they lost seven in a row afterwards. They lost ten consecutive games late in the season, and finished last place in the Midwest Division with a league worst 20–62 record. By season's end, the Nuggets led the league in team scoring with 119.9

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

(PPG), but also allowed 130.8 PPG, setting an NBA record for the most PPG and most total points allowed by a team in a season. Jackson was selected to the All-Rookie Second Team. Following the season, Woolridge was traded to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, and Michael Adams was traded back to the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

NBA draft

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:y - clinched division title :x - clinched playoff spot :z - clinched division title :y - clinched division title :x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

Player Statistics Citation:

Awards and records

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (born Chris Wayne Jackson; March 9, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for nine years with the Denver Nuggets, Sacramento Kings and Vancouver Griz ...

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

2nd Team

Transactions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1990-91 Denver Nuggets season Denver Nuggets seasons 1990 in sports in Colorado 1991 in sports in Colorado

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 ...