It is no secret that one of the major differences between the days of old in the NBA and the current times we are in is the power that lies in the players’ hands. At any moment, a star in this league can force himself out of any situation he sees fit, and teams can ship off a player in a trade, waive them, or flat-out release them whenever they see fit as well. What has resulted is a period of time in which star players, role players, and journeymen alike are on the move at a much higher rate than ever before. Obviously, teams are much more likely to hang onto their franchise players, but even some, like Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving, have been dealt in league-altering trades over the last few years.
Today, in complete contrast to the most loyal players ever, the discussion will not be about the star players or even the elite role players who have occasionally changed teams. These players are the true journeymen throughout NBA history that have worn the most uniforms out of any other players to make it to the league. We will dive into their best seasons, contracts, and their careers as a whole as they made their way from city to city over the years. Whether these journeymen were traded numerous times or signed a series of one-year deals, they never had the time to settle down in one spot before they were on the move once more.
These are the players who have played for the most NBA teams in history.
T10. Mark Bryant – 10 Teams
Teams: Trail Blazers, Suns, Cavaliers, Rockets, Bulls, Spurs, Mavericks, Sixers, Nuggets, Celtics
In 1988, the Portland Trail Blazers made Mark Bryant their 21st overall pick of the NBA Draft. Bryant was a 6’9’’ big man who played his college basketball at Seton Hall where he averaged 16.2 PPG and 7.7 RPG over four years. Bryant would spend the first seven seasons of his career in Portland where he stayed mostly in a role off the bench and averaged 4.9 PPG and 3.5 RPG over the course of 431 games played.
Bryant would go on to have decent one-year stints with the Rockets in 1996 with 8.6 PPG and 4.9 RPG over 71 games played and in Phoenix in 1997 with 9.3 PPG and 5.2 RPG in 41 games played. Bryant was a part of some major deals in NBA history, including the 1996 trade that sent him, Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, and Chucky Brown to Phoenix for Charles Barkley and the 1999 trade that sent him to Chicago in exchange for Luc Longley. In his 15-year NBA career, Bryant made a total of $17.56 million, with his highest-earning seasons coming from 1998 thru 2001, making just over $2 million per season.
T10. Earl Boykins – 10 Teams
Teams: Nets, Cavaliers, Magic, Clippers, Warriors, Nuggets, Bucks, Bobcats, Wizards, Rockets
Standing at just 5’5’’ tall, the fact that Earl Boykins played 13 seasons in the NBA is one of the most impressive achievements that never gets talked about. Boykins went undrafted out of Eastern Michigan but made his NBA debut in 1999 for the New Jersey Nets. After just five games with New Jersey, Boykins was waived but quickly picked up by the Cavaliers for the rest of the season. Over the next several seasons, Boykins made several stops in Orlando, Cleveland again, Los Angeles, And Golden State and remained relatively ineffective through most of it, averaging just 5.9 PPG and 2.5 APG over those five years.
Boykins landed in Denver for the 2003-04 season and slowly became an effective bench player for the Nuggets over the next two and a half years. Boykins averaged 12.1 PPG and 4.0 APG with the Nuggets over three and a half seasons and reached the playoffs every season he made an appearance. In 2007, Boykins averaged a career-high 14.6 PPG and 4.4 APG in 66 games with both the Nuggets and Bucks. In his career, Boykins made $16.54 million, earning the bulk of his money during the glory days from 2004 thru 2007.
T10. Lou Amundson – 10 Teams
Teams: Jazz, Sixers, Suns, Warriors, Pacers, Timberwolves, Bulls, Hornets, Cavaliers, Knicks
Lou Amundson is another undrafted player in NBA history who played 10 seasons or longer for 10 or more teams over the course of his career. Amundson was a product of UNLV, where he played all four years and averaged 14.3 PPG and 8.6 RPG as a senior. Amundson made his NBA debut with the Utah Jazz in February 2007 but lasted just one game before being waived and picked up by the Sixers on a 10-day contract. Philadelphia kept Amundson for 16 games of the following season as well.
From 2009 thru 2011, Amundson had the best stretch of his career with the Suns and Warriors. He averaged 4.4 PPG and 4.0 RPG during this time, playing in 207 games with just seven starts. Over the next nine seasons, Amundson would play for eight different teams before calling it a career in 2016 after 70 games with the Knicks. Amundson made a total of $11.86 million in his career with the Warriors and Pacers, rewarding him with one-year deals worth over $2 million in 2011 and 2012.
T6. Mike James – 11 Teams
Teams: Heat, Celtics, Pistons, Bucks, Rockets, Raptors, Timberwolves, Hornets, Wizards, Bulls, Mavericks
Mike James is the third undrafted NBA player to make his appearance on this list, playing 12 seasons in the NBA for 11 different teams. James made his NBA debut with the Miami Heat in December 2001, where he would impress them enough in 16 games to earn a one-year deal for the 2002-03 season as well. Over the next two seasons, James would appear with four different teams and averaged 10.5 PPG and 3.9 APG over that span. He would collect an NBA championship in 2004 after appearing in 26 games for the Pistons as well.
In 2005-06 with Toronto, James would record one of the biggest anomalies in NBA history. James would start 79 games for the Raptors and averaged a career-high 20.3 PPG as well as 5.8 APG as the team would win just 27 games that season. James would have one more 10.1 PPG season with the Timberwolves in 2006-07 but never returned to the form that he reached with Toronto that one magical season. James would play six more seasons with six different teams before calling it quits in 2014 at the age of 38.
T6. Kevin Ollie – 11 Teams
Teams: Sixers, Cavaliers, SuperSonics, Bucks, Bulls, Timberwolves, Pacers, Magic, Nets, Mavericks, Kings
Our fourth undrafted player to make this list is Kevin Ollie, a guard out of UCONN who made his debut for the Dallas Mavericks in 1997. Ollie would play 16 games for Dallas that season along with 19 games for the Orlando Magic as well. Ollie would bounce around the league over the next few seasons, mostly in a bench role averaging less than 2.0 PPG and less than 2.0 APG.
Somehow, Ollie remained valuable enough to continue to earn contracts for 13 seasons in the NBA. In 2002-03 with the Bucks and SuperSonics, Ollie had his best individual season when he averaged 6.5 PPG and 3.5 APG in 82 games played. Ollie was involved with multiple big trades, including the deal that sent Gary Payton to the Bucks and Ray Allen to Seattle in 2003 and the trade that landed Metta World Peace in Indiana in 2002. Ollie would earn $20.13 million in his career which included one-year deals worth over $3 million with the 76ers in 2006 and 2007.
T6. Jeff Green – 11 Teams
Teams: SuperSonics, Celtics, Grizzlies, Clippers, Magic, Cavaliers, Wizards, Jazz, Rockets, Nets, Nuggets
Back in 2007, the Boston Celtics made Jeff Green their fifth overall selection in the NBA Draft. Green’s first moment in the NBA saw him traded to Seattle for Ray Allen as the Celtics were building their Big 3. In his first four seasons with the SuperSonics and Thunder, Green averaged 14.2 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 289 games played. In 2010-11, Green would be dealt back to Boston where he would enjoy another successful three and a half seasons averaging 14.6 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 222 games.
Over the last nine seasons, Green has made appearances with nine different teams and has remained a steady double-digit scorer during that time. In 2021-22, Green spent his first season with Denver and played 75 games averaging 10.3 PPG. In 2022-23, the journey would be worth it as Green held down his bench role and helped the Nuggets not only reach their first NBA Finals in team history but win their first NBA championship in team history. In his career, Green has made just over $80 million but the feeling of going through an emotional rollercoaster over the last 15 years culminating in an NBA championship does not have a price tag.
T2. Joe Smith – 12 Teams
Teams: Warriors, Sixers, Timberwolves, Pistons, Bucks, Nuggets, Bulls, Cavaliers, Thunder, Hawks, Nets, Lakers
Joe Smith was the No. 1 overall pick of the Golden State Warriors in the 1995 NBA Draft. Smith spent the first two and a half seasons of his career with Golden State, where he averaged 15.3 PPG and 8.7 RPG as a rookie and 17.0 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 1.2 BOG over the course of 211 games. In 1998, Smith would be traded to the 76ers along with Brian Shaw in exchange for Jim Jackson and Clarence Weatherspoon.
This would be the first time of seven career trades Smith was a part of in his career. For the first 10 years of his career, Smith averaged 12.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 1.0 BPG with five different teams. Over the course of the last six seasons in his career, Smith was a part of seven more teams and averaged just 7.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 0.5 BPG. Smith would last a total of 16 seasons in the NBA and make a total of $61. 22 million receiving the biggest paydays from the Sixers and Bucks. Smith retired at the end of the 2011 season at 35 years old after a career as a journeyman that proved to be extremely fruitful.
T2. Jim Jackson – 12 Teams
Teams: Mavericks, Nets, Sixers, Warriors, Trail Blazers, Hawks, Cavaliers, Heat, Kings, Rockets, Suns, Lakers
When Jim Jackson was drafted fourth overall by the Dallas Mavericks in 1992, he was supposed to be the missing piece that helped carry them to an NBA championship. Along with Jamal Mashburn and Jason Kidd, Jackson helped form the “Three J’s” that Dallas had built during the early 90s. After one contract holdout as a rookie and beef with teammates, Jackson lasted just four and a half seasons in Dallas before being shipped out of town. Jackson averaged 19.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 3.8 APG with the Mavericks in that time, easily the best stretch of his career.
From 1997 thru 2002, Jackson would remain a starter wherever he went but was dealing with injuries at the same time. Still, he averaged 13.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 3.4 APG over the course of those six seasons. Jackson would play for four more seasons with the Kings, Rockets, Suns, and Lakers before calling it a career at 35 years old in 2006. Jackson would accumulate $31.25 million in career earnings over the course of 14 seasons and is now one of the most knowledgeable and best announcers in the game today.
T2. Tony Massenburg – 12 Teams
Teams: Spurs, Hornets, Celtics, Warriors, Clippers, Raptors, Sixers, Nets, Grizzlies, Rockets, Jazz, Kings
Tony Massenburg was never supposed to have a 13-year NBA career when the Spurs drafted him late in the second round of the 1990 NBA Draft. Massenburg played just 53 games with the Spurs over his first two seasons before being waived in 1991. A month later, he signed with the Hornets, where he would play just three games in 1992 and would also play seven games each with the Celtics and Warriors that season.
Massenburg’s best season would come in 1995-96 when he averaged 10.0 PPG and 6.5 RPG in 54 games with the Raptors and Nets. He would also have a decent season in 1998-99 with the Grizzlies when he averaged 11.2 PPG and 6.0 RPG in 43 games played. In 2005, Massenburg retired from the NBA, but not before capturing an NBA championship with the Spurs and earning $12.09 million over the course of his career.
T2. Chucky Brown – 12 Teams
Teams: Cavaliers, Nets, Lakers, Mavericks, Rockets, Suns, Bucks, Hawks, Hornets, Spurs, Warriors, Kings
‘’Wild Thing” Chucky Brown was a second-round pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1989 NBA Draft after a solid college career at NC State. Brown would have a decent start to his career in Cleveland, averaging 7.2 PPG over the first two and a half seasons of his career with the team. In 1995 and 1996, Brown earned a championship ring with the Houston Rockets averaging 6.0 PPG and 4.0 RPG off the bench.
Chucky Brown, just like Mark Bryant, as we discussed earlier, was another player involved in the deal that sent Charles Barkley to the Rockets from Phoenix. Over the last five seasons of his career, Brown would play for eight different teams averaging just 4.8 PPG and 2.5 RPG overall. Brown made out well for a second-round pick during the time he played, earning $4 million in his career from 1991 through 2000. His salary beyond that is unclear, but anything more is a bonus when you weren’t even supposed to play 13 seasons in the NBA.
1. Ish Smith – 13 Teams
Teams: Rockets, Grizzlies, Warriors, Magic, Bucks, Suns, Thunder, Sixers, Pelicans, Pistons, Wizards, Hornets, Nuggets
The player who has played for the most NBA teams in his career is an undrafted “legend” and journeyman Ish Smith. As a current member of the Denver Nuggets, Smith is an NBA champion after traveling all over the NBA for 13 seasons. Smith got his start with the Rockets and Grizzlies in 2010-11, playing 73 games between the two teams but averaging just above 2.0 PPG for each team. The journey was not any easier for the next few years as Smith was either traded or waived by 11 teams by 2015-16.
In 2016-17, Smith found a steady home for the first time in his career with the Detroit Pistons. Smith would play for Detroit for three seasons averaging 9.8 PPG and 4.5 APG in 219 games played. In 2022-23, Smith played 43 games for the Denver Nuggets and even appeared in four playoff games for an average of 3.0 minutes. Despite his constant movement around the NBA, Smith carved out a healthy financial cushion for himself, earning $40.48 million in his career, including $4.5 million for his time with Denver this year which ended in being called an NBA champion.
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