Denver Nuggets: What are the best logos in franchise history?
By Sean Carroll
Ranking the Denver Nuggets’ logos #3 2004-2018
I’ve cheated a bit here and condensed the two versions of this logo and accompanying jerseys into the one since it’s a tiny color change. We all know of this logo, the brighter, sky blue and yellow version of the logo that was first introduced in 1994.
The first thing my brain goes to is the silky sky blue Carmelo Anthony jerseys, possibly the most 2000s thing to ever exist in pop culture.
On top of the Melo era, it also encapsulates the George Karl era. Coming in with new ownership, Karl was on the sidelines with these jerseys from 2003 until 2013. He coached Melo, Melo with Allen Iverson, and then Melo with Chauncey Billups.
After the Anthony trade with New York, Karl was the architect of the surprising 2012-13 season, the sole season with Andre Igoudala running next to Ty Lawson, a young Kenneth Faried, Danillo Gallinari, and the sturdy Andre Miller.
We all know how it ended with the first-round upset loss to the up-and-coming Golden State Warriors but the team still won 57 games, its most in the NBA (the record still stands). From here, we enter the ‘rebuilding’ years before the team realizes Nikola Jokic is an MVP-level player and then we’re onto a new logo.
All-in-all, that’s a lot of basketball to be played with the one logo and similar jerseys. Pretty huge for a smaller market as it seems like teams change their jerseys whenever the on-court personnel changes. Or sometimes it changes if the front office wants to force a new era (see Kings, Sacramento every second season).
Accompanying jerseys, take your pick. You can go mainstream with Melo, Billups, or AI or even spice it up with Ty Lawson, Andre Miller, or Marcus Camby. Try and see how much the casuals know.
This logo was the longest-lasting Denver Nuggets logo and it’ll be one we all hold near and dear to our hearts.