Charlotte Bobcats, Michael Jordan Out-Terrible the 1972-73 Sixers

Some records are good. This was not one of them. And now, the city of Philadelphia and Fred Carter can take the 9-73 monkey off their back because Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Bobcats monkeyed themselves to the worst winning percentage of all time. Finishing at 7-59 on the 66-game lockout-shortened season and a barely-registrable winning percentage of 0.106, the Bobcats lost to the New York Knicks tonight to secure their fate as the worst team of all time. Now MJ owns both the league's best and worst records in its history. Congrats.

'Twas a game that didn't matter at all to the Knicks. If anything, a loss would have given them a better chance at not facing the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. So they weren't exactly playing their hardest. Steve Novak played 32 minutes. Jerome Jordan, 24. Josh Harrelson took 12 shots. But they outplayed the historically bad Bobcats squad that sees their team lose 23 straight games to end the season. Philadelphia native Gerald Henderson is the season leader in points with just over 15 per game (actually more than the Sixers leader, Louis Williams, had). There were a lot of things very wrong with this team. Luckily they have a 25% chance at getting Anthony Davis and a 100% chance of getting someone who could potentially become a cornerstone of the franchise with Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo.

But this is about the 1972-73 Sixers. The team that finished 59 games behind the Boston Celtics for first in the Atlantic Division. The team that lost their first 15 games and their last 13. The team that may have lost more games than the schedule had them playing. The team that was 4-58 (.064) up until an absurd two-week stretch where they went 5-2 including wins over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson, Earl Monroe and Walt Frazier, Elvin Hayes, and Dave Bing. Even then, they were SO Sixers.

So congrats to Fred Carter, Leroy Ellis, Manny Leaks, Tom Van Arsdale, and the rest of the '72-'73 gang. You're not the most horrendous thing to ever happen to the world. The world makes secret toasts in your honor. The champagne tastes extra sweet tonight, 39 years later. Try not to lose any more games before you go to sleep tonight.