Top 5 NBA Franchise Disappointments
It’s a story we see every year. One shining team starts the new NBA season as the undisputed favourite. A strong performance in the previous playoffs, a flood of new players, or a return of existing ones from injury; it all comes together to form the picture of the biggest ones to beat. But like most things in sport, aesthetics are not always as they seem. The possibility that all of the right ingredients could come out half-baked is an essential ingredient in itself – but often it leaves the bitter taste of disappointment, too.
Fans of the Brooklyn Nets experienced this first hand in 2022 when the Boston Celtics swept them off the court in a 4-0 victory, putting a halt to the then-favourite team’s ascent in the NBA playoffs.
NBA upsets like the one with the Nets are common, but some are much bigger than others. With the recent events of the 2022 playoffs and Brooklyn’s unceremonious exit from them fresh in our minds, Bodog is looking back at some of the biggest NBA franchise disappointments in living memory.
Brooklyn Nets – 2021/22
The Brooklyn Nets started the 2021/22 NBA season with high hopes. Just about every pundit, bookie, and fan on the planet had them as their favourite to win the NBA Championship back in the fall.
They even held onto that position well into the new year, with a respectable record of 29-16. By the end of January, however, things started to go south as the team lost 11 games in a row, a feat that was equal parts shocking and disappointing.
The Nets did manage to bounce back for a New York minute, keeping their spot as a favourite in the NBA playoffs betting market, but it was only a temporary reprieve. Soon enough they were trounced 4-0 by the Boston Celtics in the first round, sending out shockwaves that forced their previous standing on the books to lie down.
As for why they were the favourites in the first place, Brooklyn had several reasons, though Kevin Durant could be attributed to most of them. The power forward brought a great deal of clout to the team, but he had the misfortune of attaining several injuries which forced him to sit out for several weeks, leaving Brooklyn one star player short for all but 55 games in the regular season.
They took a hit from Kyrie Irving as well, as he couldn’t play during home games after refusing to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
To make matters worse, James Harden (before he was traded), Joe Harris, Nic Claxton, and LaMarcus Aldridge also had to take time away due to injuries. Even acquiring Ben Simmons didn’t help as he never got to play due to injury.
After starting with so much potential, the 2021/22 campaign was an unqualified disappointment for the Nets. Not every season can be a winner, and if the Nets can get a full squad of fit and healthy players, they can try again next season to hang on to their favourite status a little longer.
Los Angeles Lakers – 2021/22
The LA Lakers were another strong contender in the NBA playoff betting odds for much of this season. After winning their 17th championship in 2019/20, they had a much less impressive run in 2020/21, being dunked out of the playoffs in the first round by the Suns.
They still had a world-class roster, however, so the Lakers remained one of the favourites for 2021/22. Yet, despite having Lebron James, Dwight Howard, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, and Carmelo Anthony, Los Angeles, under Frank Vogel, finished 11th with 49 losses and no spot in the playoffs.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of their season – for all the wrong reasons – played out in November, when the Pistons’ Isaiah Stewart copped a wayward elbow from LeBron James in the outer corner of his right eye, splitting the skin and turning the game into a blood sport. But Stewart was intent on re-writing the end of that story, no doubt set for a dramatised version of an eye for an eye, and with his bloodied face resembling a Rorschach test, lunged towards his assailant repeatedly. The might of five or six burly men just barely contained the anger that would otherwise have left James with more than a one-match suspension.
We may have had some courtside entertainment, but, in many ways, the Lakers’ dismal performance is worse than the Nets; but with disappointment spread out over an entire season, their NBA season upset occurred in a less spectacular fashion.
Dallas Mavericks – 2006/07
The Dallas Mavericks were supposed to be a sure thing going into the 2006/07 season. They ended the regular season with a 67-15 record, which was not just the best in the Western Conference, but the best in the league. It was a breezy six wins ahead of the Suns who finished second in the west, and the third-placed Pistons who topped the east with a 53-29 record.
But the Mavs ran out of steam when the pressure was ramped up with everything to play for, and they unceremoniously fell apart. They faced the Golden State Warriors in the first round but lost 4-2, with the final game ending 111-86.
The Warriors had the better of the Mavericks all season, and coach Avery Johnson hadn’t managed to find a weakness that he could exploit in his opponents. This hurdle was their ultimate downfall, and the point at which a phenomenal win record imploded into an NBA upset.
Oklahoma City Thunder – 2017/18
After the 2016/17 season, the Thunder made some shrewd trades. They picked up Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, adding to an already-strong line-up with Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams, Jerami Grant, and Andre Roberson.
But just like we saw with the Nets, injuries were more than a passing problem for the Thunder; there was friction in the ranks. And it didn’t need a Isaiah v LeBron-style reckoning to bring antagonism to the fore: the team struggled to work together as egos and bickering took hold, and the team managed a 48-34 record in the regular season.
Scraping through to the playoffs, the legendary team’s lack of cohesion became abundantly self-evident. Despite the fact that they’d gotten the better of Utah three times out of four in the regular season, Oklahoma was sent home empty-handed after a 4-2 loss against the Jazz in the first round.
Indiana Pacers – 2004/05
The Pacers rocked into the 2004/05 season riding high. They smashed the regular season with a 61-21 record and made it all the way to the EC Finals, before losing to the Pistons. Riding that high, they expected to better that performance in 2004/05 and many pundits agreed.
But the infamous Malice at the Palace brawl between the Pacers and Pistons in November left Metta World Peace suspended for the rest of the season, with Jermaine O’Neal and Stephen Jackson also out for many games.
Everything fell apart from here and, although they made it into the playoffs with a 44-38 record, the Pacers lost steam in the playoffs, resulting in another doozy for NBA upsets.
We may have said farewell to the Nets earlier than expected this year, but with a new season comes new opportunities to rewrite the story. NBA upsets are a big part of the fun in the NBA, and it’s precisely what makes NBA playoff betting such a thrill. Be sure to bet on your favourite team, but stay on high alert… because entire teams can flip on a dime.
Image Credit: By Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0