You don’t play as long as Ish Smith has — 13 NBA seasons, and counting — if you don’t have almost stupid recall. Play names, teammates, their families, your apartment room number after playing for 13 different teams, the most by one player in league history. But it’s always good to practice.
At courtside Saturday, before his Denver Nuggets play the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the 2023 NBA finals, I told Smith that I’d looked up the career stats of every one of the hundreds of players he’s played with over the years. There were — there are — 36 players that he’s been on teams with since 2010 that had either won a ring on other teams before they played with him, or went on to win titles after their time with him.
GO DEEPER
After 13 teams in 13 seasons, the Nuggets' Ish Smith has a real shot at an elusive first ring
How many could he name? To be fair, I went year by year, naming the team/teams he was on during each season.
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Let’s roll. (This interview was lightly edited for style and clarity.)
Let’s start with your first NBA team, Houston (2010-11).
Shane Battier got one.
Yup. Two, actually, with Miami (2012 and 2013).
Who else was on that team? (Pause.) Kyle Lowry got one.
Me: Yep (with Toronto, in 2019). That’s two, and that’s it. Okay, Memphis (2011-12) is next.
Ooh, did we get anybody on Memphis’ team?
There’s a bunch. Which surprised me.
Can’t use Shane again (Battier was traded to Memphis along with Smith for DeMarre Carroll, Hasheem Thabeet and a 2013 first-round pick). I know ZBo (Zach Randolph) didn’t get one. Darrell Arthur didn’t get one. Mike Conley, no?
No.
Greivis (Vásquez) didn’t get one. Oh. Marc Gasol. Marc got one.
Yup. With Toronto (in 2019).
Sam Young didn’t get one. Did he get one?
No. Sam’s from D.C., though.
Dang, who else got one? I’ve got to think this through. Who else got one? (Hamed) Haddadi didn’t get one. O.J. (Mayo) didn’t get one. Who else?
There’s three other guys, not including Shane.
Tony Allen, no. No – Tony got one with Boston!
There you go. Stay on that line.
Leon Powe got one.
Yes. One more.
It was a starter, or coming off the bench?
Coming off the bench. Oh, wait: You mean starting for you, or starting somewhere else?
Starting for Memphis.
He … did start for Memphis. Well, he didn’t start for them then. I just gave it to you.
Jason Williams. JWill came and left. That was my guy.
Okay, Golden State (2011-12). This should be easy.
All right, so that’s Steph, Klay.
Four more.
Dorell Wright.
Yes (with Miami in 2006). Three more.
David Lee.
That’s four.
Who else was on that team? Don’t tell me. Hold on.
You see him a lot. These days, you see him a lot, pontificating.
It wasn’t Perk.
Well, Perk is on the list, but further down.
Not RJ?
Yes, Richard Jefferson. With the Cavs (2016). And there’s one more, which you’ll never get.
Not (Andris) Biedrinš.
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No. Brandon Rush.
Oh, that’s my guy! He did get one.
Okay, Orlando (2012-13). Shouldn’t be that difficult. Only two.
Uh, wasn’t Chris Duhon. Wasn’t Jameer (Nelson). Wasn’t JJ (Redick). Big Baby (Davis)?
Yup, Big Baby (Boston, 2008).
Tall, he’s big? Brandon Bass?
No.
He’s a big? Who was it?
Dwight (Howard, with the Lakers, 2020)!
Oh, he did get it. Well, I guess, he didn’t get it like…this sounds bad. He was a huge piece, but he wasn’t Dwight Dwight. And it was in the bubble, so, I guess…
Milwaukee (2013-14). And it’s only one guy.
Don’t tell me. (Andrew) Bogut? No, Bogut was gone (from the Bucks) by then. Come on Ish, think. It wasn’t (Mike) Dunleavy. Who was it?
Beno (Udrih, Spurs, 2005 and 2007).
Yeah, he got one with San Antonio. He got two.
All right. Phoenix (2013-14).
Oh, Markieff (Morris). There’s not a lot in Phoenix.
There’s four – three more.
Channing (Frye).
Right (in 2016, with Cleveland).
P.J. (Tucker)
Right (2021, Milwaukee). One more.
They just traded Bled (Eric Bledsoe).
No, not Bled. But same position, though.
As Bled. Oh, Goran (Dragić).
Nope.
Oh, Leandro (Barbosa).
Yep (Golden State, 2015). All right, OKC (2014-15). Two are easy; one, you may not get.
KD.
KD (Warriors, 2017 and 2018). I’ll give you Perk (Boston, 2008).
Dion Waiters.
Yes (Lakers, 2020). How did you get that?
You know what I started doing; I started thinking about the bubble.
Okay; onto the 76ers (2015-16). Just one guy. This could be hard, just because of the circumstances.
We were all young. JaVale (McGee)?
JaVale (Warriors, 2017 and 2018; Lakers in 2020)! Wow. Great pull. He only played six games in Philly that season.
Me and JaVale, we sat beside each other. We were on the plane together. Me and JaVale, we used to sit beside each other. He was like, ‘Man, I just got traded from here to over there.’ I think they were just dumping money. Philly needed to balance (the team’s salary floor) so they wouldn’t get fined, like being below the cap. JaVale was like, I’m just going to be here, I’m going to chill, I’m going to hoop.’ Played six games, played well. And, all of a sudden, I looked, and he got bought out. He went to Golden State, got a ring, got another one with the Lakers. That was my guy. The nicest, funniest dude.
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New Orleans (first part of 2015-16).
AD.
Yup (Lakers, 2020). And, Perk, again. There’s two more.
My guy, Norris Cole. Knocked us out of the playoffs – I mean, out of the freaking NCAA tournament (in 2009). Cleveland State.
Norris Cole (Miami, 2012, 2013).
It’s one more?
One more.
I know I know this. Oh. Jrue Holiday.
Right (with the Bucks, in ’21). Okay, there was no one with Philly when you got traded back back (second half of ’15-’16). So, now, Detroit (2016-17). You already mentioned Beno.
Beno. We didn’t have a lot. Aron Baynes?
That’s two (Baynes won with the Spurs in 2014). One more. And I’m going to be very disappointed if you don’t get him.
That puts on the pressure for real. Can’t tell me.
Just think for a second.
It ain’t Boban (Marjonović). Not Tobias Harris. Eric Moreland?
Wow! Yes (with Toronto, in 2019). How did you get that? Technically, Eric was on the Pistons the next season (2017-18), but I have to give it to you. But one more from this (2016-17) season. This is a layup!
Wing or guard?
Wing.
Not Stanley Johnson. Oh; Pope.
Yes (Lakers, 2020). Okay, so your second season in Detroit (2017-18), Eric was the only one, and you got it. Now we’re at your third year (2018-19) with the Pistons. There’s just one guy. You may get this, but it’s not the first person you may think of.
Before I went to Washington?
Before you went to Washington.
Ah, wasn’t Blake (Griffin). Oh – José.
Calderón? No.
Big?
Yup.
Oh, Zaza (Pachulia).
Right (Warriors, 2017, 2018). So, up to Washington (2019-20). This blew my mind. Four dudes that got rings on that team.
Ian (Mahinmi).
That’s one (Dallas, 2011).
Ah, my goodness. Ian. Don’t tell me. It was weird that year. Like, we were beating good teams and losing to bad teams. We beat Boston, and we go to Orlando, and they beat us by 25. And remember that year, we had a chance to make it to the bubble, and all we had to do was win like two games, and we’d make it to the playoffs. Dāvis (Bertāns). Did he win a championship?
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No. Three guards.
Oh, Gary Payton.
Yes (Warriors, 2022). You may not get the other two.
All right; who were they?
Chris Chiozza (also with Golden State in ’22), and…Jordan McRae.
Oh; J-Mac got one with Cleveland (2016)!
Yep. Now, your second year in D.C., 2020-21, there was just one guy, and he was barely there.
The second year? Was it RoLo (Robin Lopez)?
No. Good call though, since Brook got one in Milwaukee that year. But, he was a big.
Not (Daniel) Gafford.
No.
Who was it?
Jordan Bell (Warriors, 2018).
Wow. He wasn’t there … you know, they brought him in it to literally have a cup of coffee.
Yep. Five games. After that, you signed with Charlotte, and played there the first half of 2021-22, but didn’t have any teammates who got a ring. Then you got traded back to Washington at the deadline in ’22. KCP was on that team, and there was one more guy with some hardware there by then.
Oh, my goodness; I’m going brain freeze. Oh, Kuz.
Kyle Kuzma (Lakers, 2020).
Hey, man, hopefully it’ll be me, Reggie (Jackson) now, Thomas Bryant. We joke around that it’s like the Washington Wizards around here. TB, myself, KCP.
So, out of the three dozen guys he’s played with that already had or went on to get championship hardware, Smith was able to correctly guess 28, a very respectable .778 guess percentage, considering the number of guys. Massive shoutout/tip o’ the hat to basketball-reference.com, whose seemingly inexhaustible database is must-have for anyone trying to seriously look at the history of the game.
(Photo of Ish Smith: Garrett W. Ellwood / NBAE via Getty Images)
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