The Roaming Photographer: 2024-07-07

Friday, July 12, 2024

The Denver Nuggets

Photo Credit:

https://ar.inspiredpencil.com/pictures-
2023/nuggets-logo-png

Franchise History

1967 – 1969: Franchise background and founding

The original Denver Nuggets were founded before the 1948 – 1949 National Basketball League (NBL) season. Following that season, the NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America (BAA), the newly unified circuit named the National Basketball Association (NBA) to reflect the merger. The Denver Nuggets played the 1949 – 50 season as one of the charter NBA teams before folding. This franchise’s records and statistics remain separate from the modern-day Denver Nuggets.

The current franchise traces its roots to 1967, when one of the American Basketball Association’s (ABA)’s charter franchises was awarded to a group in Kansas City, Missouri, headed by Southern California businessman James Trindle. However, Trindle was unable to find a suitable arena in the Kansas City area. League commissioner George Mikan suggested moving the team to Denver. After agreeing to name Denver resident and former NBA player Vince Boryla as general manager, Trindle moved his team to Denver as the Denver Larks, named after Colorado’s state bird(19). The Trindle group was severely undercapitalized, leading Mikan to order the Larks to post a $100,000 performance bond or lose the franchise. Hours before the deadline, Trindle sold a 2/3 controlling interest to Denver trucking magnate Bill Ringsby for $350,000. Ringsby then renamed the team the Rockets, after his company’s long-haul trucks(20).

1969 – 1976: ABA Years

Playing at the Denver Auditorium Arena, the Rockets had early successes on the court, developing a strong fan base (21). However, the team had a history of early playoff exits and only once played in the ABA championship series.

Early, Denver had a solid lineup led by Byron Beck and Larry Jones, then later by Beck and Ralph Simpson. Lonnie Wright of the American Football League’s Denver Broncos signed with the Rockets during that first season and became the first player to play professional football and basketball in the same season. Wright played four seasons with Denver(21). Controversial rookie Spencer Haywood joined the team for the 1969 – 1970 season. Haywood was one of the first players to turn pro before graduating from college, and the NBA initially refused to let him play in the league. Haywood averaged nearly 30 points and 19.5 rebounds per game in his only ABA season, being named ABA MVP, ABA Rookie of the Year, as well as the All-Star Game MVP. The team finished 51 – 33, winning their division, before exiting the playoffs in the 2nd round.

Just before the start of the 1970 – 1971 season, Haywood signed with the Seattle SuperSonics, jumping to the NBA. The team tumbled to a 30 – 54 record and attendance suffered(21).

Becoming the Denver Nuggets

Ringsby sold the team to San Diego businessman Frank Goldberg and Bud Fischer in 1972(19). In 1974, in anticipation of moving into the NBA, the new McNichols Arena, the franchise held a contest to choose a new team nickname, as “Rockets” was already in use by the Houston Rockets. The winning choice was “Nuggets”, in honor of the original Denver Nuggets team from 1948 to 1950, the last year as a charter member of the NBA. Their new logo was a miner “discovering” an ABA ball. Goldberg and Fischer in turn sold the team to a local investment group in 1976.

With the drafting and signing of future Hall of Fame player David Thompson out of North Carolina State and Marvin Webster, and the acquisitions of Dan Issel and Bobby Jones (all signed for the 1975 – 76 season), with Larry Brown coaching, they had their best seasons in team history in their first two as the Nuggets. Playing in the Denver Auditorium Arena for the last season the 1974 – 75 team went 65 – 19, including a 40 – 2 record at home. However, they lost in the Western Conference Finals in 7 games, to the Indiana Pacers(22). In 1975 – 76, playing at their new arena, the Nuggets, with the acquisitions of Thompson, Jones, and Dan Issel who had come via trade after he won an ABA title with the 1974 – 75 Kentucky Colonels, the team went 60 – 24, edged the reigning champion Kentucky Colonels four games to three to make the 1976 ABA finals for the first time. Eventually, they lost to the New York Nets and Julius Erving in 6 games(22). They did not get a second chance to win an ABA league championship, the ABA – NBA merger took place after the 1975 – 1976 season. The Nuggets, Nets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs were merged into the NBA. The Spirits of St. Louis and Kentucky Colonels were disbanded(23).

Vince Boryla
Video Credit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=dMD8f2QoMsM)

Marvin Webster

Photo Credit:

https://www.nasljerseys.com/ABA

/Players/W/Webster.Marvin.htm

Larry Brown
Photo Credit:
https://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/
ncaa/article15285227.html

Denver Nuggets Quick Info

1. Conference: Western

2. Division: Northwest
3. Founded: 1967

4. History: Denver Rockets 1967 – 1974 (ABA)

5. Denver Nuggets 1974 – 1976 (ABA)

6. 1976 – Present (NBA)

7. Arena: Ball Arena

8. Location: Denver, Colorado

9. Team Colors: Midnight Blue, Sunshine Yellow,
Flatirons Red, Skyline Blue

10. Head Coach: Michael Malone

11. Championships: (1) 2023

12. Conference Titles: (1) 2023

13. Division Titles: (12)

14. (ABA) 1970, 1975

15. (NBA) 1977, 1978, 1985, 1988, 2006, 2009,
2010, 2019, 2020, 2023

16. Retired Numbers: (6) 2, 12, 33, 40, 44, 55, 432

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

The Oklahoma City Thunders

Photo Credit:

https://1000logos.net/oklahoma-city-thunder-logo/

1967 - 2008: Seatle Supersonics

The Thunder’s previous incarnation, the Seattle SuperSonics was formed in 1967. In their 41 seasons in Seattle, the SuperSonics compiled a 1,745 – 1,585 (.524) win-loss record in the regular season and went 107 – 110 (.493) in the playoffs. The franchise titles include three Western Conference championships (1978, 1979, and 1996) and one NBA title in 1979.

2008 2009: Move to Oklahoma City and inaugural season

In 2006, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz sold the SuperSonics and its Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) sister franchise, the Seattle Storm, for $350 million to the Professional Basketball Club LLC, a group of Oklahoma City investors led by Clay Bennett(1). The sale of the SuperSonics and Storm was approved by NBA owners the following October(2)(3). In 2007, Bennett announced that the franchise would move to Oklahoma City as soon as the lease with Key Arena expired(4).

In June 2008, a lawsuit brought by the city of Seattle against Bennett due to his attempts to break the final two years of the Sonics’ lease at KeyArena went to federal court. Nearly a month later, the two sides reached a settlement agreement(5). The terms awarded the city $45 million to get out of the remaining lease at KeyArena and would have provided an additional $30 million payment to Seattle in 2013 if certain conditions had been met. The owners agreed to leave the SuperSonics name, logo, colors, banners, trophies, and records in Seattle for a possible future NBA franchise;(6) however, the items would remain the property of the Oklahoma City team along with other “assets”, including championship banners and trophies(7). On September 3rd, 2008, the team name, logo, and colors were revealed to the public. The name “Thunder” was chosen because of Oklahoma’s location in Tornado Alley and Oklahoma City as the home of the U.S. Army’s 45th Infantry Division, the Thunderbirds(8)(9)(10). The SuperSonics’ final NBA draft was in 2008, and they used the fourth overall pick to select Russell Westbrook, a young point guard from UCLA, who would become the team’s franchise player.

The Thunder participated in the Orlando Pro Summer League featuring their second-year players, potential free agents, and rookies. The players wore generic black and white jerseys reading “OKC-NBA” against an outline of a basketball. The Thunder’s temporary practice facility was the Sawyer Center at Southern Nazarene University, which had been used by the New Orleans Hornets when they relocated to Oklahoma City after Hurricane Katrina(11).

The Thunder played several preseason games before the 2008 – 09 regular season, but only one of those games was in Oklahoma City. The Thunder made their first appearance in Billings, Montana, on October 8th, 2008, in an 88 – 82 preseason loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves(12). The Thunder played their first Ford Center game on October 14th, against the Los Angeles Clippers.

In their regular-season home opener, the Thunder faced (and lost to) the Milwaukee Bucks. Earl Watson scored the first points of the season with a layup. Three nights later on November 2nd, the Thunder won their first game by defeating the Timberwolves, improving their record to 1 – 3. The team then went on a 10-game losing streak before deciding ton November 22nd to fire head coach P.J. Carlesimo and assistant Paul Westhead. Assistant coach Scott Brooks then took over on an interim basis(13). Oklahoma City lost its four next games to tie the franchise losing streak of 14 set in Seattle the previous season. But the team managed to prevent history by winning their next game on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies(14).

As the season continued, the Thunder began to improve. After starting 3 – 29, the Thunder finished the regular season 20 – 30 for the remaining fifty games. Not only did they win more often, they played much more competitively than in the first part of the season. The team brought their record to 23 – 59 and improved upon their record of 20 – 62 from the team’s final season in Seattle. The late-season success of the Thunder contributed to the signing of Scott Brooks as the team’s official head coach.

After moving to Oklahoma City from Seattle, the team’s operating situation improved markedly. In December 2008, Forbes magazine estimated the team’s franchise value at $300 million – a 12 percent increase from the previous year’s $268 million, when the club was located in Seattle(15). Forbes also noted an increase in the percentage of available tickets sold, from 78 percent in the team’s last season in Seattle to 100 percent in 2008 – 09(16).