These Five NBA Players Hold The Record For Playing For The Most Teams
Last but not least, Joe Smith (no relation to Ish) was the highest-drafted player in this group of ultimate NBA journeymen. Much like Tony Massenburg before him, Smith was a Maryland big man who played power forward and center in the NBA, but he entered the league with much more fanfare as the top pick in the 1995 draft. Initially, he seemed to justify the Golden State Warriors' decision to pick him over guys like Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, and high school sensation Kevin Garnett (yes, that's got to hurt), but as his career progressed, he proved to be almost as average as his name suggested. After his Warriors stint ended with a midseason trade to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1997-98 campaign, Smith played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Atlanta Hawks, New Jersey Nets, and Los Angeles Lakers between February 1999 and 2011.
The 6-foot-10-inch Smith, unfortunately, is mostly known these days for the shenanigans the Timberwolves pulled when they signed him after the 1998-99 NBA lockout for what seemed like pennies on the dollar. Per USA Today's For the Win, the plan was for Minnesota to acquire his Bird rights by signing him to three consecutive one-year contracts for little money, then using those Bird rights to exceed the salary cap by inking him to a much more lucrative (allegedly $86 million) multi-year deal. The NBA saw this as illegal and punished the Timberwolves by voiding Smith's contracts, forfeiting the team's first-round picks for the next five years, and fining them $3.5 million.
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