A year after leg fracture, Nuggets guard Collin Gillespie is healthy and ready to go

Every minute Collin Gillespie was on the practice court inside Ball Arena felt like a sigh of relief.

The Nuggets guard hasn’t played in a live basketball game in a year due to a leg fracture, so the moments spent sprinting down the floor with Jamal Murray, guarding second-round pick Jalen Pickett and working on his 3-point stroke during summer league practices were a blessing.

Nothing was guaranteed for Gillespie when Denver announced last July that he was out indefinitely after breaking his leg in a pickup game at his alma mater, Villanova. He was an undrafted rookie on a two-way contract and previously tore his MCL near the end of the Wildcats’ 2021 season. Yet the Nuggets kept Gillespie around, and now he is ready to finally suit up for Denver at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

“When I got injured, I was like ‘Man, this is not good,’” Gillespie said. “But it just tells you about the organization (and) what kind of people they are. It’s a special organization. I was extremely grateful that they stuck with me.”

Gillespie recalled how he fractured his left leg like it happened yesterday. He thought a simple game would help with his conditioning, but a player dove into him, breaking his tibia-fibula and dislocating his ankle.

“It was a weird play,” Gillespie said. “I felt bad for the kid who did it because he was upset. But I don’t want anybody diving at my legs anymore.”

Gillespie, who played five seasons at Villanova, said the recovery process took longer than expected. He thought he would return in six to nine months. “Everybody’s body heals differently,” he said.

Mental recovery was just as important as the physical one. Gillespie had to believe he would return to full strength while trusting his body to handle basketball and workout routines that were muscle memory before the injury.

“You learn a lot about yourself,” he said. “I was able to grow physically (and) mentally. Hopefully, it puts me in a better spot going into next season.”

With the Nuggets’ first summer league game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, Gillespie said he’s “healthy and ready to go.” He has said the team, which features Pickett, first-round pick Julian Strawther and second-year wing Peyton Watson, is a competitive group that pushes each other at practice.

The Nuggets summer league games will be important for Gillespie and Pickett, as the team experiments with their backcourt depth. Gillespie is expected to be a two-way player who’s used regularly, per a league source. With the Nuggets losing Bruce Brown to Indiana in free agency, Gillespie, who shot 38.7% from the 3-point line in college, could find a role within the rotation if things go right.

“I’m excited to play,” Gillespie, an NCAA National and NBA champion, said. “I’ve been working out for a while, but nothing translates to game speed and being able to play live.”

Nuggets assistant John Beckett, who has assumed head coaching duties for summer league, called Gillespie and Pickett a pair of pit bulls because they never back down. “I’m happy they are on our side,” Beckett said while praising Gillespie and Pickett’s high IQs.