Worst record in NBA history: Can the Pistons make miserable history?

Going into the Christmas Eve break, the Detroit Pistons have more or less resigned on any likelihood of competing for a playoff, or even play-in spot, in 2023-24. At 2-27 heading into the day off the Pistons have won fewer than seven percent of their games and lost 26 straight. It would take a monumental turnaround to compete this year.

The next-worst team in the East has more than double the number of wins Detroit has. Looking at the NBA broadly conceived, the Spurs in the West have been disappointing, too, but even they have been able to muster out four wins.

For Detroit, the concern is certainly more about the losing streak than the record itself. The Pistons went 2-1 to start the year and haven't won since. While the team is clearly not built to win, a losing streak this long begins to look like more than just a lack of proper build, it appears to have metabolized into a lack of fight.

Perhaps most frustrating for Pistons fans is that the team has accrued what should be good talent over the years. Detroit has drafted a top-10 player in each of the last four drafts. They've also acquired other good young players like Marvin Bagley III and James Wiseman, in addition to proven veterans like Joe Harris and Bojan Bogdanovic. Yet, the losses pile up.

So, with just two wins through the first 35 percent of the season, how likely is it they put up the worst record in league history?

Worst record in NBA history

There are two ways to look at this question. One would be the worst record in NBA history considering winning percentage, which factors in when the league had fewer regular season games and lockout years when seasons were truncated.

The other way to look at it is by worst record in an 82-game season, which may give the best comparison for this year's Pistons.

The worst record by winning percentage was the Charlotte Bobcats in 2012 at 7-59. That was a winning percentage of 10.7 percent, higher than the Pistons 6.9 percent as of Dec. 24.

The worst record in an 82-game season was the 1972 Philadelphia 76ers who finished 9-73. Funny enough, the 2016 Sixers are in second place with just one more win, 10-72. Today, the Pistons are pacing for six wins.

Basketball is a game of runs, both in-game and in the grand scheme of a season, so there's still plenty of time for the Pistons to recollect itself and stage a nice push. Even the 2016 Sixers won three out of five at one point.

NBA longest losing streak record

At 26 straight losses coming into the Christmas Eve break, fans are also wondering how close the Pistons are to making some really bad history.

The longest regular season losing streak is 28 games, but that came across two different seasons for the Sixers (2014-2016). Looking at the longest streak in a single season, the record is 26 straight. So, Detroit has tied it, and they could break it on Dec. 26 against the Nets.

Should Detroit keep losing, they could tie the multi-season record of 28 straight games on Dec. 28 against the Celtics, and break it with a loss on Dec. 30 against the Raptors.

Not the record books any team wants to be in.

Pistons fans certainly hope Detroit can pull out a win before that to keep the humiliation to a minimum.