Maxie The Miner

A Name Born from the Gold Rush

Before there was Rocky the mountain lion prowling the sidelines of Ball Arena, there was Maxie the Miner — a scrappy, grinning prospector who became the first visual identity of the Denver Nuggets franchise. To understand Maxie, you have to understand the name "Nuggets" itself. The franchise changed its name from the Denver Rockets to the Denver Nuggets in 1974, honoring the 19th century Colorado mining boom — a time when people came from all over the country hoping to strike it rich mining gold and silver nuggets. That heritage needed a face, and Maxie the Miner became exactly that.

Birth of a Character

In 1974, in anticipation of moving into the NBA and into the new McNichols Arena, the franchise held a contest to choose a new team nickname. The winning choice was "Nuggets," and their new logo depicted a miner "discovering" an ABA ball. During the Nuggets' final two seasons in the ABA, the team's logo featured this cartoonish miner — known as "Maxie the Miner" — with a large red beard, a pickaxe in one hand, and a red and blue basketball in the other. The red, blue, and white miner was a "Yukon Cornelius"-looking prospector — giddy, leaping in the air, exuding the spirit of someone who had just struck gold. his was a subtle suggestion to Denver residents that their new Nuggets were suddenly different and interesting.

Design & Appearance

The reinvented emblem introduced a humorous character — a blue, red, and white depiction of a bearded miner. Maxie's playful design and bold typography signaled a new era for the team, effectively capturing their spirit of resilience and adaptability. Underneath the leaping figure, "Denver" appeared in red and "Nuggets" in blue. The logo was refined slightly in the late 1970s. The second version of Maxie was drawn in exactly the same style, but with color alterations and emboldened, cleaned-up contours. The red on his clothing and beard grew darker, creating a stronger and brighter image.

Into the NBA

Maxie the Miner stayed with the team when the franchise joined the NBA in 1976 as one of four teams making the transition from the ABA. He remained the face of the franchise through the late 1970s, presiding over some of the most exciting basketball in early Nuggets history — a run featuring stars like David Thompson, Dan Issel, and Alex English. Maxie was eventually replaced by the Rainbow City Skyline logo in 1981, which ushered in the franchise's colorful, disco-era aesthetic that became iconic in its own right.

A Lasting Legacy

Though Maxie's run as the face of the franchise was relatively brief — spanning from 1974 to 1981 — his image never truly left Denver. When the NBA celebrated its 75th anniversary during the 2021–22 season, the Nuggets' special "City" uniform incorporated Maxie the Miner alongside elements from several other eras of the team's history. And perhaps the greatest tribute of all came in 2023. After leading the Nuggets to their first-ever NBA Championship, head coach Michael Malone had a full-color tattoo of Maxie the Miner inked on his upper left arm — with the little prospector holding the Larry O'Brien trophy. Maxie may have never performed halftime stunts or signed autographs for kids, but as the original symbol of Denver Nuggets basketball, he remains a beloved piece of the franchise's soul — a scrappy, joyful miner who struck gold long before the championship banners were hung.