Seeing the results of the day night after night and finding a defeat for the Detroit Pistons has stopped being news. There are 22 in a row and that’s it just six away from the record reached by the Philadelphia 76ers between the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons, when they accumulated 28 games without knowing the victory.
It was precisely the Pennsylvania franchise that was responsible for turning these Pistons into the worst team that has ever worn the Bad Boys uniform – a franchise with three rings in its showcases – after surpassing the worst historical record of consecutive lost games. A streak in which Monty Williams’ team is not only flirting with tanking in a shameless way (losing on purpose to have more options in the 2024 draft) but can become the worst team in history of the NBA. A ‘tanking’ that has gotten out of hand.
Right now, the Pistons have a 2-23 record (they started the season 2-1). Or what is the same, 8% wins (worst percentage in NBA history). Or what is the same, they are projected to finish the season without reaching seven wins. Or what is the same, the worst numbers in the 77 years of NBA competition.
There is a very real possibility that this Pistons group becomes the worst team in NBA history, eclipsing the mediocrity of the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats, when they finished 7-59 in a shorter-than-usual season due to the lockout that delayed the start of the competition. The only team to ever win fewer than 10 games in a full season (82 games) is the 1973 76ers, who finished with nine wins.
Those Bobcats, a team ‘governed’ by Michael Jordan that was even booed on more than one occasion in Charlotteremained in the collective imagination as the worst team of all time. They only had 11% wins in their locker and their average was defeats by 14 points difference. Today those numbers even seem good if we compare them with those of the Pistons.
“The repetitive thing is our games, not your questions”, the Pistons coach assured the press. A Monty Williams, who is the second highest paid coach – he signed for six seasons and 78 million dollars – only behind the veteran Gregg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs who are the second worst team in the league with four wins and 20 losses, also shamelessly fighting to improve their options for the draft.
The Detroit franchise, which has accumulated 245 losses in the last five seasons, has the worst differential in the league with an average of -11.3 points and although it is not the worst defense in the league, its numbers do not exactly invite optimism. A young team with a number one in the draft on the roster like Cade Cunningham and several top-10 players like James Wiseman (2), Marvin Bagley (2), Ausar Thompson (5), Jaden Ivey (5), Killian Hayes (7), Kevin Knox (9). Plenty of raw material, but they have not yet finished finding their place in a league that is becoming too big for them.
Passionate about basketball since he was a child, Guillermo García has managed to make the sport of basketball his profession. Graduated in Humanities from the Carlos III University and with a Master in Journalism, he began working at Marca in 2003, where he had time to do everything from football to reports and opinion, including the closing section. In 2011 he began as an editor on the official NBA website in Spanish and since then he has covered basketball information with special attention to what is happening in the United States. In addition, he has covered two Eurobasket, two World Cups and two Olympic Games, along with a multitude ACB playoffs, NBA and Euroleague Final Four games. He has also been able to interview figures from other sports such as Usain Bolt, Simone Biles or Armand Duplantis. …
2023-12-16 17:35:41
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