Another Dismal Record Poised to be Set by Charlotte Bobcats

In the 2011-2012 lockout-shortened NBA season, the Charlotte Bobcats made several unflattering headlines regarding their incompetence by going 7-59, which set the record for the worst winning percentage (.1186) in league history.

Earlier this season, the Bobcats reeled off an 18-game losing streak, just six games shy of the longest losing streak in NBA history, set by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2010-2011 campaign.

Now, Charlotte seems to be on the verge of setting another record for their inept play.

Currently, the Bobcats have lost their last 16 games at home, their last win in Charlotte coming on Nov. 21 against the Toronto Raptors.

That 16-game home losing streak ties them for the second-longest streak of that kind in NBA history. It’s also only three games shy of the 19-game record set by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1993-1994 season.

Given their 10-32 record and their sub-par play alone this season, it wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea to say that Charlotte is flirting with taking over that undesirable record in the coming weeks. But when you consider that their next four home opponents, it becomes an increasingly more dismal outlook for the Bobcats.

On Saturday, they host the Minnesota Timberwolves, an important game if they want to avoid the setting this record. It’s so vital to avoiding the 20-game losing streak because their next three home opponents are the Los Angeles Lakers, the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons.

All of those teams are under .500, but they all also have more talent than the Bobcats. The Lakers are older and slower than Charlotte, but also have experience on their side. The Celtics have a top-notch defense that will most likely stifle the Bobcats struggling offense. And since starting 7-21, the Pistons have been lukewarm, if not hot, going 9-5 in their last 14 games.

So, if the Bobcats plan on avoiding setting another record associated with losing a bunch of games, they need to take advantage of playing the injury-riddled Timberwolves. If not, they will likely be staring the record dead in the face.

If that were to happen, that would be a kick in the stomach to a team that’s already down. The old cliché goes, there’s no place to go but up. For Charlotte’s sake, let’s hope that’s actually the case.