Denver Nuggets’ pursuit of NBA title brings back memories of high-scoring Hartford legend Michael Adams

The Denver Nuggets are a few wins away from an NBA championship, which naturally makes basketball fans in Hartford think of Michael Adams.

Right?

The Hartford Public legend was only 5-10, with an unorthodox shot and lightning speed, but anyone who was there for local high school basketball in the late ’70s and early ’80s remembers him well.

Adams played 11 years in the NBA, most notably in Denver, where he averaged an eyebrow-raising 26.5 points and 10.5 assists per game in the 1990-91 season. The diminutive guard was named an All-Star the following year in Washington, finishing that season at 18.5 points and 7.6 assists per.

A trip through the annals on YouTube brings his game back to life–the breakneck speed at which he pushed the ball, his shiftiness like an F1 driver, and that push-shot that could be manipulated mid-air to deke defenders while he found the open man.

Once among the all-time leaders in three-pointers made and attempted, Adams’ game was a perfect fit for an offense that was ahead of its time. Just how synonymous was Adams’ game with the 3-pointer? Well, prior to Stephen Curry (you might have heard of him), Adams held the record for most consecutive games with a three– at 79.

“It’s funny, when I was shooting all the threes, nobody else was doing it and they just labeled me a ‘three-point shooter.’ And I shot a lot of bad ones, too. Now, it’s a staple,” Adams told The Courant in 2018. “It’s analytics. It’s what you’re supposed to do. Think about it. It has revolutionized the game.”

“I look at the whole thing as a Catch-22. I like it. I was one of the first guys to use it,” Adams said. “But there’s this perception now that it’s the way to go and players don’t have the in-between game anymore. That’s what is missing. I’d like to see it come back, but the way it’s going now, you’re not going to see that happen for a while.”

Despite the fact that the league has gotten even more 3-point happy since Adams played, the Nuggets back then were known for being innovative.

Under head coaches Doug Moe and then Paul Westhead, the franchise routinely led the league in scoring. Denver broke records for the highest-scoring game (a 186-184 triple-overtime loss to the Pistons in 1983) and highest-scoring season (a staggering 126.5 ppg in 1981-82).

When Adams arrived there in 1987, he had been a journeyman, having played his first two seasons in Sacramento and Washington after coming out of Boston College. But despite his unconventional shooting form, Moe encouraged him to let it fly.

“I knew I could shoot,” Adams told the Washington Post in 1991. “I just didn’t have the confidence in certain coaches to let me shoot, and it sort of weighs in the back of your mind. Well, maybe I can’t shoot … you tend to be a little tentative. I went to Denver and Doug instilled confidence in me right away. He told me to shoot. And he sort of woke me up.”

Denver reached the playoffs in each of Adams’ first three years before fading to 20-62 in 1991. The Hartford legend went on to play for the Bullets and then the Charlotte Hornets, retiring in 1996 with career totals of 9,621 points and 4,209 assists.

The Nuggets, who are playing in the Finals for the first time in franchise history, don’t have a ton of all-time greats to look back on. There’s Dan Issel, Kiki Vandeweghe, Alex English, Dikembe Mutombo and Carmelo Anthony. There’s also Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Adams’ backcourt mate Fat Lever and David Thompson.

So although he played there 30-plus years ago, fans still remember Adams. You don’t have to dig too far into the franchise record books to find him– he’s fourth in Nuggets history in three-pointers made (630) and attempted (1,841).

It’s unlikely he’ll show up as one of those old-school photos on the ABC broadcast, but his mark has clearly been made.

You can’t tell the story of Hartford basketball without him, and you can’t tell the story of the Denver Nuggets, either.