NBA records for losses, worst winning percentage in a season originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The race to the bottom of the NBA standings can be just as intense as the race to the top, and that will be the case once again in 2022-23.
Despite added measures from the league to try and decrease the incentive for losing, tanking is still rampant. The best draft lottery odds go to the teams with the worst records, giving them the greatest chances of selecting a franchise-altering prospect.
The new season hasn’t even started yet, but some teams have already turned their attention to the star-studded 2023 draft class. Victor Wembenyama and Scoot Henderson, the top two projected picks in the upcoming draft, faced off in a pair of preseason exhibitions earlier this month and showcased their dazzling potential.
Get Southern California news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC LA newsletters.
The Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs already made moves this summer that indicate they are not terribly concerned with picking up wins this season. The Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder also figure to be in the NBA’s basement with each team keeping its fingers crossed that the lottery ping pong balls will fall in their favor.
While all of those teams are poised to end the year with ugly records, will any of them be historically bad? Here’s a look at the worst teams of all time based on record and winning percentage:
What is the record for most losses in an NBA season?
Sports
Get today's sports news out of Los Angeles. Here's the latest on the Dodgers, Lakers, Angels, Kings, Galaxy, LAFC, USC, UCLA and more LA teams.
The 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers hold the record for most losses in an NBA season with 73.
The Sixers had a rough go of it on both ends of the floor, ranking dead last in the NBA in field goal percentage and points allowed. The year began with a 15-game losing streak and the team won just four of its first 62 games. From Feb. 14-28, the Sixers actually won five of seven games, bringing their record to 9-60. However, a Feb. 28 victory over the Baltimore Bullets would be Philadelphia’s final win of the season as it ended the campaign on a 13-game skid.
Forty-three years later, the Process Sixers almost set a new franchise and league record for losing. The 2015-16 squad went just 10-72, earning sole possession of second place on the NBA’s single-season loss list. An 0-18 start put the Sixers on the fast track to a historic losing season, but an April 5 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in the fifth-to-last game got them to 10 wins.
There was light at the tunnel for both of those Sixers squads, as they came away with two No. 1 picks. Philadelphia went on to draft Doug Collins at the top of the 1973 draft and Ben Simmons with the top selection in 2016.
Here are the six teams to lose 70 or more games in an NBA season:
1. 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers: 9-73
2. 2015-16 Philadelphia 76ers: 10-72
T-3. 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks: 11-71
T-3. 1997-98 Denver Nuggets: 11-71
T-5. 1986-87 Los Angeles Clippers: 12-70
T-5. 2009-10 New Jersey Nets: 12-70
What is the record for fewest wins in an NBA season?
The league’s second season saw the record for fewest wins by a team.
The Providence Steam Rollers went just 6-42 in 1947-48, back when the NBA was the Basketball Association of America. They were the only team out of eight to win fewer than 20 of their 48 games and one of two teams with a sub-.500 record.
The 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats came the closest to matching the Steam Rollers’ win total. They started out their lockout-shortened season 2-4 but dropped all the way to 6-36. They got their seventh win of the year in their 43rd game and proceeded to end the campaign on a 23-game losing streak, tied for the third-longest single-season skid in NBA history.
Unlike the aforementioned Sixers teams, the Bobcats were not awarded the No. 1 pick after their dreadful season. The 21-45 New Orleans Hornets overcame the lottery odds, got the first selection and used it on Anthony Davis, while the Bobcats settled for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Davis’ Kentucky teammate, at No. 2.
The 1972-73 Sixers remain the only team that failed to win double-digit games over an 82-game slate. Here are all the teams that were held under 10 wins for a season:
1. 1947-48 Providence Steam Rollers: 6-42
2. 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats: 7-59
3. 1998-99 Vancouver Grizzlies: 8-42
T-4. 1998-99 Los Angeles Clippers: 9-41
T-4. 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers: 9-73
What is the record for worst winning percentage in an NBA season?
Though they won one more game than the 1972-73 Sixers, the 2011-12 Bobcats hold a different unflattering record.
By winning just seven of 66 games, that Charlotte squad earned the lowest winning percentage (.106) for a single season. The Sixers’ 9-73 record gave them a winning percentage of .110.
In all, eight teams ended a season with a winning percentage below .150:
1. 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats: 7-59, .106
2. 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers: 9-73, .110
3. 2015-16 Philadelphia 76ers: 10-72, .122
4. 1947-48 Providence Steam Rollers: 6-42, .125
T-5. 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks: 11-71, .134
T-5. 1997-98 Denver Nuggets: 11-71, .134
T-7. 1986-87 Los Angeles Clippers: 12-70, .146
T-7. 2009-10 New Jersey Nets: 12-70, .146
