Worst moment in each NBA franchise’s history
By Brad Rowland
Denver Nuggets – 23 straight losses in 1997-1998
The Denver Nuggets have a surprisingly impressive history if you dig through the numbers. However, the 1997-1998 NBA season was not especially kind to the organization, as the Nuggets finished with the unsightly record of 11-71 while challenging for the league’s all-time record for futility.
Because the Nuggets did not actually “achieve” that lofty mark, the general public does not associate this group with terrible play on a grand scale, but for a 23-game sample from December 9, 1997 through January 24, 1998, things were quite ugly. Denver’s 23-game losing skid ranks in a tie for third all-time (amusingly behind two streaks from the same Cleveland Cavaliers team), and quite honestly, a look at the roster indicates that things could have been much, much worse – to the point of all-time catastrophe.
Denver’s best player during the 1997-1998 was a 34-year-old Johnny Newman, and while Newman was certainly a very solid NBA player during his prime, that is a real indictment of the team’s roster. Head coach Bill Hanzlik would never hold another head coaching job in the league after the 11-win performance, and this stretch was undoubtedly the lowlight of his tenure with the club.
The Denver Nuggets don’t have championships (at least in the NBA) to fall back on as a franchise, but fans can take some solace in their overall respectability. Sadly, that description does not extend to a 23-game disaster during the course of the 1997-1998 NBA campaign.
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