It’s a number that only reinforces the legend of Sacramento. With currently 3,187 losses on the clock, the Californian franchise is far ahead of its first competitors for the title of team having lost the most games in NBA history. That’s what the Kings are: always first when it comes to being last.
Before we begin, it is essential to place this article in the current context of the League. As a reminder, a few weeks ago, Sacramento broke a sad record, which plunged it even further into the history books of mediocrity: sixteen seasons in a row without reaching the Playoffs. Simply unheard of. However, it is an equally, and perhaps even more symbolic, record that the franchise has held for several years now. Did you know ? The Kings are, according to the stats site Basketball-referencesimply the team with the most losses in NBA history, with a total of 3,187 games lost so far. Alala… we don’t redo a team that loses. The number is so huge that it would almost make us dizzy. And of course, as usual, the Kings are far ahead. Second in the standings with “only” 3,064 defeats, even the Knicks cannot claim the throne for a bunch of years. Yet Sactown has not always been the sad record holder. And since we are in the field of lose, we might as well tell you when the “changeover” took place.
We are in October 2015, at the start of the season. Two California franchises are vying for the title of biggest loser in NBA history. To Then second, Sacramento intends to continue its momentum in order to take first place at… Golden State. And yes ! Totaling at that time 2,875 losses due to a very long period of “basketballistic” nothingness, the Warriors are 19 units ahead of the Kings, who have lost “only” 2,856 times. The rest, of course, you all know. In the wake of a legendary season, where Steph’s band will win their first 24 games, the gap is shrinking and the noose is tightening. As of January 5, 2016, the two franchises are tied: 2,877 losses everywhere. The next match will not decide between them since they will both win it. We are on January 9, 2016, when fate decides to get involved. To home, in front of its own fans, Sacramento will become the most beaten franchise in NBA history by losing to … Golden State. More than a simple defeat, it is therefore a real transfer of power that took place before our eyes, without anyone ever noticing it. The 2015-16 fiscal year will therefore have seen the Warriors lose their title of number one loser, and win that of the biggest all-time winners in the regular season. To Conversely, no one has ever been able to re-overtake the Kings since that day. First team to join the club of 2,900 and 3,000 defeats, it is also the only member of the 3,100 club and from next year of the 3,200 club, unless the band at Fox achieves a season in 70-12, in which case we undertake to make a pilgrimage to the Golden 1 Center. We can however note that New York has therefore moved to second in the standings at the very end of the 2021-2022 season, since the Knicks now have four more small defeats than the Warriors today.
So obviously, we see coming those who will tell us that this classification is worth nothing in terms of nullity because only the “old” teams can total such a large number of losses. And we’ll tell you it’s true because if we look instead at the win-loss ratio, Sactown has only the seventh-lowest winning percentage in the NBA. Only the Wolves do not pass the 40% mark (39.9%), which is again a good big statistic of nullos for our friends from Minnesota. To For comparison, New Orleans is the franchise with the fewest defeats in history (864), although its 46.1% wins are very close to Sacramento’s 45.4%. Created in 1958, the Kings have played 75 seasons in the NBA / BAA, against 77 for the Knicks or the Warriors. So even if certain circumstances mean that the list of competitors in this respect is reduced, the fact remains that in the entire history of the League, no team has left the field so much as a loser than our friends in the purple jerseys. And just for that, we can’t help but love them.
Again, the numbers are not to Sacramento’s advantage. And if we allow ourselves once again to find a way to gently make fun of the Kings, we of course send a lot of courage to the fans. Come on, De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray are going to take it all on for us next year. Well… maybe.
Source stats : Basketball-reference