1975–76 Denver Nuggets season

The 1975–76 Denver Nuggets season was Denver's ninth and final season in the American Basketball Association (ABA). At the conclusion of the season the team would join the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was led by an eventual hall of fame coach, Larry Brown.

1975–76 Denver Nuggets season
Head coach	Larry Brown
Arena	McNichols Sports Arena
Results
Record	60–24 (.714)
Place	Division: 1st Conference: 1st
Playoff finish	ABA Finals (lost to Nets 2–4)
< 1974–75 1976–77 >

ABA Draft

Player	School/Club Team
Bill Willoughby	Dwight Morrow H.S. Englewood NJ
Tom Kropp	Kearney State
Monte Towe	North Carolina State
Bob Fleischer	Duke University
Jim Moore	Utah State
Charles Russell	Alabama
Mike Odems	Western Kentucky
Owen Brown	Maryland
Marvin Webster	Morgan State

Season standings

Team	Wins	Loses	Pct.
Denver Nuggets	60	24	.714
New York Nets	55	29	.655
San Antonio Spurs	50	34	.595
Kentucky Colonels	46	38	.548
Indiana Pacers	39	45	.464
Spirits of St. Louis	35	49	.417
San Diego Sails	3	8	.273
Utah Stars	4	12	.250
Virginia Squires	15	68	.181

Player stats

Note: PG= per game; M= Minutes; R= Rebounds; A= Assists; S = Steals; B = Blocks; P = Points; T = Turnovers; PF = Personal fouls

Player	Age	Games played	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	PFPG	PPG
David Thompson	21	83	37.4	6.3	3.7	1.6	1.2	3.0	3.4	26.0
Ralph Simpson	26	84	37.2	5.4	7.1	1.8	0.3	4.3	2.2	18.0
Bobby Jones	24	83	34.3	9.5	4.0	2.0	2.2	2.8	3.0	14.9
Dan Issel	27	84	34.0	11.0	2.4	1.2	0.7	2.4	3.2	23.0
Chuck Williams	29	79	32.0	2.7	4.7	1.5	0.1	2.3	2.7	11.0
Gus Gerard	22	60	19.8	5.0	2.0	0.9	0.9	2.4	2.8	9.9
Byron Beck	31	80	19.8	4.4	1.5	0.6	0.3	1.1	2.4	9.6
Claude Terry	26	79	17.1	1.9	1.8	0.5	0.1	1.2	1.5	7.1
Jim Bradley	23	7	15.3	4.3	1.6	0.7	0.7	0.7	3.7	4.6
Marvin Webster	23	38	10.5	4.6	0.8	0.2	1.4	1.0	1.6	4.3
Monte Towe	22	64	9.0	0.9	2.1	0.6	0.1	1.3	1.3	3.0
Roger Brown	25	37	7.9	2.0	0.6	0.2	0.6	0.5	1.7	2.0
James Foster	24	48	7.3	0.9	1.0	0.4	0.1	1.3	1.6	3.1
George Irvine	27	3	4.7	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.3	1.3 ^[1]

Roster

Number	Player	Position	Height	Weight	Birth date	Experience (in years)	College
40	Byron Beck	PF	6-9	225	January 25, 1945	8	University of Denver
10	Jim Bradley	PF	6-8	215	March 16, 1952	2	Northern Illinois University
20	Roger Brown	C	6-11	225	February 23, 1950	2	University of Kansas
15	James Foster	PG	6-1	175	December 16, 1951	1	University of Connecticut
22	Gus Gerard	SF	6-8	200	July 27, 1953	1	University of Virginia
30	George Irvine	SF	6-6	200	February 1, 1948	5	University of Washington
25	Dan Issel	C	6-9	235	October 25, 1948	5	University of Kentucky
24	Bobby Jones	PF	6-9	210	December 18, 1951	1	University of North Carolina
44	Ralph Simpson	SG	6-5	200	August 10, 1949	5	Michigan State University
21	Claude Terry	SG	6-4	195	January 12, 1950	3	Stanford University
33	David Thompson	SF	6-4	195	July 13, 1954	R	North Carolina State University
13	Monte Towe	PG	5-7	150	September 27, 1953	R	North Carolina State University
10	Marvin Webster	C	7-1	225	April 13, 1952	R	Morgan State University
11	Chuck Williams	PG	6-2	175	June 6, 1946	5	University of Colorado

Playoffs

Main article: 1976 ABA Playoffs

Semifinals ^[2]

Game	Date	Location	Score	Record	Attendance
1	April 15	Denver	110–107	1–0	15,234
2	April 17	Denver	110–138	1–1	16,384
3	April 19	Kentucky	114–126	1–2	9,644
4	April 21	Kentucky	108–106	2–2	11,444
5	April 22	Denver	127–117	3–2	17,068
6	April 25	Kentucky	119–115	3–3	6,312
7	April 28	Denver	133–110	4–3	18,821

Nuggets win series, 4–3

ABA Finals ^[2]

Game	Date	Location	Score	Record	Attendance
1	May 1	Denver	118–120	0–1	19,034
2	May 4	Denver	127–121	1–1	19,107
3	May 6	New York	111–117	1–2	12,243
4	May 8	New York	112–121	1–3	15,934
5	May 11	Denver	118–110	2–3	18,881
6	May 13	New York	106–112	2–4	15,934

Nuggets lose series 4-2

Awards, records, and honors

• Ralph Simpson led the league in turnovers (360)
• Bobby Jones led the league in field goal percentage (.581)

ABA All-Stars

• Byron Beck
• Roger Brown
• James Foster
• Gus Gerard
• Dan Issel
• Bobby Jones
• Ralph Simpson
• Claude Terry
• David Thompson
• Monte Towe
• Chuck Williams^[3]

All-ABA Teams

• Ralph Simpson- 1st team
• Don Buse- 2nd team
• Bobby Jones- 2nd team
• David Thompson- 2nd team

All-Defensive Team

• Don Buse- 1st team
• Bobby Jones- 1st team

All-Rookie Team

• David Thompson

References

1. 1975-76 Denver Nuggets Roster and Stats
2. . Archived from the original on November 29, 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
3. 1975-76 ABA Season Summary