Just dreadful: The worst teams in NBA history

Getting trounced consistently throughout the course of an entire NBA season is no fun. It’s one thing to have a down year, but certain teams have been so bad that they’ve found themselves with a special place in NBA history. We’ll take a look at the worst teams of all-time, revisiting the bumps along the way. All statistics are sourced from Basketball Reference.

It probably makes sense to start with a team that set the NBA record for longest losing streak. The Pistons dropped 28 consecutive games during the 2023-2024 season, which became a running joke. Detroit guard Cade Cunningham told CNN at the time, “It’s been weighing on us heavy everywhere we go for two months, which is unreal for it to have been that long.”

The streak arguably could have gone on longer, had it not been for some good fortune. Detroit beat the Toronto Raptors to snap the streak, who found themselves shorthanded after a major trade. It wasn’t supposed to end that way, as the Pistons were actually trying to make the playoffs. Yahoo Sports wrote in December 2023 that Detroit might have been the worst team to try (to be good).

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On the other end of the spectrum, the 76ers of the mid 2010s were actively trying to bottom out to secure premier draft picks. The 2016 edition of the team was arguably the most abominable. Heading into the final month of the season, they had a chance to set a record for the worst mark in NBA history, but they were just able to avoid that embarrassment.

The process was a plan laid out by former Philadelphia general manager Sam Hinkie, who figured that being at the top of the draft routinely was the only way to truly rebuild a franchise. The 2016 team had players acquired from that strategy like Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor, but they did not pan out. Philadelphia would select Ben Simmons with the first pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

The Bobcats “clinched” the worst winning percentage in the NBA in 2012, which is territory that no team ever wants to approach. WCNC’s website wrote, “The 2012 Bobcats had the league’s worst offense and fourth-worst defense in terms of points per game. Charlotte was plagued with an inept roster and a long list of injuries that led to their record-setting season.”

Their leading scorer that year was Gerald Henderson, who averaged 15.1 points per game. Head coach Paul Silas told Slam Magazine, “The season itself was a long haul for all of us—upstairs and downstairs. Being the worst team in the history of the game is not something you cherish.” Michael Jordan was the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats at the time, and perhaps they could have used him on the court.

While the Bobcats have the distinction of owning the worst winning percentage in NBA history, the worst record of all time belongs to the 1973 76ers. Forward Tom Van Arsdale told ESPN, “Most of us were embarrassed. We’re all in the same boat. So what did we do? We stuck together.” Van Arsdale was one of the lucky ones, as he only arrived in the middle of the season.

As one might imagine, Philadelphia did not get off to a very good start during the 1972-1973 campaign. They posted an abysmal 4-47 mark under head coach Roy Rubin, who was dismissed mid-season. Kevin Loughery took over, but things did not go much better, as the team was 5-26 under his guidance.

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SB Nation wrote a story about the ’93 Mavericks, calling them “The NBA team that was the very best at being the very worst.” They pointed out the Dallas turned the team over to young players, as eight of the top 11 minutes leaders that season had one or fewer seasons of NBA experience under their belt. The team did not fare well with the kids driving the car.

It didn’t seem like the Mavericks should have been that bad, despite the youth movement. One of their promising players was Jim Jackson, who turned into a solid NBA contributor. However, The Dallas Morning News covered the details of his contract dispute, which spilled over into March 1993. That caused Jackson to only be available for 28 games.

Nuggets forward LaPhonso Ellis had an amazing yet exasperated quote while the turmoil was unfolding. He told Deseret News, “Due to unfortunate circumstances we find ourselves exactly where we are, which is in the middle of a quote-unquote rebuilding year, where the despicable is happening.”

Like other teams in league history, the Nuggets had to be careful of setting an all-time futile mark. Rookie Danny Fortson told The Spokesman Review, “It mattered to me. I ain’t lying. I didn’t want to see my face in the Guinness Book of World Records.” Bleacher Report noted that the Nuggets were 0-32 against teams that won at least 47 games that season.

The 2012 Bobcats and the 1999 Grizzlies were somewhat fortunate in the sense that their misery did not last as long as some other teams on this list. The NBA season was shortened in both instances due to lockouts. Even though Vancouver was deplorable in terms of wins and losses, at least fans got to see Shareef Abdur-Rahim play in all 50 games, and average 23 points per contest.

A common theme with all of these teams is that they would at least have the chance to bring a top young player in the ensuing draft. Even that didn’t work out for Vancouver, as the team took Steve Francis, who was deadest against playing in Canada. They were forced into a three-team trade, and the sadness continued for the Grizzlies.

The Nets lost their first 16 games of the season under head coach Lawrence Frank, who had previously had some good years with the team. Tom Barrise would coach the team for two games (both losses), and Kiki Vandeweghe would finish the year on the bench, posting a 12-52 record. Bleacher Report wrote a column after the team lost their first 11 games, asking if they were really this bad? The answer turned out to be yes.

It might be a bit of a sad anecdote to look back on, but Sportsnet Canada captured the unbridled joy the team felt when they avoided the worst record in NBA history. Nets public address announcer Gary Sussman yelled, “We got 10! The Nets win!” when they won their tenth game. Bleacher Report wrote about Mikhail Prokhorov’s ownership follies, which didn’t help them during this stretch.

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