March to Misery Complete: Bobcats Are Worst Team Ever
The March to Misery is complete. And the Charlotte Bobcats have rewrote the mark for futility.
After the 104-84 loss to the New York Knicks, the 'Cats finished the season 7-59, their 23rd straight loss, and a NBA-worst .106 win percentage, going lower than the Philadelphia 76ers of 1972-73. That team's final win percentage: .110.
This was a year of transition for Charlotte anyway, as they are looking to rebuild to be a contender for the future. After making the playoffs in 2010 as a seventh seed, Charlotte was swept out of the playoffs by the Orlando Magic. With a roster that was stocked with high-priced veterans, owner Michael Jordan made the decision that the roster at that time was too costly to compete for a seventh and eighth seed each year.
So after the sweep from the Magic to the Bobcats, and then the eventual firing of Larry Brown after a 9-19 start, Charlotte looked like a different team when they brought in Paul Silas. The team went 25-29, but during the process, dismantled the playoff team and quick fix, letting Raymond Felton go via free agency, trading away Tyson Chandler in the offseason, then the surprise trade that caught Gerald Wallace off guard when he was shipped to Portland. Wallace's good friend on the team, Stephen Jackson, checked out at that moment, and then during the 2011 NBA Draft, he was shipped to Milwaukee for Corey Maggette. On draft night, the Bobcats drafted Bismack Biyombo and Kemba Walker.
However, as the season progressed, the talent level from the Bobcats and the rest of the NBA was a wide gap. They were able to beat the Bucks, Warriors, Knicks, Raptors (twice), Hornets, and Magic. The 107-103 win over the Raptors on March 17th was the last win of the season, and Charlotte lost 23 straight games to end the season, and in the process, completing their March to Misery.
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