Ollie Among the NBA's Most Traveled

On Dec. 4, 1997, Chucky Brown put on his Phoenix uniform and was ready to head onto the floor in preparation for that night's home game against Golden State.

"People were looking at me funny,'' Brown said. "I was like, 'Why is everybody looking at me like this?'''

Finally, Suns assistant Paul Silas walked up and told Brown he had been traded to Milwaukee, and it might be wise to go pack. Until then, nobody had bothered to tell Brown he had been dealt.

Such is life when you have played for a record number of NBA teams. Brown, who now coaches the D-League's Los Angeles D-Fenders, suited up for 12 teams from 1989-2002, a mark that later would be tied by Tony Massenburg and Jim Jackson.

That record, though, is in jeopardy. Oklahoma City reserve point guard Kevin Ollie has been with 11 teams, and a trade of Ollie by the Feb. 18 deadline could make him a part of NBA history.

Ollie's agent, Bill Neff, doesn't anticipate Ollie, whose primary role is to serve as mentor for young Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, being dealt. But there's no hurry for Ollie, 37, to possibly land in the record book.

"Maybe we will next year,'' Neff said of a new team being found for Ollie.

"I've been able to meet a lot of different people and be in a lot of different organizations and play for a lot of coaches who have different styles. It's been great for me."
- Kevin Ollie Ollie signed with the Thunder last summer as a free agent, and this season played for Oklahoma City for the first time. But he actually didn't get credit for a new team since Ollie spent time in 2002-03 with Seattle, which moved to Oklahoma City before last season.

So Ollie has played in 12 different cities. But he's one shy for that record, too; Massenburg has played in 13 cities, playing for the Grizzlies in Vancouver and Memphis.

"I look at it as great,'' said Ollie, who has no problem being regarded as the most-traveled active player in the NBA. "I've been able to meet a lot of different people and be in a lot of different organizations and play for a lot of coaches who have different styles. It's been great for me. ... I'm glad I'm traveled.''

But does this mean Ollie wants to one day end up being the most-traveled guy in NBA annals?

"If it happens, it happens,'' said Ollie, who also was looked at last summer by Minnesota (which would have been a repeat since played last season for the Timberwolves) and by Charlotte (which could have been a record-tying 12th team) before deciding to jump at a guaranteed contract offer by the Thunder. "Hopefully, a team next year will want me and give me that option to play.''



Ollie has the right agent for that. Neff vows he will be able to find Ollie a job next season.

"I'm the home of the journeyman guy,'' proudly declared the veteran agent.

Indeed Neff is. He represented Brown, who first moved into the record books by playing for Cleveland, the Lakers, New Jersey, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Atlanta, the Charlotte Hornets, San Antonio, Golden State and Sacramento. (If you're scoring at home, Brown somehow missed playing for a team currently in the Northwest Division -- although he had all four divisions covered when he left the NBA in 2002, three years before the league expanded to six.)

Neff currently has as a client point guard Mike Wilks, who has played for eight teams, although Neff noted he was on the roster last season for Orlando and Memphis while missing the entire campaign due to injury. And Neff has point guard Jason Hart, who has been with eight teams.

Both Wilks, 30, and Hart, 31, recently were waived. So either could be joining a ninth team soon, with 10-day contracts allowed to be signed Tuesday.

"We've got two candidates,'' Neff said of Wilks and Hart eventually challenging for the most-teams record. "They're young enough.''

Brown initially set the record when the forward signed with the Kings for his final season of 2001-02. That also enabled him to tie the mark for all pro sports that had been established in 2000 when baseball pitcher Mike "The Nomad'' Morgan joined Arizona, his 12th team.

Massenburg, a forward who played from 1990-92 and 1994-2005, joined the dozen-team party when he went to Sacramento in 2003-04. And Jackson, a guard who played from 1992-2006, got there when he joined the Lakers late in 2005-06.

Role players Brown and Massenburg always have embraced being in the NBA record book for something. But Jackson, who was once the No. 4 pick in the draft and once averaged 25.7 points in an NBA season, bristled in a 2006 interview when asked about joining Brown and Massenburg in history.

"My story is a little different," scoffed Jackson, who sometimes was sent packing because of his attitude. "Mine has a lot more to do with political stuff than playing basketball."

While Jackson never made it to the NBA Finals, Brown, winning with Houston in 1995, and Massenburg, with San Antonio in 2005, both have title rings. And Brown gained cult status for his frequent moving.

Brown was the inspiration for The Chucky Brown Fan Club, with some of its rabid members popping up whenever he played. The group had a website that was active until Brown retired and had members who would bring him "Chucky Brownies'' to eat.

"They saw the hard work I did and they wanted to start a fan club, and I thought it was great,'' said Brown, who averaged 5.9 points in his career. "I wear (sharing the record for most teams) as a badge of honor without question. ... I was ready to go for whoever wanted me, and that's where I wanted to be. If you didn't want me, I didn't want to be there.''

With all of the traveling Brown has done, he considers himself a packing expert. Neff said Brown could be at the airport within an hour whenever he was told he was going to a new team.

"(People) call me for advice about packing because I pack light,'' said Brown, who is putting those skills to additional use in the D-League and wants to one day be an NBA head coach. "You've got to fold your clothes real good first of all and be ready to wash your clothes every two or three days. You never know where you're going to be sent next so I'm always ready to go.''

Such also has been the case for Ollie, who was undrafted out of Connecticut in 1995 and played in the minor leagues before finally making his NBA debut in 1997-98 with Dallas. He since has added Orlando, Sacramento, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Chicago, Indiana, Milwaukee, Seattle/Oklahoma City, Cleveland and Minnesota to his resume.

Once again, if you're scoring at home, Ollie has been with teams in five divisions, missing only the Pacific, though he was once in the training camp of the Pacific's Golden State. Jackson played with teams in all six of the current divisions while Massenburg somehow missed all the teams currently in the Central and Southeast.

"You just try to go where you're wanted,'' Ollie, who is averaging 2.6 points and 1.1 assists and is about to return from a knee injury that has sidelined him since Nov. 22, said of his travels. "I don't take anything for granted. If I'm still around, somebody must like what I'm doing.''

Ollie eventually wants to become a coach, and figures it won't hurt for networking that he's played for 17 different NBA head coaches. Ollie, currently wearing No. 7, has donned seven different NBA uniform numbers

One drawback to moving around so much is Ollie has his wife and two children, ages 10 and 13, stay behind in Hartford, Conn., during the season rather than live with him and possibly get unexpectedly uprooted. After all, Ollie once went on a road trip with Milwaukee to Seattle and ended up staying a lot longer than anticipated.

"We were actually practicing in Seattle, and we were going to play Seattle the next game,'' said Ollie, who has career averages of 3.8 points and 2.3 assists. "Me and Ray Allen were traded (Feb. 20, 2003) to Seattle, and that was kind of crazy to be in a hotel room in the same hotel watching your old team play against your new team (since those in the deal weren't cleared yet to play with their new teams).''

At least Ollie didn't end up dressing out in his Bucks uniform before being told he actually had been traded to the SuperSonics.

Chris Tomasson can be reached at fanhouse.com or on Twitter @christomasson