NBA looking to cut into Nuggets' homecourt edge

For as long as professional sports have been in Denver, altitude has been debated for its perceived advantage to franchises in the Mile High City. It may also be part of the reason that the NBA ultimately tinkers with visiting teams' scheduling around the Denver Nuggets.

The league discussed the issue at the summer meetings following years of complaints from visiting players and coaches, according to the Denver Post's Chris Dempsey.

"We'll see how this new scheduling works out," Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd said last week, after a one-point loss in Denver. "But they are trying."

As the numbers from 2001 to 2014 indicate, the Nuggets and the Utah Jazz (like Denver, playing at an altitude of over 4,200 feet) had the fifth- and sixth-best home winning percentage in the NBA, respectively. However, the league's attempt to go easier on visitors to the Rockies appears to be about more than thin air.

Denver and Salt Lake City are the only NBA franchises located in the Mountain time zone, which when added to travel length can be problematic for teams coming from the Pacific coast on back-to-backs, as they lose an hour.

There's a broader discussion at play here about the idiosyncrasies of the NBA schedule in general. Back-to-backs are hated by virtually everyone, but with an 82-game schedule, they are something that can only be reduced by stretching the season longer.

Nuggets fans may lament the idea of losing a perceived advantage, but some, like Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy, have shot down the altitude theory anyway. Similarly, some Toronto Raptors fans were upset when the team moved away from its 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday start times last season - which some believed gave the Raps an edge thanks to the Canadian metropolis' Saturday nightlife, known to be a favorite in NBA circles.

Still, Nuggets coach Michael Malone summarized the Denver view well.

"I didn't like it when I had to come here," he said. "But I love it now."