What American basketball coach, born February 11, 1944 worked as head coach during the 1996–97 Denver Nuggets season?
1996–97 Denver Nuggets season The 1996–97 NBA season was the Nuggets' 21st season in the National Basketball Association, and 30th season as a franchise. In the offseason, the Nuggets acquired Mark Jackson and Ricky Pierce from the Indiana Pacers, and signed free agent Ervin Johnson. However, after a 4–9 start to the season, Bernie Bickerstaff was forced out as head coach and replaced with Dick Motta, where the Nuggets then lost ten straight games along the way. Midway through the season, Jackson was traded back to the Indiana Pacers, while Pierce was dealt to the Charlotte Hornets. Meanwhile, the Nuggets signed free agent Kenny Smith, who won championships with the Houston Rockets. As the season drew, the Nuggets still struggled losing 26 of their final 30 games, finishing fifth in the Midwest Division with a 21–61 record. Despite playing just 55 games due to a knee injury and a ruptured achilles tendon, LaPhonso Ellis led the team in scoring with a career high of 21.9 points per game.
List of Denver Nuggets head coaches The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Nuggets were founded as the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1967. In 1974, in anticipation of moving to the NBA, the franchise held a contest to choose a new trademarked name for the team, as Rockets was already in use by the Houston Rockets and the name Nuggets won. In 1976, the ABA folded, and the NBA decided to admit four ABA teams into the league, including the Nuggets, the San Antonio Spurs, the Indiana Pacers and the New York Nets.