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Denver Nuggets A to Z: George Zidek

On Feb. 20, 1997, Allan Bristow was a busy man.

Eight days after taking over as vice president of basketball operations for the Denver Nuggets, Bristow presided over a whirlwind of activity at the NBA trade-deadline.

As part of a roster overhaul, Darvin Ham, Mark Jackson and LaSalle Thompson were sent to Indiana, while Ricky Pierce was dealt to Charlotte. When the dust settled, the Nuggets received Jerome Allen, Vincent Askew, Anthony Goldwire, Eddie Johnson, George Zidek and two future second-round draft picks.

As we wrap up our A-to-Z look at memorable and notable players in Nuggets history, Z is for Zidek.

Zidek, a 7-foot center out of UCLA, was selected by Charlotte with the 22nd overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft. He averaged 3.5 points and 2.3 rebounds for the Hornets before he and Goldwire were traded to Denver.

After playing sparingly in 22 games with the Nuggets, Zidek was waived on Feb. 28, 1998.

Three years later, the Nuggets signed Zendon Hamilton as a free agent, giving them their only other player whose first or last name starts with Z.

Hamilton averaged 6.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in his lone season in Denver in 2001-02.

Game to remember, March 30, 2002

While Zidek scored in double figures just twice with the Nuggets, Hamilton produced several big games for Denver. He scored a career-high 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds to help the Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls 100-84 at the United Center on March 30, 2002.