Michael David Ruffin (born January 21, 1977) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player currently working as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). At 6'8" and 248 lbs, he played as a forward/

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

Basketball career

After playing

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at the University of Tulsa, where he studied

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

, Ruffin was drafted in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft by the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

. He has played for the Bulls, the Philadelphia 76ers, the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

, the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

, the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

, and the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

. He averaged 1.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game through his NBA career and is considered to be a defensive presence on the court. Ruffin's best statistical season came with the 2000-01 Bulls, where tallied career best averages in rebounding (5.8) and scoring (2.6). On March 30, 2007, Ruffin was part of a dubious blooper that indirectly cost the Wizards a game. Up 109-106 on the Toronto Raptors, with less than four seconds remaining in regulation, Ruffin intercepted an inbound pass. In an attempt to run the clock out, Ruffin tossed the ball in the air, but it landed in the hands of Toronto's

Morris Peterson Morris Russell Peterson Jr. (born August 26, 1977) is an American retired professional basketball player who played eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Michigan State University, where in ...

, who sank a game-tying three-pointer as time expired. Forced into overtime, Washington lost the game 123-118. On February 17, 2009, Ruffin was sent to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

and then to the

for

Ike Diogu Ikechukwu Somtochukwu Diogu (born September 11, 1983) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for Piratas de La Guaira of the Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto in Venezuela. Family and early life Diogu's parents, natives of Nig ...

shortly thereafter in a 3-team trade. In 2010, Ruffin became coach of the ABA's Colorado Kings.Denver Nuggets sign nine-year veteran forward Michael Ruffin - ESPN
/ref> However, he resumed his career in Spain playing for

Obradoiro CAB Obradoiro Clube de Amigos do Baloncesto (lit, Obradoiro Friends of Basketball Club), also known as Monbus Obradoiro for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team based in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. They currently compete in th ...

. After two years out of the NBA, Ruffin was signed by the league's Denver Nuggets in mid-December 2011. However, he did not make the team's opening day roster.

Post-NBA career

As of 2012, Ruffin was living in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

, working for ASQ and coaching basketball. Ruffin joined the New Orleans Pelicans as Player Development Coach in October 2014. In January 2021, Ruffin became an assistant coach for the

Fort Wayne Mad Ants The Fort Wayne Mad Ants are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and are affiliated with the Indiana Pacers. The team plays their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The Mad ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

. On September 24, 2021, Ruffin joined the Phoenix Suns as an assistant coach.Michael Ruffin latest assistant added to Phoenix Suns coaching staff
/ref>

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 71 , , 6 , , 13.7 , , .420 , , .000 , , .489 , , 3.5 , , .6 , , .4 , , .4 , , 2.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 45 , , 16 , , 19.5 , , .444 , , .000 , , .506 , , 5.5 , , 0.9 , , .6 , , .8 , , 2.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, 15 , , 0 , , 11.3 , , .269 , , .000 , , .250 , , 3.4 , , .3 , , .3 , , .5 , , 1.1 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, 41 , , 23 , , 17.9 , , .325 , , .000 , , .421 , , 5.0 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .5 , , 2.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 79 , , 7 , , 16.0 , , .414 , , .000 , , .433 , , 4.2 , , .8 , , .5 , , .5 , , 1.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 76 , , 4 , , 13.3 , , .442 , , .000 , , .500 , , 3.6 , , .4 , , .4 , , .4 , , 1.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 30 , , 0 , , 9.0 , , .278 , , .000 , , .368 , , 2.1 , , .2 , , .2 , , .3 , , .6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, 46 , , 2 , , 13.7 , , .532 , , .000 , , .397 , , 4.0 , , .5 , , .7 , , .4 , , 2.0 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, 11 , , 0 , , 3.2 , , .286 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .3 , , .1 , , .5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 414 , , 58 , , 14.4 , , .407 , , .000 , , .459 , , 3.9 , , .6 , , .5 , , .4 , , 1.7

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 2005 , align="left" ,

, 9 , , 0 , , 17.3 , , .700 , , .000 , , .563 , , 4.1 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .3 , , 2.6 , - , align="left" , 2006 , align="left" ,

, 6 , , 0 , , 11.7 , , .500 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.7 , , .7 , , .2 , , .3 , , .3 , - , align="left" , 2007 , align="left" ,

, 4 , , 0 , , 7.0 , , .333 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.3 , , .0 , , .8 , , .0 , , .5 , - , align="left" , 2009 , align="left" ,

, 1 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .500 , , 5.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 20 , , 0 , , 13.0 , , .563 , , .000 , , .500 , , 3.4 , , .7 , , .4 , , .3 , , 1.4

References

External links

NBA.com Profile - Michael Ruffin
*
Spanish League profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruffin, Michael 1977 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from Denver Bàsquet Manresa players Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls draft picks Chicago Bulls players Fort Wayne Mad Ants coaches Liga ACB players Medalists at the 1997 Summer Universiade Milwaukee Bucks players New Orleans Pelicans assistant coaches Obradoiro CAB players Philadelphia 76ers players Phoenix Suns assistant coaches Portland Trail Blazers players Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Denver Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball players Utah Jazz players Washington Wizards players Universiade medalists in basketball Universiade gold medalists for the United States