1998–99 Denver Nuggets season

The 1998–99 NBA season was the Nuggets' 23rd season in the National Basketball Association, and 32nd season as a franchise.[1] After their dreadful season, where they finished with the league's worst record at 11–71, the Nuggets received the third overall pick the 1998 NBA draft, and selected Raef LaFrentz from the University of Kansas.[2] During the offseason, the team acquired Nick Van Exel from the Los Angeles Lakers, second-year guard Chauncey Billups from the Toronto Raptors, and second-year forward Johnny Taylor and top draft pick Keon Clark from the Orlando Magic. Despite the return of Antonio McDyess, who was re-signed by the team after one season with the Phoenix Suns,[3] the Nuggets continued to struggle under new head coach Mike D'Antoni, losing eight of their first nine games in a lockout shortened season cut to 50 games. Things would get worse as LaFrentz suffered an ankle injury after just twelve games, and was out for the remainder of the season, averaged 13.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.[4] Without their top draft pick, second-year forward Danny Fortson would step into the lineup, averaging 11.0 points and leading the team with 11.6 rebounds per game. The Nuggets lost their final seven games, and finished sixth in the Midwest Division with a 14–36 record.[5] The Nuggets had the worst team defensive rating in the NBA.[6]

1998–99 Denver Nuggets season
Head coachMike D'Antoni
General managerDan Issel
ArenaMcNichols Sports Arena
Results
Record14–36 (.280)
PlaceDivision: 6th (Midwest)
Conference: 13th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television
RadioKKFN

McDyess had a stellar season averaging 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, while being named to the All-NBA Third Team, while Van Exel provided the team with 16.5 points and 7.4 assists per game, and Billups contributed 13.9 points per game.[7] This was also their final season playing at McNichols Sports Arena before moving to the Pepsi Center the following season. Also following the season, Fortson, Eric Williams and second-year guard Eric Washington were all traded to the Boston Celtics, and D'Antoni was fired as coach.

Draft picks
Main article: 1998 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
13Raef LaFrentzPF/C United StatesKansas
123Tyronn LuePG United StatesNebraska
254Tremaine FowlkesSF United StatesFresno State
255Ryan BowenPF United StatesIowa

Roster
1998–99 Denver Nuggets roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
PG 7 Alexander, Cory 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) –– Virginia
SG 4 Billups, Chauncey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 202 lb (92 kg) –– Colorado
PF 13 Clark, Keon  6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) –– UNLV
PF 15 Fortson, Danny 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 260 lb (118 kg) –– Cincinnati
PF 21 Herrera, Carl 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) –– Houston
C 45 LaFrentz, Raef  6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) –– Kansas
SG 11 McCarty, Kelly 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) –– Southern Miss
PF 24 McDyess, Antonio (C) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) –– Alabama
C 34 Meyer, Loren 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 257 lb (117 kg) –– Iowa State
SF 23 Stith, Bryant 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 208 lb (94 kg) –– Virginia
SF 17 Taylor, Johnny 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) –– Chattanooga
PG 31 Van Exel, Nick (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) –– Cincinnati
SG 14 Washington, Eric 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) –– Alabama
SF 32 Williams, Eric 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) –– Providence
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Roster Notes
  • Head coach Mike D'Antoni holds American and Italian dual citizenship. He played for the Italian national team although he was born in the United States.
  • Rookie shooting guard Kelly McCarty holds American and Russian dual citizenship. He played for the Russian national team although he was born in the United States.

Regular season

Season standings
Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-San Antonio Spurs 3713.740–21–416–917–4
x-Utah Jazz 3713.740–22–315–1015–3
x-Houston Rockets 3119.620619–612–1312–9
x-Minnesota Timberwolves 2525.5001218–77–1811–9
Dallas Mavericks 1931.3801815–104–218–12
Denver Nuggets 1436.2802312–132–235–16
Vancouver Grizzlies 842.160297–181–243–18
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-San Antonio Spurs3713.740–
2 y-Portland Trail Blazers3515.7002
3 x-Utah Jazz3713.740–
4 x-Los Angeles Lakers3119.6206
5 x-Houston Rockets3119.6206
6 x-Sacramento Kings2723.54010
7 x-Phoenix Suns2723.54010
8 x-Minnesota Timberwolves2525.50012
9 Seattle SuperSonics2525.50012
10 Golden State Warriors2129.42016
11 Dallas Mavericks1931.38018
12 Denver Nuggets1436.28023
13 Los Angeles Clippers941.18028
14 Vancouver Grizzlies842.16029
z - clinched division title
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents
1998-99 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS CHA CHI CLE DAL DEN DET GSW HOU IND LAC LAL MIA MIL MIN NJN NYK ORL PHI PHO POR SAC SAS SEA TOR UTA VAN WAS
Atlanta –3–03–03–12–10–10–01–20–01–03–11–00–00–31–20–01–22–12–22–11–00–00–00–00–02–10–01–02–1
Boston 0–3–1–22–12–20–01–00–30–00–00–31–00–03–00–30–11–21–21–21–20–00–10–10–00–01–20–01–03–1
Charlotte 0–32–1–2–12–10–00–03–00–10–01–20–00–11–22–20–03–01–31–21–21–01–00–00–00–02–11–00–02–1
Chicago 1–31–21–2–0–30–10–00–30–00–00–31–00–01–21–30–02–11–20–31–20–00–00–00–10–11–20–11–01–2
Cleveland 1–22–21–23–0–0–00–01–21–00–10–30–01–00–31–20–03–01–21–21–21–00–00–01–00–02–20–10–01–2
Dallas 1–00–00–01–00–0–2–10–12–22–20–03–00–30–10–01–20–10–01–00–01–30–32–21–30–30–00–32–10–0
Denver 0–00–10–00–00–01–2–0–01–30–40–13–01–20–11–00–31–00–00–00–00–30–30–30–42–20–01–23–10–1
Detroit 2–13–00–33–02–11–00–0–0–00–02–10–00–02–12–10–12–12–10–41–31–00–00–00–11–02–11–00–02–1
Golden State 0–00–01–00–00–12–23–10–0–0–31–02–11–20–00–12–20–00–00–10–01–22–21–20–31–20–00–44–00–0
Houston 0–10–00–00–01–02–24–00–03–0–0–03–11–20–10–02–11–00–00–10–02–22–13–00–32–11–00–34–00–0
Indiana 1–23–02–13–03–00–01–01–20–10–0–0–01–02–23–00–03–12–11–21–20–00–10–00–00–02–10–01–03–0
L.A. Clippers 0–10–10–00–10–00–30–30–01–21–30–0–0–40–00–02–21–00–10–00–00–31–21–20–30–30–11–31–30–0
L.A. Lakers 0–00–01–00–00–13–02–10–02–12–10–14–0–0–00–02–10–01–01–00–13–12–21–22–12–20–01–32–10–0
Miami 3–00–32–12–13–01–01–01–20–01–02–20–00–0–2–10–13–12–22–12–10–00–00–00–00–03–00–10–03–0
Milwaukee 2–13–02–23–12–10–00–11–21–00–00–30–00–01–2–1–02–12–11–21–20–10–00–00–01–03–10–00–02–1
Minnesota 0–01–00–00–00–02–13–01–02–21–20–02–21–21–00–1–0–00–10–00–01–20–33–12–22–10–10–33–10–0
New Jersey 2–12–10–31–20–31–00–11–20–00–11–30–10–01–31–20–0–0–30–31–20–00–10–00–01–02–10–00–02–1
New York 1–22–13–12–12–10–00–01–20–00–01–21–00–12–21–21–03–0–0–33–11–00–00–10–00–01–20–00–02–1
Orlando 2–22–12–13–02–10–10–04–01–01–02–10–00–11–22–10–03–03–0–1–20–00–01–00–10–01–20–00–02–1
Philadelphia 1–22–12–12–12–10–00–03–10–00–02–10–01–01–22–10–02–11–32–1–0–00–11–00–10–12–10–01–01–2
Phoenix 0–10–00–10–00–13–13–00–12–12–20–03–01–30–01–02–10–00–10–00–0–0–30–32–23–00–02–23–00–0
Portland 0–01–00–10–00–03–03–00–02–21–21–02–12–20–00–03–01–00–00–01–03–0–4–01–32–20–01–24–00–0
Sacramento 0–01–01–00–00–02–23–00–02–10–30–02–12–10–00–01–30–01–00–10–13–00–4–1–22–20–01–24–01–0
San Antonio 0–00–00–01–00–13–14–01–03–03–00–03–01–20–00–02–20–00–01–01–02–23–12–1–2–10–12–13–00–0
Seattle 0–00–00–01–00–03–02–20–12–11–20–03–02–20–00–11–20–10–00–01–00–32–22–21–2–0–02–22–10–1
Toronto 1–22–11–22–12–20–00–01–20–00–11–21–00–00–31–31–01–22–12–11–20–00–00–01–00–0–0–01–02–2
Utah 0–00–00–11–01–03–02–10–14–03–00–03–13–11–00–03–00–00–00–00–02–22–12–11–22–20–0–3–01–0
Vancouver 0–10–10–00–10–01–21–30–00–30–40–13–11–20–00–01–30–00–00–00–10–30–30–40–31–20–10–3–0–0
Washington 1–21–31–22–12–10–01–01–20–10–00–30–00–00–31–20–01–21–21–22–10–00–10–10–01–02–20–10–0—

Player statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Regular season
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Antonio McDyess 50 50 38.7 .471 .111 .680 10.7 1.6 1.5 2.3 21.2
Nick Van Exel 50 50 36.0 .398 .308 .811 2.3 7.4 0.8 0.1 16.5
Chauncey Billups 45 41 33.1 .386 .362 .913 2.1 3.8 1.3 0.3 13.9
Raef LaFrentz 12 12 32.3 .457 .387 .750 7.6 0.7 0.8 1.4 13.8
Danny Fortson 50 38 28.3 .495 .000 .727 11.6 0.6 0.6 0.4 11.0
Cory Alexander 36 4 21.6 .373 .286 .841 2.1 3.3 1.0 0.1 7.3
Eric Williams 38 8 20.5 .365 .231 .799 2.1 1.0 0.7 0.2 7.3
Bryant Stith 46 32 26.0 .393 .292 .859 2.3 1.8 0.6 0.3 7.0
Johnny Taylor 36 9 20.1 .414 .382 .739 2.8 0.7 0.8 0.5 5.8
Eric Washington 38 6 20.0 .397 .381 .688 2.3 0.8 0.7 0.5 5.4
Tyson Wheeler 1 0 3.0 1.000 1.000 .500 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 4.0
Keon Clark 28 0 14.6 .450 .000 .568 3.4 0.4 0.4 1.1 3.3
Carl Herrera 24 0 11.0 .429 .000 .556 2.3 0.0 0.5 0.3 2.5
Kelly McCarty 2 0 2.0 .667 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0
Loren Meyer 14 0 5.0 .250 .200 .500 1.1 0.1 0.0 0.2 1.1
Monty Williams 1 0 6.0 .000 .500 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0

Player Statistics Citation:[7]

Awards and records

References
  1. 1998-99 Denver Nuggets
  2. "PRO BASKETBALL; 7 Feet 1 Inch of Potential at No. 1". New York Times. June 25, 1998. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  3. "NBA DEALINGS: McDyess, Divac and Smith sign". Kitsap Sun. January 23, 1999. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  4. "Lafrentz Injury Worse Than Feared". Chicago Tribune. February 27, 1999. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  5. "1998–99 Denver Nuggets Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  6. "Teams Defense". NBA.com. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  7. "1998–99 Denver Nuggets Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved July 15, 2021.

See also
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