1991–92 Denver Nuggets season

1991–92 Denver Nuggets season
Head coachPaul Westhead
PresidentBernie Bickerstaff
General managerBernie Bickerstaff
ArenaMcNichols Sports Arena
Results
Record24–58 (.293)
PlaceDivision: 5th (Midwest)
Conference: 11th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television
RadioKOA

The 1991–92 Denver Nuggets season was the 16th season for the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association, and their 25th season as a franchise.[1] The Nuggets received the fourth overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft, and selected 7' 2" center Dikembe Mutombo out of Georgetown University, and also selected shooting guard Mark Macon out of Temple University with the eighth overall pick, which was acquired from the Washington Bullets via trade;[2][3][4] Mutombo was a native of Zaire, and spoke nine languages (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and five African dialects). The team also re-signed former Nuggets guard Walter Davis after a brief stint with the Portland Trail Blazers,[5][6] and acquired Winston Garland from the Los Angeles Clippers.[7][8]

With the addition of Mutombo, Macon and Garland, the Nuggets showed improvement playing around .500 in winning percentage with an 8–8 start to the regular season. However, the team soon fell below .500, and later on held a 17–29 record at the All-Star break.[9] The Nuggets struggled posting a six-game losing streak between January and February, then posted a nine-game losing streak between February and March, and then posted an 11-game losing streak between March and April. The Nuggets lost 29 of their final 36 games of the season after the All-Star break, and finished in fourth place in the Midwest Division with a 24–58 record.[10][11]

Mutombo averaged 16.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, while Reggie Williams averaged 18.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, and Greg Anderson provided the team with 11.5 points and rebounds per game each. In addition, Macon contributed 10.6 points and 2.0 steals per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, while Garland provided with 10.8 points, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Off the bench, second-year guard Chris Jackson contributed 10.3 points and 2.4 assists per game, while second-year forward Marcus Liberty averaged 9.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, Davis provided with 9.9 points per game, Todd Lichti contributed 6.6 points per game, and Joe Wolf averaged 3.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.[12]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida, Mutombo was selected for the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was his first ever All-Star appearance.[13][14][15] Mutombo also finished in second place in Rookie of the Year voting, behind Larry Johnson of the Charlotte Hornets,[16][17] while Williams finished tied in fourth place in Most Improved Player voting.[17]

The Nuggets finished 21st in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 534,323 at the McNichols Sports Arena during the regular season.[12][18] Following the season, Davis retired, while Anderson, Garland and Wolf were all released to free agency, and head coach Paul Westhead was fired.[19]

Draft picks

Main article: 1991 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team
1 4 Dikembe Mutombo C  Zaire Georgetown
1 8 Mark Macon SG  United States Temple

Roster

1991–92 Denver Nuggets roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
PF 33 Greg Anderson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1964–06–22 Houston
SF 43 Kevin Brooks 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1969–10–12 Louisiana
PF 45 Anthony Cook 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1967–03–19 Arizona
SG 6 Walter Davis 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1954–09–09 North Carolina
PG 12 Winston Garland 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1964–12–19 Missouri State
PF 10 Scott Hastings 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1960–06–03 Arkansas
PG 3 Chris Jackson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 162 lb (73 kg) 1969–03–09 LSU
SF 30 Marcus Liberty 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1968–10–27 Illinois
SG 21 Todd Lichti 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1967–01–08 Stanford
SG 1 Mark Macon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1969–04–14 Temple
C 55 Dikembe Mutombo 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1966–06–25 Georgetown
C 50 Steve Scheffler 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1967–09–03 Purdue
SF 34 Reggie Williams 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1964–03–05 Georgetown
C 42 Joe Wolf 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1964–12–17 North Carolina
Head coach
Assistant(s)
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: March 17, 1992

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Utah Jazz 55 27 .671 — 37–4 18–23 20–6
x-San Antonio Spurs 47 35 .573 8 31–10 16–25 18–8
Houston Rockets 42 40 .512 13 28–13 14–27 12–14
Denver Nuggets 24 58 .293 31 18–23 6–35 8–18
Dallas Mavericks 22 60 .268 33 15–26 7–34 11–15
Minnesota Timberwolves 15 67 .183 40 9–32 6–35 9–17
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot
#
Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Portland Trail Blazers 57 25 .695 –
2 y-Utah Jazz 55 27 .671 2
3 x-Golden State Warriors 55 27 .671 2
4 x-Phoenix Suns 53 29 .646 4
5 x-San Antonio Spurs 47 35 .573 10
6 x-Seattle SuperSonics 47 35 .573 10
7 x-Los Angeles Clippers 45 37 .549 12
8 x-Los Angeles Lakers 43 39 .524 14
9 Houston Rockets 42 40 .512 15
10 Sacramento Kings 29 53 .354 28
11 Denver Nuggets 24 58 .293 33
12 Dallas Mavericks 22 60 .268 35
13 Minnesota Timberwolves 15 67 .183 42
z - clinched division title
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

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
Reggie Williams 81 80 32.4 .471 .359 .803 5.0 2.9 1.8 0.8 18.2
Dikembe Mutombo 71 71 38.3 .493 .642 12.3 2.2 0.6 3.0 16.6
Greg Anderson 82 82 34.1 .456 .000 .623 11.5 1.0 1.1 0.8 11.5
Winston Garland 78 67 28.3 .444 .321 .859 2.4 5.3 1.3 0.3 10.8
Mark Macon 76 67 30.3 .375 .133 .730 2.9 2.2 2.0 0.2 10.6
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf 81 11 19.0 .421 .330 .870 1.4 2.4 0.5 0.0 10.3
Walter Davis 46 0 16.1 .459 .313 .872 1.5 1.5 0.6 0.0 9.9
Marcus Liberty 75 13 20.4 .443 .340 .728 4.1 0.8 0.9 0.4 9.3
Todd Lichti 68 10 17.3 .460 .111 .839 1.7 1.1 0.6 0.2 6.6
Joe Wolf 67 0 17.3 .361 .091 .803 3.6 0.9 0.5 0.2 3.8
Jerome Lane 9 5 15.7 .250 .421 4.9 1.4 0.2 0.1 3.1
Kevin Brooks 37 0 7.3 .443 .182 .810 1.1 0.3 0.2 0.1 2.8
Steve Scheffler 7 0 6.6 .571 .667 1.6 0.0 0.4 0.0 1.7
Scott Hastings 40 4 10.5 .340 .000 .857 2.5 0.7 0.3 0.4 1.5
Anthony Cook 22 0 5.2 .600 .667 1.5 0.1 0.2 0.2 1.5

Player statistics citation:[12]

Awards, records, and honors

References

  1. ^ "1991-92 Denver Nuggets". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  2. ^ Goldaper, Sam (June 27, 1991). "BASKETBALL; Hornets Make Johnson No. 1 Pick in the Draft". The New York Times. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  3. ^ Heisler, Mark (June 27, 1991). "Beyond 6 Players, It's a Reach: NBA Draft: Three UNLV Players Are Selected in the First Round, Including Larry Johnson as No. 1 by the Hornets". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  4. ^ "1991 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  5. ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE: BASKETBALL; Walter Davis Waived by Trail Blazers". New York Times. October 30, 1991. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  6. ^ "Pro Basketball". Los Angeles Times. November 2, 1991. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  7. ^ Howard-Cooper, Scott (June 27, 1991). "Clippers Make Point in Deal with Hawks: NBA Draft: Team Trades No. 9 Pick and Second-Round Selections in 1993 and 1994 for Guard Doc Rivers. Club Then Takes LeRon Ellis of Syracuse with 22nd Pick". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  8. ^ "Clippers Pull Off Two Trades". Tampa Bay Times. June 27, 1991. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  9. ^ "NBA Games Played on February 6, 1992". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 25, 2026.
  10. ^ "1991–92 Denver Nuggets Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  11. ^ Denver Nuggets (1967-Present)
  12. ^ a b c "1991–92 Denver Nuggets Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  13. ^ Heisler, Mark (February 9, 1992). "Comeback or Farewell, a Magical All-Star Game". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  14. ^ "1992 NBA All-Star Recap". NBA.com. NBA.com Staff. September 13, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  15. ^ "1992 NBA All-Star Game: West 153, East 113". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  16. ^ "BASKETBALL; Johnson Is Top Rookie". The New York Times. Associated Press. May 13, 1992. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  17. ^ a b "1991–92 NBA Awards Voting". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  18. ^ "1991–92 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 25, 2026.
  19. ^ "NBA Firings: Westhead, Hamblen". Los Angeles Times. April 24, 1992. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
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