Until this year, the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers were the model of futility — 9-73. A .110 winning percentage. A team led by Fred Carter and John Block (when Block was healthy) that had a lot of role-playing veterans on the downside of their career.
But if Charlotte loses its final two games — at Orlando Wednesday and at home against the Knicks Thursday — they will set the new record. Michael Jordan’s team (he is the owner) will be 7-59, a .106 winning percentage. The Bobcats best chance for a win seemed to be Monday night, but they got beat handily by a weak Wizards team. The record seems there.
Kevin Loughery coached the 76ers for half of their ill-fated season, he’s seen the Bobcats and he thinks his team was better, he told Fox Sports Florida.
“Talent-wise, they might be the worst team ever,” Kevin Loughery, who coached the 76ers during the second half of their Keystone Kops-like campaign, said of the Bobcats. “We had more talent than they did.”
Not sure that the fine folks at NBA2K12 are going to program that one up and play it out for us to see who wins. The Bobcats average loss is 13.9 points per game compared to 12.1 for the old Sixers squad. (I would love to see the per possession stats here, but the league did not track offensive rebounds at that point, which makes estimating pace impossible to do accurately.)
Loughery was Jordan’s first coach in Chicago. He feels for him.
“They’re just playing with a lot of 10-day contract (type of players) now,” said Loughery, speaking by phone from Atlanta, where he is now retired. “That’s difficult… I know it’s just miserable what they’re going through for (Charlotte coach) Paul Silas, who’s a great guy, and (owner) Michael Jordan, whom I coached. I just hate to see this happen to them.”
Jordan has certainly helped bring this on himself. He is a small market owner without deep pockets who can’t afford to go into the red. The result is an inexpensive and young roster lacking veterans or stars — he is hoping to build through the draft. Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo are the first two, but you know Jordan thinks he will look smart if they land Anthony Davis in June.
For now, the Bobcats just look pathetic. And with less talent than any team in NBA history.