The Philadelphia 76ers will face off tonight against the Detroit Pistons, and while the game is surely not significant in terms of playoff positioning, it will definitely get a whole lot more attention than any other game featuring two teams with a combined record of 41-103. Why is that the case? Because the 76ers will be on the verge of setting the all-time record for the longest losing streak not only in NBA history, but in the history of any of our four major professional sports. Philadelphia has lost 26 consecutive games, and right now they are tied with the 2010-2011 Cleveland Cavaliers for the longest losing streak ever. The last time the 76ers won a game was January 29th. To put that into some kind of perspective, the last time the 76ers won a basketball game was BEFORE THE SUPER BOWL, and it seems today like the Super Bowl was a long time ago.
On February 20th, after losing their ninth straight game (by 29 points), the 76ers traded away their best player, Evan Turner, and ended up with a bunch of second round draft picks spread out over the next few years. Clearly, the return for their best player was, at best, very bad. Since that trade, the 76ers have gone on to lose another 17 straight games, and they will be staring history straight in the face tonight against the Pistons. Despite the Pistons being 20 games below .500, they are still 5.5 point favorites over Philadelphia, and at this point, it seems like there is not too much hope for Philadelphia. However, history often times brings out the best in players, and in the case of the 76ers, they will be on the cusp of making history tonight, so maybe it will bring out the best in the team.
Once again though, the "team" is where the problem lies. When you look at the players the 76ers are putting on the floor on a nightly basis, it is easy to understand why they have been so putrid this year. Names like Henry Sims, Arnett Moultrie, Hollis Thompson, and Byron Mullens are near or at the top of their depth chart, and only the most ardent NBA fans would recognize those names. One could argue that the best player on the team has actually never played a game in the NBA. The 76ers drafted Nerlens Noel knowing that he would miss significant time due to a torn ACL, and at best, they can hope that he will make his NBA debut some time before the season ends, although with only 10 games remaining to play, that has to still be an unlikely scenario. The best player they are putting on the floor right now is Michael Carter-Williams, a rookie out of Syracuse. Carter-Williams was a very good player in college, but he is certainly not on the level of a team leader in the NBA, especially with this being his rookie season. In time, he could grow into a nice role player in the league, but I have a hard time believing that he has the capability to be a star. Therefore, it is actually easy to see why the 76ers have been a prime example of futility in 2014. The team they are fielding at this point in the season is nowhere close to NBA-caliber, and they are at a considerable disadvantage each and every night.
At first glance, it would be easy to blame the players for the futility of the 76ers, but I completely disagree with that notion. The players are out there each and every game giving their best effort. They just don't have the quality to compete with their opponents. It is not the fault of the players. They are victims in this case. The next in line to place the blame on would be the head coach, Brett Brown. Coaches are praised when their teams are playing well, and frowned upon when their teams are playing poorly, so it would seem easy to blame Brown for Philadelphia's historically bad streak. Again, doing so would be a mistake. This is Brown's first head coaching job in the NBA, so why would he want to fail? He is leading the team on a daily basis, and he is looking out for his players and himself, and trying his best to succeed, but he is simply not being supplied with the pieces he needs to succeed. So, in my opinion, the blame falls on the people who are supposed to be supplying him with those pieces, the management of the team. Whether it is General Manager Sam Hinkie, owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer, CEO Scott O'Neill, or, most likely, a combination of all of them; those are the men to blame. They have made a concerted effort to continually put a sub-par team on the floor, and they have been extremely successful in doing so.
I liken the situation in Philadelphia to the one in the movie "Major League." The owners were actually cheering for the team to lose. While their motivation might be, in theory, correct (a shot at drafting a potential superstar this year), I still believe that it is unfair to the players on the team, as well as the fans. The 76ers will have two of the first 11 picks in the upcoming draft, as well as four picks in the second round, so they will have a lot of chances to get multiple future building blocks when the draft comes in June. This is also a draft featuring multiple players who have the potential to be NBA stars, so Philadelphia will most likely have a shot to get multiple star prospects. However, I feel like they are still going about it the wrong way. They are clearly tanking on purpose, and it is unfair to the players, the coaches, the fans, and the league in general.
This is certainly not the first time an organization has seemingly "tanked" during the end of a season, and while it seems like a problem that may be unsolvable, I have to turn to a radio personality to find an answer. ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg, half of the "Mike & Mike" radio duo, brought up a scenario that, in my opinion, could actually solve this problem. His proposal was to give the first overall pick in the draft to the team with the best record that did not qualify for the playoffs.
As of today, with nine games remaining to play, the Dallas Mavericks have a record of 43-30, and are a half game behind the Phoenix Suns for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They are fighting for their playoff lives, and the entire organization is doing its best to put a winning team on the floor. If the Mavericks do make the playoffs, even as the eighth seed in the West, they will be elated. If they miss the playoffs, they will be devastated, but feel as though they are only a piece or two away from a better season in 2014-2015. They are playing out the season to the final minute, and they should be rewarded for doing so. With a very formidable backcourt of Jose Calderon and Monta Ellis, as well as one of the top scorers in NBA history, Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks are certainly a good team. The biggest weakness of their team is probably at the center position, and with a young, budding star like Joel Embiid ready to be drafted, they would be able to go from "almost" to "definitely" in just a year. Therefore, they would be rewarded by playing hard for the entire season, and they would also be rewarded by having the top pick in the draft, and the ability to cross the threshold from non-playoff team to playoff team. The remaining picks in the draft would go to the non-playoff teams with the best regular season record to the teams with the worst regular season record, and then all the playoff teams would follow that. That would mean the 76ers would have the 13th pick in the draft, and not the first. They would still pick before the playoff teams, but they would not be rewarded with the first pick by tanking and trying to fail in the previous season. Doing this might bring about teams that were horrendous for years and years, but it would at least give everyone an incentive to put the best team on the floor that it could each and every game, and each and every year.
The NBA might not like Mike Greenberg's proposal, but I certainly do. We would certainly not see any more historically bad losing streaks, and would not see teams composed of unknown players. It would make each and every game of the regular season count, and not only would that bring about more attention from the organizations, but it would also bring about more attention from the players, coaches, and fans, and there is certainly no way that that could be bad for the league. The players on the 76ers are going out and giving it their all each and every game, and they should be rewarded for doing so, not punished.
Daily Nets Update: With 11 games left to play, the Nets are 2.5 games behind the Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division, and 1.5 games behind the Bulls for fourth in the conference. Getting home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs would be great, but no matter who they play in the first round, I think this is still a team that could at least get into the second round of the playoffs.
Daily Rangers Update: A five game winning streak ended last night in Calgary, and the Rangers remain fifth in the Eastern Conference. A first round matchup with either Tampa Bay or Montreal seems inevitable, so hopefully the Rangers can finish out the season strong and go into the playoffs with some much needed momentum.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Opening Day (in the United States) is only two days away, and the Diamondbacks will put Brandon McCarthy on the mound to face off against Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants. There has been more devastating news for the pitching staff, as David Hernandez will now need Tommy John surgery, just like Patrick Corbin, who underwent the surgery not long ago. The news of those two injuries has obviously weakened both the starting rotation and the bullpen, but it is still March, and that means every team believes it can win the World Series. Let's Go Diamondbacks!
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