The hapless Philadelphia 76ers’ 10-38 record this year is truly awful and ranks second to last in the league. It also speaks to a franchise that, much like the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, made a disastrous investment on the analytics crowd.
Yet, as bad as things have been this season, it comes nowhere near to comparing with the 1972-73 Philadelphia Sixers. That team set the standard for NBA futility and has become infamous for its ineptitude. You can say that the 1972-73 Sixers were the 1962 New York Mets of the NBA.
9-73
The 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers went 9-73 on the season for a win percentage of .110. The Sixers finished 59 games behind the Atlantic Division champion Boston Celtics. They were so horrible that they are now beloved in cult-like fashion, much like that ’62 Mets team that went 40-120.
The Wisdom of Al McGuire
In the offseason leading up to the 1972-73 campaign, the Sixers offered the head coaching job to Al McGuire, who was building a national power at the University of Marquette. McGuire wisely decided to stay at Marquette where he went on to win a national championship and then parlayed that success into a career as the top color commentator in the game alongside Dick Enberg and Billy Packer. The trio became the historic gold standard of college basketball broadcasting. McGuire would have likely destroyed his career and future had he accepted the job.
Key Losses
Future Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsey left the Sixers for the Buffalo Braves gig. Top star Billy Cunningham took his 23.3 points per game to the rival American Basketball Association. The trade of Archie Clark to the Baltimore Bullets was another problem. The Sixers were 30-52 in 1971-72. Such departures set the stage for the disaster of 1972-73. The only link to the Sixers 1966-67 championship team was Hal Greer, who would enter the final season of his NBA career.
0-15 Start
Philadelphia lost their first 15 games of the season for the unfortunate Roy Rubin, who was named head coach by general manager Don DeJardin. Rubin arrived from Long Island University where he coached for 11 seasons. Rubin was not for long in his Sixers career.
Out of his Element
Rubin lost the team before the season even began. His opening team meeting was a rant about what a disciplinarian he would be. Rubin instituted an unpopular dress code and a ban on smoking. When Fred Carter objected, Rubin backed off and said that only Carter could smoke. The players rolled their eyes. It was amateur hour in Philadelphia.
Later in the season a Sixers player and Viet Nam veteran named John Q. Trapp flashed a gun when told to come out of a game by Rubin. Trapp stayed on the hardwood as a result.
Three Air Plane Crashes Needed
Rubin was fired after a 4-47 start and replaced by a player named Kevin Loughery. Loughery would go on to a long NBA coaching career. When Loughery was asked what it would take for his team to make the playoffs he responded, “Three airplane crashes.”
Under the leadership of their player/coach, Philadelphia did improve to 5-26 for a winning percentage of .161, compared to .078 under Rubin. Philadelphia eventually packed it in early under Loughery, however, as they lost the final 13 games of the season.
Loughery did cut the gun-toting Trapp, which was a popular move with the players.
Seeds of the Demise Planted Years Earlier
After the 76ers’ 1968 playoff collapse against the Boston Celtics, they reacted by trading center Wilt Chamberlain to the Los Angeles Lakers for Darral Imhoff, Archie Clark, and Jerry Chambers.
Chamberlain was promised a stake in ownership of the team by Ike Richman, who would later die before the deal was completed. New owner Irv Kosloff refused to honor the agreement. A bitter Chamberlain considered retirement or jumping to the American Basketball Association like Cunningham later did. The loss of Wilt the Stilt proved to be catastrophic for the franchise. The 76ers did not recover until Julius Erving arrived to rescue the franchise in 1976.
Pride in their Record
It’s funny to note that, much like the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins, the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers do not want their record as the worst team of all time to ever be broken. Rubin himself admitted as much shortly before he died.
The old Dolphins have a tradition of popping the champagne corks when the final NFL team loses a game each year. The 1972-73 Sixers do the same when the last NBA team wins its tenth game of season each year.
