It goes without saying that the Philadelphia 76ers are not a good basketball team.
After dropping Sunday evening’s game 92-84 to the Memphis Grizzlies, the Sixers notched their 18th loss this season, remaining winless and matching the league record set by the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets for the worst start to begin a season in NBA history.
Dating back to last season, the Sixers have lost 28 straight contests, with their last win coming on March 27, 2015, extending the longest losing streak in U.S. professional sports.
The Sixers are in line to break their own losing streak when they take on the Los Angeles Lakers at home on Tuesday, in what will be Kobe Bryant’s last game in his hometown of Philadelphia since announcing his retirement. Ticket sales are expected to surge following Bryant’s announcement.
Despite the team’s struggles during a difficult rebuilding process, Sixers coach Brett Brown has remained optimistic about the team’s progress.
“For people that don't follow our program, they just simply see a record and volume of losses,” Brown said, via Philly.com. “For the people here, especially the Philadelphia journalists, to have seen the effort and how close we are to playing with some really good players, against some really good teams on the road, driving on floors and being there - most definitely I leave very, very proud of our guys. We made progress.”
Against the Grizzlies, the Sixers clung to a five-point lead with just over seven minutes left in the game, before surrendering a game-changing 15-1 run and collapsing down the stretch. The Sixers feature one of the league’s youngest rosters, with an average player age of just 23.9 years.