Second, they have played each other 167 times (tied for second most of any Nugget opponent with the Indiana Pacers, which includes ABA games). First, they're the only two teams located in the Rocky Mountains. Andrew writes:Ī good argument can be made that the Jazz are the Nuggets' biggest rival. Our brother site Denver Stiffs wrote about which team they felt were the biggest rivals of their franchise ( Andrew Feinstein, Denver Stiffs, 2012). They shared a mountain, but the region was not big enough for the both of them. Basketball was alive and well, and these two teams seemed to be in a near constant struggle for dominance. This was not the same for the Nuggets, who went from being a team capable of winning 60 games in a season back in the ABA to being one that would finish the 1980s decade being no better or worse than the Jazz in that 40 to 50 win range.ĭan Issel, Kiki Vandeweghe, Calvin Natt, Alex English, Fat Lever, Adrian Dantley, Rickey Green, and of course John Stockton and Karl Malone were some of the biggest names in the mountains. The smaller market sting was one of the first shared challenges for both franchises.Īs a guy born in the 1970s I didn't really get into professional sports that much until the 1980s (I was too busy learning how to spell and do division and stuff like that than to claim being a "life long NBA fan" like some others.) The 80s were a period of relative stability for both clubs, the Jazz finally moved from being a team that would be in the 20s and 30s for wins in a season to one that would be winning 40 and 50 games a season. Both teams weren't as financially capable as the larger markets owned by richer people, so they would have to resort to 'renting' quality young players, or overpaying for stars past their prime. However, both teams shared colorful and larger than life coaches like Alex Hannum, Elgin Baylor, Larry Brown, Tom Nissalke, Donny Walsh, Frank Layden, and Doug Moe. While Denver was an up and down team that had a history of winning, Utah - who had previously only had the ABA Utah Stars - was a perennial cellar dweller. And three seasons went by before these two franchises on the other side of the country were right in each others' back year, as the New Orleans Jazz didn't move to Utah until 1979. Two seasons went by before these two franchises were in the same league, the ABA didn't dismantle until 1976. The Jazz didn't get started in the ABA, but were formed in 1974, the same year the Rockets became the Nuggets. Haywood was a player who years later would spend a season playing for the New Orleans Jazz. While they were still called the Denver Rockets back in 1967 they were powered by Spencer Haywood. The Denver Nuggets were one of the teams that graduated from the ABA to the NBA. We need to go back, before we go forwards. but for those still in the dark, you're going to have to wait a little more before I address it. That Game Five was a turning point for the series, and a huge growing up point for our players and fans and owners alike. I was worried about the team, but more than that, I was upset and angry at losing to the Denver Nuggets. Utah had three first round exists in the last few seasons which did not completely go away after making the Western Conference Finals two years earlier. The series turned then, and despite all the positive progress made by the team since I became a fan, the worries started to creep in again. That's when my Utah Jazz, despite just barely missing a sweep by losing Game 4 by 1 point, ended up losing Game 5 of the second round of the playoffs - at home - to the Denver Nuggets. One of the biggest moments in my life as a fan was when my head exploded when on May 17th, 1994.
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