This Black History Month, CBS Colorado is Elevating Black Voices -- and Kyle Speller's is one of the most recognizable in the state. Not just for how it sounds, but for how he uses it when the arena lights are off.
If you've been to a Nuggets game at Ball Arena in Denver, you know the voice ... from the booming introductions, the call-and-response chants, and the iconic: "LET'S GOOOOO!"
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Public address announcer Kyle Speller hypes up the crowd at Ball Arena in Denver on Nov. 17, 2025. AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images
For Speller, the Nuggets public address announcer, the microphone is only one part of his mission.
"I wear multiple hats," Speller said. "I'm also an associate pastor. By day, I'm a middle school guidance counselor. I serve as the school's athletic director. Boys basketball assistant coach. Girls basketball head coach. I'm constantly pouring into people."
Speller says his path didn't begin in professional sports. It began in ministry.
"I always say it was all God," he said. "I was a part of a basketball team -- it was a prison ministry basketball team."
Speller started doing player introductions, not realizing he was practicing for the role that would later define him.
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CBS Colorado's Tori Mason interviews Denver Nuggets annoucer Kyle Speller. CBS
Then the Nuggets held an open call.
"The assignment was, 'If you were the public address announcer for the Nuggets, how would you do? Please send us your rendition of the player introductions,'" he said.
Speller recorded his submission in minutes at the Comcast Media Center in Littleton. It was mailed on a CD.
"They said mine was the only one that they liked," he said. "They brought me in and I've been here ever since."
Now, he's in his 21st season.
Speller is the first Black public address announcer for a major professional sports team in Colorado.
"I wasn't even thinking about it," he said. "I was just so excited to be here. It didn't even hit me until years later."
Speller's "arena voice" is instantly recognizable -- but he says his real voice shows up in everyday moments, especially when young people need guidance.
"I'm always trying to speak to their future self," he said. "I want to leave the world better than I found it."
That mindset, he said, is rooted in legacy -- even when he may never see the results.
"I may not see the fruits of my labor. That's not up to me," he said. "But my job is to get the job done when I do see those opportunities."
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Kyle Speller
As a counselor and coach, Speller said he often meets kids who feel unheard -- or unsure if they even have a voice worth using.
He wants kids to understand they don't need to become someone else. They need to become themselves.
"We don't need another Nikola. We don't need another Jamal," he said, referring to Denver All-Stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. "We need you, whoever you are. You've been uniquely designed. You have a purpose."
Speller said seeing Black leaders in his own life helped shape the man he became -- from how someone wore their suit to how they led a room, to how they treated people at every level.
"It is extremely important," he said, describing why it matters for young Black kids to see people who look like them in visible roles. "That was invaluable for me. So I know it's invaluable for our young people as well."
Off the court he's also the team chaplain, powered by faith.
"Everything that I do is really for an audience of one," he said. "The only person that I'm really trying to impress is my heavenly Father."
Despite being the voice that commands a packed arena, Speller said he gets pregame jitters before every game.
"I have an outgoing personality, but I am shy!" he said. "If I'm in a room with people that I just don't know, I might stand in the corner."
Whether he's announcing at Ball Arena, out in the community or mentoring students, Speller says the goal is the same: "Leave it better than I found it. And make an impact."