Best NBA journeyman ever?

[KCattheStripe]

See, I don't think a journeyman should be considered for the Hall of Fame.

Why not?  Most people in here think a stat hound team wrecker like Iverson is a lock. 

I'd sooner nominate a multiple champion journeyman. 

My point was that if the phrase "journeyman"-- which means someone who is skilled in a craft but not a master-- is attached to you it should by definition preclude you from the Hall of Fame.

I don't see it that way.  I think of it as a mercenary (journeyman) vs. a franchise player.  The journeyman can be just as good...just not as permanent.  It takes a lot of self- confidence to forgo long guaranteed contracts and shop yourself around...

But that's not what the word means.

[thirstyboots18]

See, I don't think a journeyman should be considered for the Hall of Fame.

Why not?  Most people in here think a stat hound team wrecker like Iverson is a lock. 

I'd sooner nominate a multiple champion journeyman. 

My point was that if the phrase "journeyman"-- which means someone who is skilled in a craft but not a master-- is attached to you it should by definition preclude you from the Hall of Fame.

I don't see it that way.  I think of it as a mercenary (journeyman) vs. a franchise player.  The journeyman can be just as good...just not as permanent.  It takes a lot of self- confidence to forgo long guaranteed contracts and shop yourself around...

But that's not what the word means.

OK...you are right.   

[mgent]

See, I don't think a journeyman should be considered for the Hall of Fame.

Why not?  Most people in here think a stat hound team wrecker like Iverson is a lock. 

I'd sooner nominate a multiple champion journeyman. 

My point was that if the phrase "journeyman"-- which means someone who is skilled in a craft but not a master-- is attached to you it should by definition preclude you from the Hall of Fame.

I don't see it that way.  I think of it as a mercenary (journeyman) vs. a franchise player.  The journeyman can be just as good...just not as permanent.  It takes a lot of self- confidence to forgo long guaranteed contracts and shop yourself around...

But that's not what the word means.

I don't think she's talking about a master of basketball but a master of one team.  As in a "jack of all teams, yet master to none."  Someone who was able to contribute to different franchises but never focused completely on one and became a "master" of that "guild."

[KCattheStripe]

See, I don't think a journeyman should be considered for the Hall of Fame.

Why not?  Most people in here think a stat hound team wrecker like Iverson is a lock. 

I'd sooner nominate a multiple champion journeyman. 

My point was that if the phrase "journeyman"-- which means someone who is skilled in a craft but not a master-- is attached to you it should by definition preclude you from the Hall of Fame.

I don't see it that way.  I think of it as a mercenary (journeyman) vs. a franchise player.  The journeyman can be just as good...just not as permanent.  It takes a lot of self- confidence to forgo long guaranteed contracts and shop yourself around...

But that's not what the word means.

I don't think she's talking about a master of basketball but a master of one team.  As in a "jack of all teams, yet master to none."  Someone who was able to contribute to different franchises but never focused completely on one and became a "master" of that "guild."

OK, without getting to wadded up in medieval nomenclature, one could master a skill but not run a guild. A journeyman is someone whose skills were good enough to wander from place to place for periodic employment-- ala James Posey or Robert Horry-- but was by no means considered a master of their craft.

[cdif911]

Reggie Evans is a monster rebounder - has only played for 4 teams but played for Denver and Seattle in two separate stints.  Nowhere near the best, but a solid player

I used to think it would be amazing to follow around a journeyman player for a year and write a bio on him and his season

Paul Shirley's Can I keep My Jersey is a pretty good autobiographical chronicle of such an experience

[wahz]

I haven't read all the posts but my own way of thinking about this would be a key roll player who made a huge difference on already talented teams. Who could be a starter or a key bench guy or as his career evolved, both.

1.Robert Horry
2.Paul Silas
3.Dennis Rodman
4.James Posey

But here is where I probably go to far using too big of a star

1. DJ if you allow him to count. Made huge difference on 3 teams but not the key guy

[wahz]

had to play for 5 teams? So journeyman doesn't mean key cog guy who made key difference in a few teams but anyone good to great who bounced around that much more? well I don't agree with the definition, but sure Shaq is the winner or Posey if we want journeyman. If we want future predictions how about:

LeBron

[Edgar]

 

marion

[xmuscularghandix]

Well, Joe Smith played in 12 different teams. By best do you mean the best player? Because Joe Smith was a bust.

I'd say Shaq, then, I guess.

Is 12 the record? Must be close ... To google!

Tied with Chucky Brown, Tony Massenburg, and Jim Jackson.  Who remembers Massenburg's incredibly short stint in Boston?

Is this taking into consideration that like 4 teams traded away Quentin Richardson in the same offseason?

[xmuscularghandix]

6 teams, but played for Miami twice, so we can call it 7.

[freshinthehouse]

To me, journeymen fit into 3 catagories:  Gun for hire types (Dale Ellis, Eddie Johnson), lunchbucket types (Bo Outlaw, Brian Skinner), and benchwarmer types (Joe Wolf, Jack Haley).  Guys like Shaq are just great players who happened to play for a bunch of teams.  He doesn't fit the journeyman mold.

[Prof. Clutch]

Well, he only played for four teams, but I consider Robert Horry to have been a journeyman.  He wasn't a star, but he found his niche on every team he played for and made big contributions on seven different Championship squads.

[thirstyboots18]

According to Webster's a journeyman is:  1.  a worker who has learned his trade;  2.  an average or mediocre  performer.

Since this sounds less than flattering, I remove my name from support of Shaq to this list.  I guess I would go with a rookie or project.  How about Semih Erden?

What criteria did the original poster did the OP have in mind? Newguy?

[CeltsAcumen]

Ill go with Del Curry, 6 teams from 1986-2002.  Nice career.

[LooseCannon]

Journeyman usually denotes a competent professional who is no longer a novice but is not an elite.  In sports, a journeyman is usually a guy who plays for multiple teams (or bounces around from promoter to promoter in an individual sport like boxing) but who never earns a fat contract.

The criteria I would use for the purpose of this might be something like played ten or more years for at least four teams without spending more than three years in a row with any one team and never making more than $4 million in a season.

Never earning a fat contract is one of the hallmarks of a journeyman player.  http://www.basketball-reference.com has salary data from the mid-80s or so.  I suggest linking to a player's stat page if you're going to bring him up in the discussion.