Denver Nuggets info

Denver Nuggets ticket holders will have much to look forward to when attending games at the Pepsi Center this year. The nucleus of 2004's playoff team, including Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, and Marcus Camby remains intact. Notable additions to this year's squad include former North Carolina State stud Julius Hodge and free agent pickup Earl Watson. Coach George Karl guided the team to a stellar 32-8 record and playoff spot after taking over in January last season, and many credit Karl for enabling a slumping Carmelo Anthony to return to his rookie season form. Karl's challenge this year will be to continue to develop Anthony into a premier NBA player, while working Martin, Camby, and speedster Earl Boykins into the offense. Fans who purchase Denver Nuggets tickets can expect plenty of excitement as these challenges are confronted at the Pepsi Center home games.

Denver Nugget teams have a long history of meeting challenges placed before them, first as an ABA power and later as an NBA Western Conference force. The Denver Rockets, as the Nuggets were then called, originated in 1967 as one the original ABA teams. The team changed its mascot to the Nuggets in 1974 and two years later joined the NBA. Spencer Hayward and future Nuggets coach Dan "The Horse" Issel were stand outs on those early teams, but it was "The Skywalker" David Thompson, who carried the banner highest for the Nuggets. Thompson famously dueled Julius "Dr. J" Erving at the 1976 NBA Slam Dunk Contest held at Denver's own McNichols Arena. Dr. J prevailed that night, but Thompson continued to dazzle Denver Nuggets ticket holders on a nightly basis and took his team to the Western Conference Finals in 1978.

Prolific scorer and perennial all-star Alex English took over the reigns from Thompson during the 80's, leading the team to the playoffs several times during the decade. In 1991, Denver pulled off one of the great upsets in NBA history, when Dikembe Mutombo led the eighth-seeded Nuggets against the first seed Seattle SuperSonics in the first round on the playoffs and knocked them out.

Currently, Denver Nuggets ticket holders have cause for hope for a third straight playoff appearance. The franchise boasts one of the great rising stars of the NBA in Carmelo Anthony, quality supporting players and an experienced head coach. In 2005, the Pepsi Center could be where the next Western Conference power emerges.