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The Worst Team in History

Last night, the New Jersey Nets played in front of 1,016 fans. Sure it was “SnowMegeddon,” and sure they were playing the fairly uninteresting Milwaukee Bucks on a Thursday night, but to be honest, this attendance wasn’t much worse than it’s been all season. Currently the Nets rank last in the league in attendance, averaging a little more than 13,000 per game (though that’s tickets sold, not fans in attendance) and Nets tickets in the first level can easily be found online for  $10. Brett Yormark, the Nets President and CEO, has had to turn to alternative ventures to try to bring in money. There were the two sided jerseys which had a Nets home jersey in front and a Kobe Bryant jersey in back. There’s the free day care that is offered at the IZOD Center. The Nets have even given what few season ticket holders are left (I used to be one of them) two free tickets to select games. And then today, the Zappos.com Be the Nets’ Coach for a Day sweepstakes opened up. The sweepstakes offers the grand prize winner a day on the bench of the Nets complete with a full practice run through, and potentially a halftime speech along the lines of “Let’s get this game within 15!” While some movie buffs like myself may be asking the question “Isn’t this the plot from Eddie?” Nets fans around the world (it’s a loose term, I admit) are asking “Can it be for more than just a day?” After Thursday night’s loss, the Nets’ current coach Kiki Vandeweghe was quoted as saying “I’m not sure exactly what happened.”

But I digress. As the Nets head into the All-Star break, they sit 13.5 games behind the Washington Wizards (The second worst team in the Eastern Conference), and are on the verge of making history. At 4-44, they are tied with the 1973 Philadelphia 76ers for the worst record in history and will need to finish 6-28 to avoid tying the worst record in NBA history.If they do in fact finish worse than 9-73, they will have the worst win-loss record of any team in NBA, MLB, and NHL history. But the more important question is, are they the worst team in professional sports history?

The Nets are the worst offensive team in the NBA, averaging 90.1 points per game, and scoring 100+ points only 7 times in 48 tries. They have the worst point-differential in the league, and they are -552 points on the year. They are the worst 3pt shooting team in the NBA and give up 101.6 points per game.

It’s hard to compare across sports. Obviously in the NFL there are the 0-14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and recently the 0-16 Detroit Lions. But with such a small amount of games, it can be hard to really tell just how bad a team is – and after all, the Nets did start 0-18 this year. In baseball, the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics went 36-117 and never won more than two games in a row over 151 games. Nets players would die to win two games in a row. The 1962 expansion New York Mets are also remembered as one of the most embarrassing teams to put on a professional uniform, but in this discussion expansion teams get a pass because they are not given the same resources to start a season as the teams they compete against. Besides the 1973 Sixers in basketball, the 1992 Dallas Mavericks hold the record of worst point differential in NBA history at -15.2 (compared to the Nets -11.5) though they were able to win 11 games.

But that is what makes this Nets team so terrible. They are frequently presented with a chance to win a game, but can always be relied upon not to. In basketball, most games come down to the final 10 plays. The middle of the game is spent trying to maintain a stronghold on the momentum and staying within striking distance. The Nets usually do a good job at sticking with teams for 3+ quarters. But when the game gets down to crunch time, the Nets crumble. Courtney Lee showed during the Magic’s playoff run last year that he can be counted on when a big play is needed. Devin Harris hit four game winning shots last year, and Brook Lopez memorably hit a game winning shot against Marquette in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. But after getting off to an 0-18 start, these Nets give up in crunch time assuming, reasonably, that they will lose.

If the Nets do get refreshed by the All-Star break, and go 6-28 to avoid the worst win-loss record in NBA, MLB and NHL history (though I still think that the 1992 Mavericks and the 2008 Detroit Lions would still share the distinction as the worst teams in history) they’ll need to find a way to score when the opposition ramps up its defense in the final 2 minutes. They’ll need to find a way to come together as a team, and expect that they can win against another NBA team. They’ll need to be cliche and focus on the fundamentals and get back to having fun. Only then, will the fans return.