Marcus Camby is a 4-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team.
The Denver Nuggets have had a strong history of shot blockers, with elite defenders in Dikembe Mutombo and Marcus Camby leading the way. See who else makes the cut for Denver’s best shot blockers.
Mutombo was selected by the Nuggets with the No. 4 overall pick of the 1991 Draft following. He made the All-Star team as a rookie and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting. Three years later, he was named the 1995 Defensive Player of the Year – his first of four times earning the award. During his five seasons with the Nuggets, he averaged 3.8 blocks per game, leading the league three times and peaking at 4.5 blocks in 1995-96. Mutombo’s career-high for most blocks in a game (12) came in a Nuggets’ win over the Los Angeles Clippers on April 18, 1993. It was one of his 13 career performances with double-digit blocks.
Camby was the No. 2 overall pick by the Toronto Raptors in 1996. He spent his first two seasons with Toronto, followed that up with five seasons with the Knicks, and then played six seasons for the Nuggets. He won Defensive Player of the Year while playing for Denver during the 2006-07 season. During his Nuggets tenure, he averaged 3.0 blocks, capping out at 3.6 blocks per game in 2007-08. He reached a career-high 11 blocks in a game twice, once with the Nuggets and once with the Raptors. He recorded four games in his career with double-digit blocks.
After being selected with the 40th overall pick in 1978, Cooper played two seasons in Golden State, one in Utah, one in Dallas and two in Portland before making his way to Denver. During his five years with the Nuggets, the big man averaged 2.4 blocks per game. He had a single-season high of 2.9 blocks per game in 1985-86. Cooper’s single-game high in blocks (10) was set in 1988.
Jones spent his first two seasons with the Nuggets in the ABA, in 1974-75 and 1975-76. His next two seasons with the Nuggets were in the NBA following the merger. The UNC product, nicknamed “The Secretary of Defense,” was a five-time All-Star in his 12-year career – three of those nods being with Denver. In his four years with the Nuggets, Jones averaged 1.9 blocks, with a high of 2.2 blocks in his second season. Jones reached a single-game high of eight blocks during a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1978. It was one of his 22 performances with at least five swats.
Chris “Birdman” Andersen made it to the NBA in 2001 after going undrafted out of Blinn College in 1999. He had two stints with the Nuggets – one from 2001-2004, and another from 2008-2012. In total, Andersen played seven seasons and 378 appearances with the organization, averaging 1.7 blocks in 17.4 minutes per game. His best season came in 2008-00 when he averaged 2.5 blocks per game. He set a career-high in blocks with eight in a win over the Utah Jazz on April 2, 2009. It was one of his 28 games with at least five blocks.
Arguably one of the greatest Nuggets of all time, English was more known for his offensive game, leading the NBA in scoring with 28.4 points per game in 1982-83 but was a strong defender as well. The eight-time All-Star averaged 0.7 blocks in his 11 seasons with the Nuggets, averaging a career-high 1.5 blocks in both 1981-82 and 1982-83. English set a single-game career high of six blocks during an overtime victory over the Indiana Pacers on December 28, 1982.
