The original Denver Nuggets: Today’s Denver Nuggets, who gave the city its first NBA championship in 2023, were not the first basketballers to play wearing that name. The original Denver Nuggets competed in the Amateur Athletic Union from 1937 to 1951. They even won the AAU’s national tournament in 1939. Today’s Nuggets of the National Basketball Association started playing under that name in 1974.
- Courtesy of “Dr. Colorado” Tom Noel