NBA: Ranking the 30 best players to win NBA Finals with 2 or more teams
By Corey Rausch
Best NBA players to win NBA Finals with two or more teams: 16. Sam Cassell
Another player that has transitioned to coaching, Sam Cassell may have one of the most meme-able celebrations of all time. For anyone who does not know what I am referring to, pause reading this, Google it and then come back to enjoy this section with a better understanding of just what a personality that Sam Cassell was.
Cassell was a bench player for the Houston Rockets’ teams that won back-to-back championships in the mid-1990s. His numbers improved in the postseason and he averaged 9.4 points and 11.0 points per game in the two title seasons while shooting 37.8 percent and 40.0 percent from distance respectively.
Cassell was traded to the Phoenix Suns in the previously mentioned Charles Barkley trade where he played part of the final season of his rookie contract before entering free agency. He was traded again to the Dallas Mavericks as part of the deal that landed the Suns with their next star, Jason Kidd. This was not the last trade for Cassell this year, as after only 16 games, he was shipped to the New Jersey Nets. In his first full season with the Nets Cassell averaged 19.6 points and 8.0 rebounds but was injured early the next season before being traded again, this time to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Cassell would spend four seasons in Milwaukee (including an appearance in the Conference Finals) and was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves just prior to the 2003-2004 season. The Timberwolves made their only Conference Finals appearance in team history and Sam Cassell made his lone All-Star appearance. He was also named to the second-team All-NBA. He would play two seasons in Minnesota and then was traded to the LA Clippers where he played two and a half seasons before being waived. He would go on to join the Boston Celtics for the stretch run of their much-celebrated 2008 championship run.