Charlotte Bobcats Secure Worst Record In NBA History

With Thursday's loss to the New York Knicks, the Charlotte Bobcats secured their place as the worst team in the history of the NBA. They won just 10.6% of their games, slightly worse than the 11.0% success rate of the 1972-1973 Philadelphia 76ers.

Instead of a normal 82-game schedule, the Bobcats played just 66 games this lock-out shortened season, winning just seven. Bill Littlefield asked Charlotte Observer columnist Tom Sorensen whether or not we can really say the Bobcats were the worst team in NBA history this year.

Sorensen merely offered, "Yes."

"I wouldn't say they've given up," he continued, "but they're just over-matched every night. I couldn't fathom them beating anybody, anywhere, for the rest of the season if they were to play all 82 games."

Some hapless teams can be fun to watch, especially if they're the subject of a film or television program.  But, Sorensen says, there's nothing fun about the 2012 Bobcats.

"I wish that were true. I wish they were zany, I wish they had characters, I wish they did outrageous things on the court, but they're really a faceless team."

The ongoing struggles of the Bobcats, while historic, were not entirely unexpected in Charlotte. The front office has maintained that this was a transition year for a team in the midst of rebuilding.  Sorensen said the argument has merit.

"They're doing the same thing the Carolina Panthers did in 2010.  They deliberately became worse to become better.  The Panthers had the #1 draft pick and took Cam Newton, and fans here don't even remember 2010. It was like a bad dream that happened to somebody else. The Bobcats have a 25% chance, as the worst team in the league, to get the first draft pick, and there's one transcendent player in the draft, Anthony Davis from Kentucky. If they get Anthony Davis, that should start them on the way back. If they don't get him, they're going to be bad for a long, long time."