1989–90 Denver Nuggets season

The 1989–90 Denver Nuggets season was the 14th season for the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association, and their 23rd season as a franchise. The Nuggets had the 15th overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Todd Lichti out of Stanford University.

The Nuggets got off to a fast start by winning 11 of their first 15 games, on their way to a solid 19–9 start to the regular season, and holding a 26–20 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team acquired Joe Barry Carroll from the New Jersey Nets. However, the team began to show their age as they finished in fourth place in the Midwest Division with a 43–39 record, and earned the seventh seed in the Western Conference.

Fat Lever averaged 18.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game, while Alex English averaged 17.9 points per game, and sixth man Walter Davis provided the team with 17.5 points per game off the bench. In addition, Michael Adams contributed 15.5 points, 6.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and led the league with 158 three-point field goals, while Blair Rasmussen provided with 12.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, and Danny Schayes averaged 10.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Lichti contributed 8.0 points per game, Bill Hanzlik averaged 6.2 points per game, Tim Kempton provided with 5.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, and second-year forward Jerome Lane averaged 5.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida, Lever was selected for the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was his final All-Star appearance. English was not selected for the All-Star Game this season, as his statistics had decreased compared to the previous season.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1990 NBA playoffs, the Nuggets faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Midwest Division champion San Antonio Spurs, who were led by All-Star center, and Rookie of the Year, David Robinson, All-Star forward Terry Cummings, and second-year star Willie Anderson. The Nuggets lost the first two games to the Spurs on the road at the HemisFair Arena, before losing Game 3 at home, 131–120 at the McNichols Sports Arena, thus losing the series in a three-game sweep.

The Nuggets finished 24th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 484,288 at the McNichols Sports Arena during the regular season, which was the fourth-lowest in the league. Following the season, an era came to an end as head coach Doug Moe was fired, while English signed as a free agent with the Dallas Mavericks, Lever was traded to the Mavericks, Schayes signed with the Milwaukee Bucks, and Barry Carroll was released to free agency.