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Top 10 Best NBA Players From Colorado of All Time

Dan Angell
May 04, 2023
5 min read

Given that the Denver Nuggets have represented Colorado since entering the ABA in 1967, you’d expect that the state would have produced more NBA players than it has.

However, the Centennial State hasn’t really produced a ton of top players over the past 75 years, as only 20 NBA players from Colorado have ever played a game in the association.

To put into perspective as to how few NBA players have been born in Colorado, all you have to do is take a look at Jalen Williams’ fledgling career. Williams has played just one season for the Oklahoma City Thunder, yet he already ranks 15th all-time in games played among Colorado-born NBA players.

Still, the state’s NBA history isn’t completely barren, as there have been multiple veterans who have represented Colorado well during their career. Here’s a look at some of the best NBA players from Colorado in league history. And click here to read how to bet on basketball in Colorado.

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Incomplete: Jalen Williams

This one doesn’t have enough data yet, as Williams has only spent one year in the league. But given what he’s already shown with Oklahoma City, you can expect Williams to shoot up this list relatively quickly.

Williams started 62 games as a rookie, averaged 14.1 points per game and got the Thunder within a whisker of making a playoff appearance. At 52.1% from the floor, he’s statistically the best shooter the Centennial State has ever produced to this point in his career.

Obviously, that’s a bit unfair to some of the players who have played for several seasons and proven themselves long-term, so Williams isn’t quite eligible for this list yet. But it’s only a matter of time before him gets on this list if he keeps playing the way he did in 2022-23.

 

  1. Chuck Nevitt

There’s not a ton that you can say about Chuck Nevitt’s career, other than the fact that he was one of the tallest players in NBA history. Nevit didn’t really do much at either end of the floor, never averaging more than seven minutes a game after his rookie season. His height did keep incentivizing teams to give him a chance but being 7’5” only goes so far when you don’t make yourself enough of a presence down low.

Nevitt’s rookie year was his best, as he blocked two shots per game and averaged just under four points per game. Other than that, Nevitt didn’t have a big impact on the NBA in his career, but he did spend 11 seasons in the league.

 

  1. Eddie Gill

Eddie Gill’s not a name that most people will recognize, but he was a name that NBA executives had on speed dial during the 2000s, because he could help teams win games in a pinch. Gill was a good shooter when he got to 15 feet and beyond, as his 3-point percentage of .320 was just a shade lower than his career shooing percentage of .361.

While he wasn’t a good shooter inside of 15 feet, he did a great job hitting foul shots when his team needed it most. For his career, Gill shot 84.7% from the free throw line, second only to Chauncey Billups among NBA players from Colorado. He wore six different NBA uniforms in his career as one of the league’s 12th men, playing for Indiana, Memphis, Portland, New Jersey, Seattle and Milwaukee. He’s been much more stable in his post-playing career, as he’s now a broadcaster for the Pacers.

 

  1. Michael Ruffin

Michael Ruffin had one specific job on the court: Make his teammates better. Ruffin was as far as you could get from a scoring threat, averaging just 1.7 points per game for his career. But he made up for it with his defensive work and his offensive rebounding capabilities, which regularly lengthened his team’s possessions.

For his career, Ruffin finished with 1,632 rebounds over nine seasons, and 729 of those came on the offensive glass. With scorers like Gilbert Arenas on the floor, Ruffin didn’t need to worry about trying to put points on the board. He was free to focus on picking up rebounds and using his 6-foot-9 frame to frustrate opposing offenses.

It worked well for three seasons in Washington, as the Wizards ended an eight-year playoff drought in their first year in the nation’s capital and made the playoffs in all three of their years there. After starting his career with two horrible teams in Chicago, Ruffin’s work regularly ended in postseason play, as four of his final five teams reached the playoffs.

 

  1. Glen Gondriezk

Gondriezk was a smaller version of Ruffin with faster hands, as he ranks second all time in steals among NBA players from Colorado with 485. Considering he only played in 435 games in his career, he’s right up there with all-time Colorado leader Chauncey Billups, as both players averaged just over one steal per game. He also proved an effective offensive rebounder, grabbing 730 offensive boards over his six years in the league.

Unlike Gill, he stuck around in his career, only playing for two teams. One of those was the Nuggets, with whom he spent four years to close out his career. His best season came in 1981-82, when he topped five rebounds per game, shot better than 50% from the floor and averaged nearly two assists per game.

 

  1. Derrick White

Pull up this list in a few years, and White might be a lot closer to the top. He’s already had a fine start to his career, averaging double digit points for five consecutive seasons split between San Antonio and Boston. White proved that he could be a key contributor when Marcus Smart was injured this season, as he helped keep the Celtics afloat in February and kept Boston on track for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Given how much the Celtics gave up getting White, it’s clear that Boston expects him to be a strong contributor for years to come. He distributes the ball well, scores when he needs to and reliably converts from the line when he gets there. This past season, he sank 38% of his shots from 3-point range and has the Celtics in position to make a run at the Eastern Conference and the NBA Finals. By the end of this decade, if White keeps on his current path, he’s likely to be one of the five best NBA players from Colorado.

 

  1. Darrick Martin

Martin’s mainly ahead of White because of longevity, as he played 13 years in the NBA and served as a coach on the floor for his teams. He rarely made bad decisions with the ball, turning the ball over just over one time per game while averaging just under three assists per game. He was far more of a steal threat at UCLA than he was in the pros, but he still made himself a tough defensive assignment for opponents with 340 steals to his name.

Martin was never a scorer, but he got the ball where it needed to be on offense and harassed opponents well on defense. Those are the kinds of players you need coming off the bench to make you a contender.

 

  1. Jason Smith

Smith could have become much more effective had he been able to stay healthy. As it was, he only made it through one full season playing in all 82 games and only played in more than 60 games in five of his 12 seasons in the league. He proved most effective between 2013 and 2015, which he divided between New Orleans and New York, because he actually stayed healthy for more than a year during that stretch and topped 20 minutes per game both years.

When he was healthy, he made himself a solid center with range, hitting more than 40 percent of his shots from behind the arc. He ranks third among NBA players from Colorado with 2,075 rebounds, and had he been able to stay healthy, he’d likely rank even higher. He’s also the all-time leader in blocked shots from the Centennial State.

 

  1. Chuck Williams

Williams gets a little overlooked because most of his contributions came during the ABA days. Those stats count in his NBA career, but they also mean that Williams’ best years came before he played in the NBA. Williams didn’t arrive in the NBA until the Nuggets made the move from the ABA, but in either league, he proved an effective distributor of the ball.

Over eight seasons, Williams registered 2,869 assists while averaging 10.8 points per game in a more free-wheeling era where teams focused on putting up numbers and there were plenty of shots to go around. Having a player like Williams made sure the ball got where it needed to go and your stars could shoot like the stars they were. He wasn’t a big shooter, but he saw the floor so well that he didn’t need to be a shooter. When it came to getting the ball in the right spot, there weren’t many NBA players from Colorado who were better.

 

  1. Joe Kleine

Kleine was the classic compiler, blessed with good health, able to contribute for many years and able to do a couple of good things well enough to keep himself on an NBA roster. Kleine was clearly not starter material because he didn’t dominate any category enough to take over games, but he made for a great sixth man because he filled a role by grabbing rebounds and scoring when needed.

In 1998, he played on Michael Jordan’s final Chicago team and picked up his ring, a solid end to a 15-year career that saw Kleine more than prove he belonged.

 

  1. Chauncey Billups

With lists like these, there’s usually at least some question as to who the top player on the list is. Not so with this list, as Chauncey Billups is far and away the best player the Centennial State has ever produced.

It wasn’t just that Billups spent 17 years in the league and had time to put up big numbers year after year. He’s a genuine star who could score from all over the floor, played great defense, made good decisions with the ball and got a few rebounds here and there despite his position. Plus, his foul shooting was so good that he was almost automatic at the end of games.

He made five NBA All-Star teams, earned his ring in 2004 (and getting named Finals MVP), got his number retired by the Detroit Pistons and represented Colorado well from 1997 to 2014. There’s just no disputing it: Billups proved to be the best player by far that Colorado has ever produced. Any list of the best NBA players from Colorado of all-time just wouldn’t look right without him in the top spot.

If you want to bet on NBA in Colorado, you can check here for the best Colorado sportsbook promos and betting offers.

Credits on Featured Image: Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Dan Angell
May 04, 2023
5 min

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