Chris
06-24-2005, 01:02 AM
Journeyman seeks first title
Travelin’ Man
By Brad Friedman
When one ponders the greatest players in NBA history never to win a championship, players such as Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley come to mind.
Certainly not Tony Massenburg. Perhaps he should.
http://www.nba.com/media/massenburg_188_050602.jpg
Massenburg's played for 12 different teams, but there's one thing he hasn't done.
Glenn James/NBAE/Getty Images
In his own way, the 6-9 San Antonio Spurs forward is prolific. Massenburg's played for an NBA record 12 franchises, a mark only matched by a journeyman of equal greatness, Chucky Brown. Brown won a title with Houston in 1995, giving him bragging rights over his counterpart.
Massenburg, however, has a chance to even the score. The Spurs advanced Wednesday to the NBA Finals, and the University of Maryland grad may finally acquire his first ring. It'd be a fitting end to a NBA title trek that began in San Antonio 15 years ago, when Massenburg broke into the league as the Spurs' second round pick.
Title aside, Massenburg, now 37-years-old, has experienced just about everything one can in an NBA career. He's been traded three times, picked in an expansion draft, signed numerous 10-day contracts, went on hiatuses to Italy and Spain and even was with the Grizzlies when they relocated from Vancouver to Memphis.
Then there was the time he played a total of 90 minutes in a season for four different teams.
"Actually I was here (with San Antonio) my second year, and I got released, I think in January or sometime around there," Massenburg told the website InsideHoops.com this season. "Did three ten-days with Golden State, Boston and Charlotte I think it was. So that's four teams in one year. Next two years I played in Europe, and came back and played a year with the Clippers. Went in the expansion draft to Toronto the following season.
"Got traded from there in February to Philly. New Jersey the next year. Vancouver for a couple of years. Houston for one year. Got hurt in Houston and only played about ten games. Went back to Vancouver for a couple of years. Then Utah, Sacramento. There you go."
To his credit, Massenburg's continued to persist even though he's never found a place to call home.
"When you've been doing it after 15 years, you must be doing something right," he continued. "People aren't going to just keep passing you around if you can't bring anything to the court, so. There are a lot of guys that have played on a lot of teams that haven't played 15 years, so, it's just a part of the business, that's how I look at it."
Not surprisingly, Massenburg has accumulated plenty of stories from his basketball journeys.
While with the Clippers in 1994-95, "The hot spot, believe it or not, was TGI Friday's," he told SI.com. "Magic Johnson used to throw a party every Friday."
On the Vancouver Grizzlies, he said, "Nobody was hot on Canada, mainly because of the taxes. And there are things you can't get in Vancouver, like Cap'n Crunch."
And with Utah in 2002-03, Massenburg said, "I got to know Karl [Malone] pretty well. We went hunting and snowmobiling a couple of times. He's got a huge ranch compound. It's ridiculous."
With the Spurs, the story only seems to be about capturing a championship. San Antonio ran over the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals, 4-1, and have home court advantage in The Finals.
"We're focused on winning this year," he told InsideHoops.com. "Trying to win a championship. Anything else is sort of pushed off to the side, because I think everybody is focused on that."
If a championship ring looks to be on the horizon, it should be noted that even great superstars can't always get their teams over the hump in the NBA Finals.
In the 1993, Barkley's Phoenix Suns lost to the Chicago Bulls in six games. Ewing had an opportunity to capture a championship in 1994 and again in 1999, but saw his Knicks fall to the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs, respectively. Just last season, Karl Malone left his beloved Utah Jazz for a shot at a title with Shaq, Kobe and Payton in Los Angeles. The Lakers fell in five games to Detroit.
Travelin’ Man
By Brad Friedman
When one ponders the greatest players in NBA history never to win a championship, players such as Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley come to mind.
Certainly not Tony Massenburg. Perhaps he should.
http://www.nba.com/media/massenburg_188_050602.jpg
Massenburg's played for 12 different teams, but there's one thing he hasn't done.
Glenn James/NBAE/Getty Images
In his own way, the 6-9 San Antonio Spurs forward is prolific. Massenburg's played for an NBA record 12 franchises, a mark only matched by a journeyman of equal greatness, Chucky Brown. Brown won a title with Houston in 1995, giving him bragging rights over his counterpart.
Massenburg, however, has a chance to even the score. The Spurs advanced Wednesday to the NBA Finals, and the University of Maryland grad may finally acquire his first ring. It'd be a fitting end to a NBA title trek that began in San Antonio 15 years ago, when Massenburg broke into the league as the Spurs' second round pick.
Title aside, Massenburg, now 37-years-old, has experienced just about everything one can in an NBA career. He's been traded three times, picked in an expansion draft, signed numerous 10-day contracts, went on hiatuses to Italy and Spain and even was with the Grizzlies when they relocated from Vancouver to Memphis.
Then there was the time he played a total of 90 minutes in a season for four different teams.
"Actually I was here (with San Antonio) my second year, and I got released, I think in January or sometime around there," Massenburg told the website InsideHoops.com this season. "Did three ten-days with Golden State, Boston and Charlotte I think it was. So that's four teams in one year. Next two years I played in Europe, and came back and played a year with the Clippers. Went in the expansion draft to Toronto the following season.
"Got traded from there in February to Philly. New Jersey the next year. Vancouver for a couple of years. Houston for one year. Got hurt in Houston and only played about ten games. Went back to Vancouver for a couple of years. Then Utah, Sacramento. There you go."
To his credit, Massenburg's continued to persist even though he's never found a place to call home.
"When you've been doing it after 15 years, you must be doing something right," he continued. "People aren't going to just keep passing you around if you can't bring anything to the court, so. There are a lot of guys that have played on a lot of teams that haven't played 15 years, so, it's just a part of the business, that's how I look at it."
Not surprisingly, Massenburg has accumulated plenty of stories from his basketball journeys.
While with the Clippers in 1994-95, "The hot spot, believe it or not, was TGI Friday's," he told SI.com. "Magic Johnson used to throw a party every Friday."
On the Vancouver Grizzlies, he said, "Nobody was hot on Canada, mainly because of the taxes. And there are things you can't get in Vancouver, like Cap'n Crunch."
And with Utah in 2002-03, Massenburg said, "I got to know Karl [Malone] pretty well. We went hunting and snowmobiling a couple of times. He's got a huge ranch compound. It's ridiculous."
With the Spurs, the story only seems to be about capturing a championship. San Antonio ran over the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals, 4-1, and have home court advantage in The Finals.
"We're focused on winning this year," he told InsideHoops.com. "Trying to win a championship. Anything else is sort of pushed off to the side, because I think everybody is focused on that."
If a championship ring looks to be on the horizon, it should be noted that even great superstars can't always get their teams over the hump in the NBA Finals.
In the 1993, Barkley's Phoenix Suns lost to the Chicago Bulls in six games. Ewing had an opportunity to capture a championship in 1994 and again in 1999, but saw his Knicks fall to the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs, respectively. Just last season, Karl Malone left his beloved Utah Jazz for a shot at a title with Shaq, Kobe and Payton in Los Angeles. The Lakers fell in five games to Detroit.