Ta b l e o f Co n t e n t s SHINY NEW TEAM 8 A NEW DIRECTION 16 OFF AND RUNNING WITH MOE 22 AN UNDERDOG TO REMEMBER 30 KARL CO CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN 40 INDEX 48 CO U RT S I D E S TO R I E S FLYING HIGH IN THE ROCKIES 12 POINTS AND MORE POINTS 21 THE FINGER WAG 24 MCNICHOLS MAGIC 27 CHERISHING CHOPPER 35 SURVIVOR EXTRAORDINAIRE 46 INTRODUCING DAVID THOMPSON 11 DAN ISSEL 15 ALEX ENGLISH 18 DOUG MOE 29 DIKEMBE MUTOMBO 33 CARMELO ANTHONY 43
SHINY NEW TEAM DENVER’S OFFICIAL ELEVATION OF 5,280 FEET OR 1 MILE VERIFIES ITS NICKNAME SHINY NEW TEAM 8
With a yearly average of approximately 300 days of sunshine Denver Colorado is indeed a city blessed with gleam But could it be that some of the bling comes from more than just sunlight Mining prospectors certainly believed so and they cased both mountain and stream for gold during the city’s population boom of the 1870s Even today half of the United States coins are still minted in Denver A fresh coat of shine descended upon the Mile High City starting in 1967 when the Denver Nuggets basketball franchise began league play as the Denver Rockets in the American Basketball Association ABA The ABA was founded to rival the National Basketball Association NBA which had been up and running for nearly 20 years at that point But with basketball’s DAVID THOMPSON 9
