# 1975–76 Denver Nuggets season

The 1975–76 Denver Nuggets season was Denver's ninth and final season in the American Basketball Association (ABA). Prior to the season, the team moved their home games from the Denver Auditorium Arena to the new McNichols Arena. At the conclusion of the season the team would join the National Basketball Association (NBA). This was the second season in the Larry Brown tenure as head coach.

## ABA Draft

| Player | School/Club Team |
| Bill Willoughby | Dwight Morrow H.S. Englewood NJ |
| Tom Kropp | Kearney State |
| Monte Towe | North Carolina State |
| Bob Fleischer | Duke University |
| Jim Moore | Utah State |
| Charles Russell | Alabama |
| Mike Odems | Western Kentucky |
| Owen Brown | Maryland |
| Marvin Webster | Morgan State |

## Season standings

| Team | Wins | Loses | Pct. |
| Denver Nuggets | 60 | 24 | .714 |
| New York Nets | 55 | 29 | .655 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 50 | 34 | .595 |
| Kentucky Colonels | 46 | 38 | .548 |
| Indiana Pacers | 39 | 45 | .464 |
| Spirits of St. Louis | 35 | 49 | .417 |
| San Diego Sails | 3 | 8 | .273 |
| Utah Stars | 4 | 12 | .250 |
| Virginia Squires | 15 | 68 | .181 |

## Player stats

Note: PG= per game; M= Minutes; R= Rebounds; A= Assists; S = Steals; B = Blocks; P = Points; T = Turnovers; PF = Personal fouls
| Player | Age | Games played | MPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TPG | PFPG | PPG |
| David Thompson | 21 | 83 | 37.4 | 6.3 | 3.7 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 26.0 |
| Ralph Simpson | 26 | 84 | 37.2 | 5.4 | 7.1 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 4.3 | 2.2 | 18.0 |
| Bobby Jones | 24 | 83 | 34.3 | 9.5 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 14.9 |
| Dan Issel | 27 | 84 | 34.0 | 11.0 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 23.0 |
| Chuck Williams | 29 | 79 | 32.0 | 2.7 | 4.7 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 11.0 |
| Gus Gerard | 22 | 60 | 19.8 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 9.9 |
| Byron Beck | 31 | 80 | 19.8 | 4.4 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 9.6 |
| Claude Terry | 26 | 79 | 17.1 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 7.1 |
| Jim Bradley | 23 | 7 | 15.3 | 4.3 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 3.7 | 4.6 |
| Marvin Webster | 23 | 38 | 10.5 | 4.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 4.3 |
| Monte Towe | 22 | 64 | 9.0 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 3.0 |
| Roger Brown | 25 | 37 | 7.9 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 2.0 |
| James Foster | 24 | 48 | 7.3 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 3.1 |
| George Irvine | 27 | 3 | 4.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 |

## Playoffs

Semifinals
| Game | Date | Location | Score | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | April 15 | Denver | 110–107 | 1–0 | 15,234 |
| 2 | April 17 | Denver | 110–138 | 1–1 | 16,384 |
| 3 | April 19 | Kentucky | 114–126 | 1–2 | 9,644 |
| 4 | April 21 | Kentucky | 108–106 | 2–2 | 11,444 |
| 5 | April 22 | Denver | 127–117 | 3–2 | 17,068 |
| 6 | April 25 | Kentucky | 119–115 | 3–3 | 6,312 |
| 7 | April 28 | Denver | 133–110 | 4–3 | 18,821 |
Nuggets win series, 4–3
ABA Finals
| Game | Date | Location | Score | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | May 1 | Denver | 118–120 | 0–1 | 19,034 |
| 2 | May 4 | Denver | 127–121 | 1–1 | 19,107 |
| 3 | May 6 | New York | 111–117 | 1–2 | 12,243 |
| 4 | May 8 | New York | 112–121 | 1–3 | 15,934 |
| 5 | May 11 | Denver | 118–110 | 2–3 | 18,881 |
| 6 | May 13 | New York | 106–112 | 2–4 | 15,934 |
Nuggets lose series 4-2

## Awards, records, and honors

* Ralph Simpson led the league in turnovers (360)
* Bobby Jones led the league in field goal percentage (.581)

### ABA All-Stars

* Byron Beck
* Roger Brown
* James Foster
* Gus Gerard
* Dan Issel
* Bobby Jones
* Ralph Simpson
* Claude Terry
* David Thompson
* Monte Towe
* Chuck Williams

### All-ABA Teams

* Ralph Simpson- 1st team
* Don Buse- 2nd team
* Bobby Jones- 2nd team
* David Thompson- 2nd team

### All-Defensive Team

* Don Buse- 1st team
* Bobby Jones- 1st team

### All-Rookie Team

* David Thompson