1973 ABA Championship Game 5 vs Denver Nuggets
From ABA charter to NBA champions.
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 of the Western Conference.
Quick Facts
- Finals mvp
- George McGinnis
Lore & Background
The team was originally founded as the Denver Larks in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association (ABA), but changed their name to the Rockets before the first season began due to a swift ownership change that came from the owners of the local Ringsby Rocket Truck Lines company. The Rockets then changed their name to the Nuggets on August 7, 1974, as a precautionary measure for their franchise to move from the ABA to the NBA. After the name change, the Nuggets played for the final ABA Championship title in 1976, losing to the New York Nets. The team made the 1976 ABA Finals, losing to the New York Nets. The Nuggets were the last of the four surviving former ABA teams to reach the NBA Finals, and the second former ABA team to win an NBA title (after the San Antonio Spurs).
Reader's Guide
The Nuggets play their home games at Ball Arena, which they share with the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). In 2023, the Nuggets, led by Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, reached their first NBA Finals and defeated the Miami Heat to capture the franchise's first NBA championship.
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