Vince Boryla, “Second Golden Age” died age 89
Vince Boryla hold passed away on Easter Sunday at the age of 89.
Boryla often referred to as the “Second Golden Age” of Denver Nuggets basketball.
Boryla, graduated from the University of Denver in 1949 and played five seasons at small forward for the New York Knicks from 1949 – 1954.
Boryla, was one to nine consecutive playoff appearances, two 50-plus win seasons and one Western Conference Finals appearance.
In two 50-plus win seasons and that lone conference finals appearance would not have been possible had it not been for one of the best trades in Nuggets history, orchestrated by a short-tenured general manager named Vince Boryla who, interestingly, had served as the franchise’s first-ever general manager 17 years earlier.
Boryla was hired to be the first-ever general manager of the ABA’s Denver Larks – which became the Denver Rockets the current Nuggets predecessor named after then owner J. William Ringsby’s Rocket Truck Lines.
Nicknamed “Moose” Boryla’s original Denver connection came via the Air Force as he was stationed at Denver’s Lowry Air Force Base in the late 1940s after playing a few seasons in college at Notre Dame.
He was also a member of the 1948 US Olympic Team that won the gold medal in London and played with the original AAU Denver Nuggets in 1948.
At age 89 passed away early Easter Sunday with family and friends, according to sources.
RIP NBA Legend!!!
