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List of Denver Nuggets head coaches
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The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Nuggets were founded as the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1967. In 1974, in anticipation of moving to the NBA, the franchise held a contest to choose a new trademarked name for the team, as Rockets was already in use by the Houston Rockets and the name Nuggets won. In 1976, the ABA folded, and the NBA decided to admit four ABA teams into the league, including the Nuggets, the San Antonio Spurs, the Indiana Pacers, and the New York Nets.
There have been 22 head coaches for the Nuggets franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Bob Bass, who led the team to the division semifinals, losing to the New Orleans Buccaneers. Doug Moe () and George Karl () are the only Nuggets coaches to win the NBA Coach of the Year Award. Michael Malone is the franchise's all-time leader in both regular season and playoff wins. Larry Brown & George Karl are the only Nuggets coaches to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, although John McLendon was inducted as a contributor, but not a coach. In 1976, Brown coached the Nuggets to the team's only ABA championship game. John McLendon, Joe Belmont, Donnie Walsh, Dan Issel, Bill Hanzlik, Mike Evans, Jeff Bzdelik, Michael Cooper, and Brian Shaw spent their entire NBA coaching careers with the Nuggets.
Key
| Elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
|---|
Coaches
Note: Statistics are correct of the .
| # | Name | Term | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference | Regular season | Playoffs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver Rockets | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 1967–1969 | 156 | 89 | 67 | 12 | 5 | 7 | |||||||||
| 2 | * | 1969 | 28 | 9 | 19 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| 3 | * | 1969–1970 | 69 | 45 | 24 | 12 | 5 | 7 | ||||||||
| 4 | 1970–1971 | 71 | 27 | 44 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 5 | 1971–1974 | 252 | 118 | 134 | 12 | 4 | 8 | |||||||||
| Denver Nuggets | border=2}};" | Denver Nuggets | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | 1974– | 385 | 251 | 134 | 45 | 21 | 24 | Led team to and lost 1975–76 ABA Finals | ||||||||
| 7 | * | – | 142 | 60 | 82 | 3 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| 8 | – | 789 | 432 | 357 | 61 | 24 | 37 | 1987–88 NBA Coach of the Year | ||||||||
| 9 | – | 164 | 44 | 120 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 10 | * | – | 198 | 96 | 102 | 12 | 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 11 | 16 | 3 | 13 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| 12 | – | 127 | 59 | 68 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |||||||||
| 13 | 69 | 17 | 52 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| 14 | * | 82 | 11 | 71 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 15 | 50 | 14 | 36 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| — | * | – | 190 | 84 | 106 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| 16 | * | 56 | 18 | 38 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 17 | * | – | 192 | 73 | 119 | 5 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
| 18 | * | 14 | 4 | 10 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 19 | – | 680 | 423 | 257 | 59 | 21 | 38 | 2012–13 NBA Coach of the Year | ||||||||
| 20 | * | – | 141 | 56 | 85 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| 21 | * | 23 | 10 | 13 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 22 | – | 798 | 471 | 327 | 80 | 44 | 36 | NBA championship (2023) | ||||||||
| 23 | * | –present | 3 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 |
File:012308-TC-Twolves002-MikeDantoni.jpg|Mike D'Antoni coached the Denver Nuggets for 50 games during the 1998–99 NBA season. File:George Karl.jpg|George Karl was the 2004–2013 Denver Nuggets head coach. File:Brian Shaw.jpg|Brian Shaw was the 2013–2015 Denver Nuggets head coach. File:Мајкл Малоун 2020.png|Michael Malone was the 2015–2025 Denver Nuggets head coach.
Notes
- A running total of the number of coaches of the Nuggets. Thus any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
- Each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season, except for the seasons spent in the ABA.
References
;General
;Specific
References
- "Nuggets: 1967 to 1979". Turner Sports Interactive, Inc.
- "Coach of the Year". Turner Sports Interactive, Inc.
- "Doug Moe Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Larry Brown Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "John McLendon Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Joe Belmont Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Donnie Walsh Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Dan Issel Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Bill Hanzlik's Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Mike Evans Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Jeff Bzdelik Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Michael Cooper Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Bob Bass Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Stan Albeck Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Alex Hannum Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Paul Westhead Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Gene Littles Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Bernie Bickerstaff Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Dick Motta Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Mike D'Antoni Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "George Karl Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Brian Shaw Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- "Melvin Hunt Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
- (June 15, 2015). "Nuggets name Michael Malone new head coach". Turner Sports Interactive, Inc.
- "David Adelman Coaching Record". Sports Reference LLC.
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