The Nuggets entered the National Basketball League (NBL) for the first time in 1990. After finishing in the top six in five of their first eight seasons, and making the semi-finals three times in that span, the Nuggets finished in the bottom four in their next 14 seasons, including being perennial wooden spooners. Following a tumultuous 2008 season, where the Nuggets collected their fourth consecutive wooden spoon and had mass player turnover throughout the year, Basketball Otago withdrew the Nuggets from the 2009 season, citing financial concerns. They returned to the league in 2010 and subsequently finished with a winless record (0–18), becoming just the third team in NBL history to finish a season without a win (joining the 1998 Northland Suns and the 2009 Taranaki Mountainairs). The Nuggets also had a 33-game losing streak that spanned April 2008 to May 2011.