Most NBA Franchises Played For in a Career
Ish Smith holds the NBA record with 13 different franchises.
Smith broke the previous record when he appeared for the Denver Nuggets
during the 2022-23 season.
Before Smith reached 13 teams, the NBA record was 12 franchises, shared
by Chucky Brown, Jim Jackson, Tony Massenburg and Joe Smith.
| Teams |
Player |
Seasons |
Franchises |
| 13 |
Ish Smith |
2010-24 |
HOU, MEM, GST, ORL, MIL, PHO, OKC, PHI, NOH/NOP,
DET, WAS, CHA, DEN
|
| 12 |
Chucky Brown |
1989-02 |
CLE, LAL, NJN, DAL, HOU, PHO, MIL, ATL, CHA, SAN, GST, SAC
|
| 12 |
Jim Jackson |
1992-06 |
DAL, NJN, PHI, GST, POR, ATL, CLE, MIA, SAC, HOU, PHO, LAL
|
| 12 |
Tony Massenburg |
1990-05 |
SAN, CHA, BOS, GST, LAC, TOR, PHI, NJN, VAN/MEM, HOU, UTA, SAC
|
| 12 |
Joe Smith |
1995-11 |
GST, PHI, MIN, DET, MIL, DEN, CHI, CLE, OKC, ATL, NJN, LAL
|
Important: A franchise is counted once even if it
changed cities or names during a player's time with the organization.
For example, Vancouver/Memphis represents one franchise.
The historical lists below also contain players from the BAA, ABA,
ABL and other leagues covered by NBAHoopsOnline, so they should not
always be interpreted as NBA-only records.
10 Teams
| Player |
Seasons |
Teams |
| Mark Bryant |
1988-03 |
POR, HOU, PHO, CHI, CLE, DAL, SAN, PHI, DEN, BOS |
| Damon Jones |
1998-08 |
NJN, BOS, GST, DAL, VAN, DET, SAC, MIL, MIA, CLE |
| Kevin Ollie |
1997-08 |
DAL, ORL, SAC, PHI, NJN, CHI, IND, MIL, SEA, CLE |
| Aaron Williams |
1993-08 |
UTA, MIL, DEN, VAN, SEA, WAS, NJN, TOR, NOK, LAC |
| Mike James |
2001-12 |
MIA, BOS, DET, MIL, HOU, TOR, MIN, NOH, WAS, CHI |
Career Record Notes
Ish Smith: Played for an NBA-record 13 franchises
during a 14-season career. His teams were Houston, Memphis, Golden
State, Orlando, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia,
New Orleans, Detroit, Washington, Charlotte and Denver.
Damon Jones: Played for 10 different teams during
10 NBA seasons.
Kevin Ollie: Played for 10 teams during his first
eight NBA seasons.
Don MacLean and Randy Livingston: Each played for
seven different teams in seven consecutive seasons without playing
for multiple teams during any one of those seasons.
Most Franchises Played For in a Single Season
The existing NBAHoopsOnline historical database lists
Bobby Jones as playing for five franchises during
the 2007-08 season: Denver, Memphis, Houston, Miami and San Antonio.
He appeared in 47 games that season.
| Teams |
Season |
Player |
Franchises |
Games |
| 5 |
2007-08 |
Bobby Jones |
DEN, MEM, HOU, MIA, SAN |
47 |
Four Teams in One Season
| Season |
Player |
Teams |
Games |
| 1968-69 |
Steve Chubin |
LAS, MNM, IND, NYN |
77 |
| 1969-70 |
Steve Chubin |
NYN, PTC, IND, KEN |
72 |
| 1970-71 |
Rich Johnson |
BOS, FLA, CAR, PTC |
39 |
| 1985-86 |
Rod Higgins |
SEA, SAN, NJN, CHI |
30 |
| 1991-92 |
Tony Massenburg |
SAN, CHA, BOS, GST |
18 |
| 1992-93 |
Alex Stivrins |
ATL, LAC, MIL, PHO |
19 |
| 1968-69 |
Ken Wilburn |
CHI, MNM, NYN, DEN |
51 |
About the Data
This page includes historical professional basketball franchises from
multiple leagues and eras. Team abbreviations therefore include
defunct NBA and BAA franchises as well as ABA, ABL and other teams.
Franchise relocations and name changes may be grouped together when
they represent the same organization. The career section and
single-season section should therefore be read as franchise records,
not simply as a count of different city or team names.
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