Our friends at Grizzly Bear Blues recently ran a “greatest Grizzlies uniform of all time” campaign so we thought we’d jump on the “greatest uniform” bandwagon and put it to you – our fellow Stiffs – to determine the best uniform in Nuggets history. And those who participate will be eligible to win an autographed Ty Lawson jersey at Saturday’s STIFFS NIGHT OUT: HOLIDAY EDITION when the Nuggets take on the Grizzlies in Memphis.
Not surprisingly, the Nuggets' uniform history is about as colorful, creative and expressive as their history on the court has been since re-establishing professional basketball in Denver for the American Basketball Association's inaugural1967-68 season. Long known as a fast-paced, high-flying franchise, the Nuggets have possessed some of the more creative uniforms in NBA history.
By my own accounting, since entering the ABA as the Rockets in 1967 the Rockets/Nuggets have had 15 different uniforms, including slight color variations and alternate jerseys. For the purposes of this vote, I’m going to exclude their Rockets uniforms altogether (with sincere apologies to Denver Stiffs reader “Thursty”), their green-trimmed “rainbow” uniform from 1982 through 1985 (which was replaced by the essentially same 1985 through 1993 blue / yellow-trimmed “rainbow” uniform), their 2003 through 2008 predecessor to their modern uniform (essentially the same uniform sans a slight modification of the shorts logo and alternate logo added above the player’s last name), their awful “green” alternative uniform worn during the NBA’s Green Week in 2009 and their 2012 one-time Christmas Day uniform.
Please take a few minutes to view the eight uniform designs below and then vote both in the poll at the bottom and in the comments section so we know who's eligible to win the autographed Ty Lawson jersey. We will announce the winner (selected randomly) of the autographed Lawson jersey at Saturday's STIFFS NIGHT OUT at Jake's Food & Spirits and hopefully the winner will be in attendance to claim his/her prize!
*** And a huge thanks is owed to SportsLogo.net’s Chris Creamer for letting us use his awesome designs for this column! ***
ABA DENVER NUGGETS
(Uniform photo courtesy of Nas|Jerseys.com)
1974-75 UNIFORM – ROAD
Brief Description: For their inaugural season as the Denver “Nuggets” (an homage to the short-lived Denver Nuggets of the 1949-50 NBA season), the Nuggets departed from their “Columbine blue” and yellow Denver Rockets uniforms and went with a more traditional dark blue and red uniform with a diamond on both the jersey and the shots.
My Pick: Seventh. Not much to get excited about with these uniforms other than their retro factor.
ABA DENVER NUGGETS
Brief Description: Worn for just one season only, the Nuggets boasted the pick axe-and-gold-nugget logo uniform and rode this thing all the way to the ABA Championships … where they lost to the New York Nets. This uniform was worn once more as an homage to that great ABA season on February 11, 2012 when the Nuggets played their ABA rival Indiana Pacers.
My Pick: Third. Gotta love the pick axe and gold nugget!
NBA DENVER NUGGETS
(Image courtesy of SportsLogos.net)
1976-1982 – ROAD
(Image courtesy of SportsLogos.net)
Brief Description: Simple, classic and carrying over the “Nuggets font” that would last until 1993, the Nuggets bursted into the NBA with this uniform and made one of their three Western Conference Championship appearances while wearing it. One of the many things that makes this uniform so cool is the presence of Maxie Miner on the shorts.
My Pick: Second. Maxie Miner on the shorts almost makes this the best uniform in franchise history.
NBA DENVER NUGGETS
(Image courtesy of SportsLogos.net)
1982-1993 – ROAD
(Image courtesy of SportsLogos.net)
Brief Description: For the first three seasons of “the rainbow” uniform it featured a green trim, both at home and on the road. Beginning in 1985, however, the uniform essentially stayed the same but the green trim was replaced with a dark blue trim at home and a yellow trim on the road … a huge upgrade from a design standpoint. This unique and popular uniform would be worn during two of the Nuggets best seasons in franchise history, 1984-85 and 1987-88, and is considered by most as one of the best uniforms in NBA history.
My Pick: First. Is there really any question?
NBA DENVER NUGGETS
(Image courtesy of SportsLogos.net)
1993-2003 – ROAD
(Image courtesy of SportsLogos.net)
Brief Description: The Nuggets waited until 1993 to leave the 80s behind by switching to this “wine and navy” uniform that would become synonymous with the team’s thrillingly surprising 1993-94 playoff run (memorialized here recently by our very own Jeff Morton) and the depressing ineptitude from the front office on down from 1995 until the uniform finally went away in 2003. A little known fact is that when former Nuggets president Tim Leiweke (1991 through 1995) submitted this uniform change to the NBA, he requested an “all gold” home uniform version that the NBA denied.
My Pick: Fourth. Even though this uniform brings back memories of an eight-year playoff absence, these looked pretty damn good when the eighth-seeded Nuggets bested the first-seeded Seattle Supersonics in the 1994 playoffs!
NBA DENVER NUGGETS
(Image courtesy of SportsLogos.net)
2003-PRESENT – ROAD
(Image courtesy of SportsLogos.net)
Brief Description: After missing the playoffs for eight straight seasons and drafting college superstar Carmelo Anthony with the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, it was clear that positive change was on the horizon for our Nuggets and new team president Kiki Vandeweghe wanted to personify that with a full uniform change. Coincidentally (or perhaps not so coincidentally), the new Nuggets color scheme mirrored that of Vandeweghe’s alma matter – UCLA. The uniform was adjusted slightly in 2008 (when the NBA changed their uniform style completely to a lighter-weight product) to add the Nuggets alternate logo to the shorts and back above the player’s last name.
My Pick: Sixth. Even though the Nuggets have appeared in 10 straight post-seasons and appeared in their third Western Conference Finals wearing these uniforms, they just seem to lack creativity.
NBA DENVER NUGGETS
(Image courtesy of SportsLogos.net)
Brief Description: When the “alternative jersey” trend came about in the mid-00s, even our Nuggets couldn’t be spared. But for some reason, the Nuggets went with a hard-to-read font for “Nuggets” on the front.
My Pick: Eighth. The color scheme is okay but the childish font on the front kills it for me. Let’s hope these don’t make a comeback.
NBA DENVER NUGGETS
(Image courtesy of SportsLogos.net)
Brief Description: As an homage to the Nuggets “Golden Era” of the mid-to-late 1980s, in 2012 the Nuggets organization brought back a loose facsimile of the legendary rainbow uniform to serve as an alternative home jersey.
My Pick: Fifth. While I was disappointed that neither the rainbow color scheme nor the vintage “Nuggets font” could be incorporated into this uniform, I have on good authority that the NBA disallowed both (too many colors plus the font is allegedly too hard to read). The mere fact that the Nuggets attempted to bring back the Denver / rainbow skyline gives this uniform huge props in my book.
Now it’s your turn to decide. Please take a minute and vote in our poll and be sure to make your picks known in the comments as well. All participants will be eligible to win an autographed Ty Lawson jersey that we’ll be giving away at Saturday’s STIFFS NIGHT OUT!
This content is no longer available.
