Let us take a flashback to the year 2000. Everyone and their mother was panicking about the chance of the “Y2K” disaster happening, which in all honesty couldn’t have been that bad, compared to what might happen if that disaster struck todays world. The average cost of gas was $1.26 (don’t we all miss those days). You most likely either listened to N’Sync or Backstreet Boys, whether you have the courage to admit it or not. The President of the United States was George W. Bush and if you were reading this article back then, you without a doubt just dialed up your AOL internet connection and made sure no one used the phone while you were on the computer. Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls had recently wrapped up their complete dominance of the NBA in the 90s. But today we are here to talk about the worst teams in the NBA since the calendar flipped to 01/01/2000.
15. The Cleveland Cavaliers .487%
Many people may see this ranking and think I’m crazy. Quite frankly, I personally couldn’t believe it myself when I first did all the research, but yes Cleveland is the fifteenth worst team in the NBA since the start of the new millennium. Hard to believe since they’ve had arguably one of the top 5 greatest players ever on their team for a good chunk of the past 16 years. But the years without Lebron are the cause for such a low ranking. In the three years before James dawned a Cavalier jersey, the franchise was topping out at 30 wins, with their worst performance coming the year before drafting Lebron, a season which they only won 17 games. After drafting Lebron, the team did a complete 180, but then took a turn for the worse once more after his departure to Miami. Their total W/L record is 632-664.
14. The Orlando Magic .481%
Since 2000 there hasn’t really been a lot of “magic” in Orlando to speak of. For a substantial amount of time in the last sixteen years, Orlando has failed to have a winning record to finish their season. In nine seasons since 2000, the Magic have gone under .500% and in four of those seasons they didn’t even reach 30 wins. Their best stretch came from 2007-2011, where they won on average 55.5 games. Two seasons in a row they won 59 games, one of which got them to the NBA Finals where they loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. With Dwight Howard playing his best basketball of his career while in Orlando, he helped change the organizations losing nature, but once he left, the team went back on the decline. Since Howard’s exit from the team, the Magic have not had a 40 win season. Their total W/L record is 624-672.
13. Golden State Warriors .480%
Yes, before their recent championship and 73-9 record season, the Warriors were relatively bad. To start off the 21st century, the Warriors only won 17 games in 2000-2001. For the first six years they didn’t make the playoffs, but that all changed in 2006. Going into the 06-07 playoffs, the Warriors were 42-40 and were set to face-off against the 1st seed Dallas Mavericks. Dubbed the “We Believe” team, the Warriors were led by Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson, who helped them become the third 8th seed to topple a 1st seed and the first to do so in a 7 games series format. The team wouldn’t make the playoffs again until 2012 and have made it every year since, with the help of the back to back MVP, Stephen Curry. Including their 2014-2015 NBA championship and are currently fighting for their second NBA Finals appearance in a row. Their total W/L record is 623-673.
12. The Memphis Grizzlies .475%
Becoming one of the NBA’s newest franchises in 1995, the Grizzlies were originally located in Vancouver, Canada. But the team struggled to win and attendance became and issue so the franchise was relocated only six years after their conception. The year 2000 was the final straw for the team’s owners as the Grizzlies would finish 23-59, the fourth worst record in the league. Which was quite an improvement from two years prior, when the Grizzlies won an unimaginably bad 8 of 50 games during the NBA lockout shortened season. Since their transition to Memphis, the franchise has had it’s ups and downs. Having short spurts of winning records for a few years straight, then a couple years under .500. As of recent, the Grizzlies seemed to have found their stride, making the playoffs for six years straight behind play from star players Mike Conley Jr, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Their total W/L record is 616-680.
11. The Los Angeles Clippers
Being the team to share a basketball center with the Los Angeles Lakers has not been an easy task for the Clippers. The Lakers have been one of the most dominate teams in the NBA since the start of the new millennium, while the Clippers were basically polar opposites. Only having one playoff berth in the first 10 years since 2000, the Clippers found themselves as an afterthought when it came to who was going to be a contender in the West. Never really having the talent that the Lakers, Spurs or Mavericks had, the Clippers finished below .500 for 6 years straight before making the 2006 playoffs with a 47-35 record. With the acquisition of Chris Paul in 2011, the franchise started to look like a team who might have a shot at the championship every year. With All Stars Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan at the power forward and center position and 3x 6th man of the year Jamal Crawford coming off the bench, the Clippers have made the playoffs 5 times straight. Their total W/L record is 614-682.
10. The New Orleans Pelicans .466%
Coming in at #10 we have the Pelicans. Only technically being a franchise since the 2002-2003 season, the Pelicans haven’t had as much time as the rest of the teams on this list except for one, which we will get too later. But since their inception in 2002, New Orleans hasn’t being a great town for basketball. Originally the New Orleans Hornets, the team started out their tenure pretty well. Winning 40+ games their first two seasons, the Pelicans made the playoffs both years, before dropping off to an 18-64 record the following year. After drafting Chris Paul in 2005, their performance started to get better by the year, their best record came in 2007 at 56-26. When Paul was traded to the Clippers, the team fell back into a slump. But when they drafted their star Power forward Anthony Davis in 2012, the franchise had new hopes of becoming a contender for the ring. Davis was injured for most of this year, causing the Pelicans to miss the playoffs and only win 30 games. Their total W/L record is 528-604.
9. Tie between the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings .463%
Both of these teams have shown flashes of being a great team since 2000. Sacramento was a force for the first six years, making the Western Conference Finals once and the Semi-finals three times. Players like Chris Webber, Mike Bibby and Vlade Divac fueled the Kings runs at the championship. After their finals playoff appearance in 2006, the Kings haven’t had a single season over .500 since, with an average win total of 27 games per year. The Atlanta Hawks have had a flipped version of the last 16 years. Atlanta’s first 7 years of the 2000s were spent well under the .500 mark, even though they made the playoffs in 2007 at 37-45. After 2007, the script flipped and the Hawks have played like a completely different team. Making the playoffs every year since 2007, the Hawks best record came last year when the franchise finished at 60-22 earning them the #1 seed in the East. The total W/L record for both teams is 601-695.
8. The Toronto Raptors . 462%
Just like the Grizzlies, the Raptors franchise was started in 1995. Their franchise’s start was highlighted by play from Tracy McGrady and Mr. “Half man, Half Amazing” himself, Vince Carter. Toronto’s first four years were awful, but once Carter and McGrady started too click, the Raptors fans finally had something to cheer for. When McGrady left to join the Magic, the Raptors fell into a losing hole and had trouble finding their way out, plus having their franchise player Vince Carter traded to the Nets didn’t help either. Drafting Chris Bosh made the franchise seem like they would finally start winning the way they thought they could with previous stars, but once Bosh realized he wasn’t going to get it done in Toronto, he fled to Miami to join Lebron James and Dwyane Wade. Once again they found themselves on the wrong side of .500 for a couple years, but recently have had success with stars Kyle Lowry and Demar Derozan and are currently battling the Cavaliers for a spot in the NBA finals. Their total W/L record is 599-697.
7. The Brooklyn Nets .450%
Before Jay Z moved the Nets to Brooklyn, they were once the New Jersey Nets. Back in the early 2000s, they were a serious competitor. The Nets would make and ultimately lose the NBA finals two years in a row, once to the Lakers and once to the Spurs. Those teams were led by future Hall of Fame point guard Jason Kidd. Up until 2006 the Nets were constantly pushing to make the playoffs behind Kidd and Vince Carter, who was acquired from the Raptors, but in 2007 that all changed for the worse as the team started a terrible decline. Their lowest point came in 2009 as the franchise would only amount 12 wins on the year. In 2012 the team would be moved from New Jersey to New York and the move seemed to reignite the teams winning ways. Only winning 22 games the year before, the Nets would win 49 games and earn a playoff berth for the first time in six years. In 2013, they traded for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, but both were well past their prime and the team never got past the Semi-finals. Their total W/L record is 584-712.
6. The Milwaukee Bucks .442%
Even though the Bucks are the 6th worst team on this list, they have managed to make the playoffs 7 of the 16 possible seasons since 2000. That stat alone is insane to think about. But the Bucks are as sporadic as they come. They began the new millennium at 52-30, but lost in the Eastern Conference Finals. Since that year, they have been back and forth in the winning department. It seems like they make the playoffs one year, then miss it for a year or two, then make them again and so on. The loss of Ray Allen no doubt had a huge impact on the franchise and since he left there hasn’t been a real superstar in a Bucks uniform. In the last few years, the drafting of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker has given the franchise a glimpse at what the future holds for the young Bucks roster. If they can find a way to add some more pieces around those two players, the Bucks can definitely become a contender in years to come. Their total W/L record is 573-723.
5. The Philadelphia 76ers .432%
This years number one pick holder hasn’t had that position since 1996, the year they drafted Allen Iverson, who helped the team become a beast in the East. When Iverson was drafted by the 76ers, Philadelphia was 18-64 the previous year. But A.I. turned the franchise around and led them to the NBA Finals in 2000, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. The 76ers continued to make the playoffs seemingly every year until 2011. When Iverson was traded in 2006, the team was still able to attain playoff spots behind star player Andre Iguodala. But once Iguodala was sent to Denver, the team has never been the same. The last three years the 76ers have finished with less than 20 wins per season, including this years 10-72 record. Team officials have been criticized for taking three centers, Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor, in three consecutive drafts, claiming they aren’t adding players in other positions to help the teams needs. Their total W/L record is 561-735.
4. The New York Knicks .420%
The Knicks in the 2000s are a shell of what the team was in the 1990s. For fourteen years in a row the Knicks managed to make the playoffs, twice reaching the Finals, but losing both in their efforts. After the 2000 season, New York didn’t have an above .500 record for a decade. Though the team did manage to claim the 7th seed in the East with only 39 wins during the 2003-04 season, before being swept by the New Jersey Nets in the first round. In 2010 the under .500 streak would end after Carmelo Anthony was traded to the team from Denver along with Chauncey Billups. Anthony, Billups and J.R Smith would help lead the Knicks to three straight playoff appearances, including the 2012 season when New York won 54 games and made it to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals. After that year, the team has gone down hill and doesn’t appear to be coming back up anytime soon. With the addition of rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis last year, the Knicks will look to rebuild their franchise back into the title contender they were in the 90s. Their total W/L record is 545-751.
3. The Washington Wizards .414%
The Wizards didn’t have any magic to help them out in the 2000 season. After recently changing their team name from the Bullets to the Wizards a few years prior, the franchise now looked like a gun without any ammo. Finishing the season at 19-63, the team was so desperate for help, partial owner Michael Jordan activated himself to the roster in 2001, at age 38. He would play for two more years before retiring for the third and final time. In 2004, with the trio of Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Larry Hughes, the franchise posted its best record in 26 years, finishing at 45-37 and earning their first playoff spot since 1997. That team would go to 4 straight playoff appearances, but always fell short of the championship. Years went by and the team didn’t make the playoffs, that was until the team drafted superstar John Wall and has been on the rise ever since. The last three years Washington has posted an above .500 record and made the Semi-finals two years in a row. Their total W/L record is 537-759.
2. The Minnesota Timberwolves .412%
The Timberwolves had a positive first five years of this new millennium. Led by All Star Kevin Garnett, the Timberwolves had 3 consecutive 50+ win seasons from 2001-2003. Four of those five years they made the playoffs, but only once got out of the first round, but made the Conference Finals when they did. After a few frustrating years, Garnett was traded to the Boston Celtics in a 7for1 mega trade, including cash and Boston’s 2009 first round pick. Garnett would go on to win a ring in Boston while the Timberwolves struggled to win more than 30 games in a season. In 2008, Minnesota drafted Kevin Love, with hopes he would do to the franchise was Kevin Garnett had done before him. Unfortunately Love never got any help in Minnesota and the team suffered. Their lowest point came in 2009, when they lost 67 games. The team traded Kevin Love for Cavalier rookie Andrew Wiggins in 2014, but still aren’t ready to compete with the rest of the West. But with the combination of Wiggins, guard Zach Lavine and recently named Rookie of the Year Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves seem to be on the path to greatness. Their total W/L record is 535-761
1. The Charlotte Hornets
Like the aforementioned New Orleans Pelicans, the Hornets have played two less seasons than the rest of the teams on this list. The year 2000 was the last year before 2014 that the franchise was recognized as the Hornets. The two years from 2000-2002, the Hornets made the Eastern Conference Semi-finals both times. After the team was dismantled, the city of Charlotte no longer had an NBA team. That was until 2004, when the NBA added the Charlotte Bobcats as an expansion team. But the newly founded Bobcats were terrible. But thats to be expected from an NBA expansion team. Winning only 18 games in their first season, the Bobcats were never a real competitor until the 2009 season. That year the team finished 44-38, the teams first over .500 record since 2001. Two years later the franchise would become one of the worst teams in NBA history, winning only 7 of 66 games in 2011. Two years after that, the team was back in the playoffs behind a young roster, led by point guard Kemba Walker. In 2014 the team was officially renamed the Hornets once more, after the New Orleans franchise changed their name to the Pelicans. This year the Hornets had a great season, and finished 48-34, giving the Miami Heat a tough 7 game first round series before being eliminated. Their total W/L record is 464-668.
