10 longest losing streaks in NBA history
By Jakob Ashlin
5. 1982 Cavaliers: 24 games
1982 was a rough year to be a Cleveland Cavaliers fan. During the 1981-82 season, the franchise went through FOUR head coaches (Don Delaney, Bob Kloppenburg, Chuck Daly, and Bill Musselman). They ended the season on a 19-game losing streak.
To make matters worse, the Cavaliers did even not own their first-round pick. Owner Ted Stepien was notoriously involved in many lopsided deals in the early 80's. One of those deals was sending Cleveland's 1982 first-round pick and guard Butch Lee to the Los Angeles Lakers for a 1980 first-round pick (Chad Kinch) and forward Don Ford.
That 1982 first-round pick ended up landing at No. 1 overall, and the Lakers selected Hall of Fame forward James Worthy. Meanwhile, Kinch played only 29 games for the Cavaliers, while Ford went to average 3.8 points across 106 appearances.
The Cavaliers lost their first five games of the 1982-83 season, building their losing streak to 24 games. They finally secured a victory on November 10th in overtime against the Golden State Warriors. Guard Ron Brewer came off the bench and scored 33 points.