Michael Ruffin

Michael David Ruffin (born (1977-01-21)January 21, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. At 6'8" and 248 lbs, he played as a forward/center.

After playing college basketball at the University of Tulsa, where he studied chemical engineering, Ruffin was drafted in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. He has played for the Bulls, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Utah Jazz, the Washington Wizards, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Portland Trail Blazers. 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.

Michael Ruffin committed a costly error for his team in the dying seconds of a March 30, 2007 game against the Toronto Raptors. With his Washington Wizards up 109–106 with 3.8 seconds left, Ruffin intercepted a Raptors half-court inbounds pass, only to heave the ball in the air to try to allow the remaining time left on the clock to run out, but the ball was not thrown high enough and the Raptors' Morris Peterson caught the ball on its descent and made a 31-foot three-point shot at the buzzer to tie the score and send the game into overtime. The play made Shaqtin' A Fool: Old School edition. The Raptors went on to defeat the Wizards, 123–118.

On February 17, 2009, Ruffin was sent to the Sacramento Kings and then to the Portland Trail Blazers for Ike Diogu shortly thereafter in a 3-team trade.

In 2010, Ruffin became coach of the ABA's Colorado Kings. However, he resumed his career in Spain playing for Obradoiro CAB.

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

As of 2012, he was living in Phoenix, Arizona, working for ASQ and coaching basketball.