It might just be my favorite record in NBA history. The most teams ever played for by one player. It’s just such a peculiar record. You are clearly good enough to play in the NBA, yet no one seems to want you or your particular skill set. So what do you do? You keep playing your hardest and hope you find a home somewhere, I suppose.
That is what Ish Smith has been doing going on 13 seasons now. Today he broke the record for most teams played for (provided he plays at least one minute for Denver this season). I wanted to take a quick look at Ish’s journey and educate you poor losers who don’t have Basketball-Reference pinned to your homepage.
Ish played for 9 teams in his first 6 seasons in the league, and switched teams 10 times in that span (he went back to play for a former team). Imagine what that is like. Moving 10 times in 6 years. Did he even own furniture? Did he just rent all of his furniture? Do you think he ever even hung a painting on the wall in any apartment? Was he a minimalist living out of a bindle like a mid-century hobo?
Not only did he move 10 times, but almost every move was damn-near across the country. He was never traded to the same state, or even a bordering state, once. Do you know how many miles he moved in those 6 seasons? Of course you don’t, because you probably have a healthy functioning life that you like to live. But not me. Not this guy. I know exactly how many miles.
- Winston-Salem (Wake Forest) to Houston: 1,113 miles
- Houston to Memphis: 568 miles
- Memphis to Oakland: 2,083 miles
- Oakland to Orlando: 2,844 miles
- Orlando to Milwaukee: 1,245 miles
- Milwaukee to Phoenix; 1,877 miles
- Phoenix to OKC: 1,006 miles
- OKC to Philly: 1,386 miles
- Philly to New Orleans: 1,221 miles
- New Orleans BACK to Philly: 1,221 miles
Now, you can double check my math on this. But I did MY math on Excel so if it is incorrect you can take it up with ole Willy Boy Gates himself. By my calculations that is 14,564 MILES that Ish moved in 6 years. Can you imagine? No, really. Think about it. Could you possibly handle living a life that volatile?
Imagine being scared that you could wake up any morning to a text telling you that you have to pack up your bindle, yet again, to move across the country, yet again. That is a grind that I am glad that I will never (almost certainly, but you never know I suppose) have to see in my life. He did all for the love of basketball and the opportunity to keep playing on the sport’s biggest stage. Incredible resilience if you ask this fella.
To be fair, I was not paying much attention to Ish during this time period. But I have been watching Ish Smith closely and observing his journey for about 6 years now, ever since I first checked the NBA record for “most teams played for” back sometime in 2016. I was astounded to find that 4 different players had played for 12 teams. I thought that was so crazy. Then something else caught my eye on that list. There were a few active players on it, none closer to the record than Ish.
When I checked that list of names, Ish had just signed with the Pistons, making that his 10th team played for (in 7 years of playing). I thought he was going to absolutely demolish the record. But to my dismay, and to the credit of Ish, he found a home in Detroit where he played 3 full seasons for the team. I thought after his third season there that the record was slipping away from him. His contract was about to expire, he was a 31 year old undrafted free agent and I didn’t know how many teams were gonna be knocking on his door.
Then I heard the news. Ish signed with the Wizards in free agency. The team count had officially gone up to 11! I was ecstatic. The record was back in play. But, very similar to Detroit, Ish carved out a role for himself in Washington and played 2 full seasons for them. I began to get discouraged about the record, but I still kept a close eye on Ish. I was excited because when he entered free agency last summer he was averaging 12–7–6 per 36 for the Wizards. Surely he could land a position as a backup PG somewhere.
And you know what? That’s exactly what he did.
He signed a deal with the Charlotte Hornets last summer. There it was. Ish had become the fifth player in NBA history to play for 12 teams. I was so pumped. And i began to have a newfound confidence that the door was still wide open for Ish to break the record.
Then on a frigid day this past February I got a Woj alert:
My heart skipped a beat. I was so excited. Then devastation came over me. Ish was being traded… back to Washington. DAMMIT!! This record that I have been following for 6 years was so close to being broken, only for him to go back to a former team. I was an upset little baby boy metaphorically weeping on my insides. He finished out the season with the Wizards and was on contract with them for next season as well. I was convinced the record was dead in its tracks seeing as he was about to turn 34 and was well liked by Washington… or so I thought.
But that brings us to today:
Ish Smith has been traded to the Denver Nuggets. 13 teams in what will be 13 seasons. The record is fucking BROKEN. When I saw the news this morning my heart skipped a beat yet again. I saw that he was traded to Denver, and I have spent so much time on his Bball Reference page I was very certain that he had not played for them before. But alas, 12 teams is hard to keep track of so I did my research and low and behold. He has never put on a Denver jersey.
I did a victory dance in my guest bedroom/office. Hey! Are you listening to me? I, a grownish man-child, stood up and danced in the comfort of my home because of a trade that had nothing to do with my favorite team, even tangentially. That’s how excited I was about this record, and the day has finally come. What a payoff after 6 years.
So I don’t want this blog to be misconstrued. This is not meant to mock or make fun of Ish whatsoever. Kudos to him on his journey. He has never given up, no matter how many times he has been traded or signed with other teams. By all accounts he just shows up and tries his best until he goes to another team and I find that to be very admirable. And because of his attitude and work ethic, he has made almost $40 million, and is set to make another 4 and change this year. God bless newly record-breaking Ishmael Larry Smith.
