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As there are teams that break records at the upper end of the NBA rankings, a few have done the same on the other end of the spectrum. In the same season that the Golden State Warriors went on a historic 73-9 run, the Philadelphia 76ers also recorded one of the worst runs in the 21st century.
Several factors come into play when considering the worst teams. However, we have opted to use the most straightforward metric - winning percentages. It is a no-brainer as it will be bizarre to rank a team above others even when they fail to win games.
From injuries to lack of chemistry to poor coaching, a team could have an awful run for either of those reasons. The Warriors had a horrid 2019-20 NBA season with a 15-50 run. In their case, Kevin Durant's departure in the 2019 offseason and injuries to Klay Thompson & Stephen Curry were the main factors that led to their poor run.
On that note, let's look at the five worst NBA teams of the 21st century.
#5 Chicago Bulls - 2000-01 season
The Chicago Bulls, in their 2000-01 NBA season, still had not figured out a way to move past the Michael Jordan era. However, they finally started to embrace their rebuild as 8 of the 16 players who say decent minutes were rookies.
At the end of the season, the Bulls had a 15-67 run that resulted in a .183 win percentage. The team was led by head coach Tim Floyd, who was in his third season and successfully won 45 of 214 games as the Bulls' head coach.
They finished dead last in offensive rating with 97.2 and were 27th of 29 in defensive rating (107.3). For a team that held the record for the most wins in a single season with their 72-10 run during the 1995-96 NBA season, they were outrightly horrible a few years later.
To date, that counts as their worst run in Chicago Bulls history, excluding the shortened 1998-99 NBA season. Despite having the worst record, they still couldn't catch a break in the 1999 NBA draft lottery as they ended up with the fourth pick.
#4 Atlanta Hawks, 2004-05 season
Inefficiency was the order of the day for the 2004-05 Atlanta Hawks team as they had several high-volume players that lacked productivity. They failed to get into any sort of winning run under their first-year head coach Mike Woodson.
The Hawks' poor performance was encapsulated by their last-place ranking in both offensive and defensive ratings. They ended the 2004-05 NBA season with a 13-69 run and .159 win percentage.
The Hawks crowned their poor 2004-05 season with another horrible mistake by passing up on Chris Paul in the 2005 NBA draft. Although it is easier to point that out now, seeing how both players turned out in the league, Paul still looked more of a winner at the time.
#3 New Jersey Nets, 2009-10 season
The New Jersey Nets were on their way to setting an NBA record for most losses in a season, if not for a timely intervention that saw them win five of their last 12 games in the season. They started the season on a 0-18 run, the worst start to a campaign to date.
Brook Lopez was coming off an impressive NBA rookie season and was looked to for production. He delivered the goods, averaging 18.8 points and 8.6 rebounds, but did not get much help from his teammates.
The Nets struggled to find their way, shuffling through three managers during the season. However, they managed to win only twelve of their 82 games in the 2009-10 NBA season. They had the worst offensive rating in the league (100.6) but were not as bad defensively, finishing the season ranked 25th in defensive rating.
#2 Philadelphia 76ers, 2015-16 season
The Philadelphia 76ers matched the Nets' awful 0-18 start during their 2015-16 NBA campaign. At the end of the season, they had a 10-72 run with a .122 win percentage.
Although the 76ers already had Joel Embiid on the roster, he was sidelined for the second straight season due to injuries. The offense was their Achilles heel as they ranked last in offensive rating. Defensively, they did a better job with a 109.2 defensive rating (26th of 30th).
#1 Charlotte Bobcats, 2011-12 season
One season after the legendary Michael Jordan gained ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats, they recorded the worst run by a team in a single season. They joined the 1972-73 Sixers as the only teams in the NBA to finish a season with a single-digit win.
Although it was an irregular 66-game NBA season, finishing with only seven wins is outrageous. Scoring was their main problem, as they averaged only 87 points per game despite having the likes of D.J. Augustin and rookie Kemba Walker on the roster.
The Bobcats finished the season with a .106 win percentage and were ranked last in both offensive (95.2) and defensive (110.4) ratings. Unfortunately, the draft lottery was also unkind to them as they lost the No. 1 pick to the New Orleans Hornets.
