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. 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. Not playing professionally, its players were given extra jobs by team sponsors. Featuring players such as McCracken, Ace Gruenig and Vince Boryla, 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.[citation needed]
After the 1947–48 season, the Nuggets decided to step out of their amateur status. Rather than join the National Industrial Basketball League (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 National Basketball Association (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 veteran in 1946. The Nuggets played one season in the NBA, compiling an 11–51 record in the Western Division, and were then disbanded in 1950. Briefly, in the 1950–51 season, the Denver Refiners 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 the last six games of the season.[3] After the demise of the Nuggets and the Refiners, Colorado was without any major league sports teams until the AFL's Denver Broncos began play in 1960.
When the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association (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 Nuggets' name was selected as the moniker of the new team. In 1985, Vince Boryla 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.
^"The Original Denver Nuggets". nbahoopsonline.com.
External links
Original Denver Nuggets NBA Statistics 2011-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
Denver Nuggets history NBA Hoops Online
January 21, 2023
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This article is about the original Denver Nuggets NBL NBA team from 1948 to 1950 For the current NBA team see Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets were a professional basketball team based in Denver The Nuggets joined the National Basketball League NBL for the 1948 49 season and then joined the National Basketball Association when the NBL was absorbed by the Basketball Association of America to create the NBA for the 1949 50 season The Nuggets were the first major professional sports franchise in Colorado Denver NuggetsDivisionWesternLeaguesMissouri Valley 1935 1940 ABL 1946 1948 NBL 1948 1949 NBA 1949 1950 NPBL 1950 1951 Founded1932Folded1951HistoryDenver Safeway Pigs1932 1938Denver Nuggets1939 1940Denver American Legion1941 1944Denver Ambrose Jellymakers1945 1946Denver Nuggets1946 1950Denver Refiners1950 1951ArenaDenver Arena AuditoriumLocationDenver ColoradoTeam colorsDark blue white Championships3 AAU Tournament 1937 1939 1942 In 1950 the Nuggets were one of seven teams including Anderson Packers Chicago Stags Sheboygan Red Skins St Louis Bombers Washington Capitols Waterloo Hawks that dropped out of the National Basketball Association altogether 1 The Nuggets started the 1949 50 season with a record of 0 15 and finished the season 11 51 2 Contents 1 History 2 Arena 3 Legacy 4 Awards and honors 5 Team record 6 References 7 External linksHistory EditThe team s roots can be traced back to 1932 when the original amateur Nuggets were formed as a member of the Amateur Athletic Union 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 Not playing professionally its players were given extra jobs by team sponsors Featuring players such as McCracken Ace Gruenig and Vince Boryla 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 citation needed After the 1947 48 season the Nuggets decided to step out of their amateur status Rather than join the National Industrial Basketball League 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 National Basketball Association 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 veteran in 1946 The Nuggets played one season in the NBA compiling an 11 51 record in the Western Division and were then disbanded in 1950 Briefly in the 1950 51 season the Denver Refiners 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 the last six games of the season 3 After the demise of the Nuggets and the Refiners Colorado was without any major league sports teams until the AFL s Denver Broncos began play in 1960 Arena EditThe Nuggets played on the stage of the Denver Auditorium Arena 4 Legacy EditWhen the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association 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 Nuggets name was selected as the moniker of the new team In 1985 Vince Boryla 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 EditAAU National Tournament champions 1937 1939 1942Team record EditNBL champions NBA champions Division champions Playoff berthSeason League Division Finish Wins Losses Win GB Playoffs Awards1948 49 NBL Western 5th 18 44 290 18 1949 50 NBA Western 6th 11 51 177 28 References Edit 1949 50 NBA Season Summary Basketball Reference com Denver Nuggets 1st 1949 1950 Schedule and Results www landofbasketball com 1950 Denver Refiners basketball Game by Game Results on StatsCrew com www statscrew com Retrieved 2021 05 04 The Original Denver Nuggets nbahoopsonline com External links EditOriginal Denver Nuggets NBA Statistics Archived 2011 02 10 at the Wayback Machine Denver Nuggets history NBA Hoops Online Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Denver Nuggets 1948 1950 amp oldid 1124034167, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
