Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
After 13 seasons and an NBA-record 13 teams, Ish Smith has a title
13 seasons.
An NBA-record 13 different teams.
762 regular-season games.
And finally, Ish Smith has an NBA title.
“Thirteen long years. Hopefully, my journey inspires people,” Smith said in a video posted by the NBA on Monday night. “It’s been great. It’s been fun. I’m happy for all the guys, the whole team. This is where you come together, a true family, and sacrifice yourself. This is what it’s all about. This is what it’s all about.”
Undrafted out of college, after he played four years for Wake Forest, Smith began his NBA journey with the Houston Rockets as an undrafted free agent. That journey took him to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Developmental League, and then to a host of different NBA franchises, including multiple stops with the Philadelphia 76ers and the Washington Wizards:
It was his second stint with the 76ers, during the 2015-16 season, that might have been his most memorable stretch in the NBA. Smith was traded to the 76ers in December of 2015, and started all 50 games for Philadelphia over the rest of the season. During that period of time, Smith recorded a career-high 28 points in a loss to the Toronto Raptors in January, and later that month he had 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in an overtime loss to the New York Knicks.
Smith averaged 14.7 points per game during that 50-game stretch, which still represents a career high.
He was traded to the Denver Nuggets last July along with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, as part of a deal that saw Monté Morris and Will Barton head to Washington. Smith played in 43 games for Denver in the regular season, averaging 9.3 mpg and 2.5 ppg.
Smith saw action in just four of Denver’s playoff games, and had did not play in either the Western Conference Finals or the Finals against the Miami Heat.
But he, finally, has a ring.
