Could 76 refer to the number of losses?
1By Hamish Girvan
Losing to current NBA champions the San Antonio Spurs yesterday is nothing to be ashamed of, however if you are a Philadelphia 76ers player maybe you should reassess yourself. Currently winless this season from 17 games (it’s an 82 game season) they have reached the new depths of lows. Even the hapless Lakers have four wins (they are the bottom team in the Western Conference)
The 76ers have a storied history with players such as Wilt Chamberlain in the 60s and Allen Iverson in the late 90’s leading the way to playoffs and championships. Since 2012 they have struggled drafting a player this year who was badly injured in Joel-Hans Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) however his twitter account is possibly top of the league in terms of content and followers
Last season was nothing to be proud of either. At one point they posted a 26 game losing streak which set a franchise recordand tied the all-time NBA record for most consecutive losses in a single-season. They finished the season with a 19-63 record; the third worst in franchise history. Despite this, the Sixers did not have the worst win/loss record in the overall NBA standings; the Milwaukee Bucks fared worse with a 15-67 record.
This season Philadelphia become just the fourth team in league history to open a season with 17 losses, joining the 1998-99 Clippers (0-17), 1988-89 Heat (0-17) and the 2009-10 Nets (0-18). The 76ers can tie the Nets for the worst start in NBA history Thursday (NZ time) at Minnesota, with a potential chance to break the record at home on Saturday (NZ Time) against Steven Adam’s Oklahoma City Thunder.
Where do you go from here? Tank the season to get another top 5 draft pick? And even if you finish with the worst record under the NBA lottery system you still are not guaranteed the no. 1 pick (usually the best player)
As Joel says “Trust the Process”
This is why the NBA is well worth following this week – let’s hope for 19 so a new record holder arises and Joel tweets with #19straight .
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They won one !!!