So I was out with one of my girlfriends' friends last night, and since he's a sports fan, I naturally started complaining about how I just went through one of the worst seasons of all time as a fan. I figured this was a pretty open-and-shut case, considering all that happened this year. The expectations, the slow start, the grumbling, the Arenas/Crittenton duel, the trade deadline, the 16-game losing streak, etc.
But once I was done, he had a simple reply for me. "Well, at least you're not my team - the Nets."
I immediately thought to myself, "Come on, you guys might have sucked, but you weren't supposed to be good and nobody brought guns into the locker room on your team." At the same time, it did make me wonder whether I was so caught up in my Wizards fandom that I wasn't considering the anguish other teams' fans went through this season. I mean, we weren't the only team to colossally disappoint this season.
So is there any team that can rival ours for most disappointing season of the year? Here are a few candidates:
New Jersey Nets: Nearly broke the record for most losses in a season, suffered embarrassment in the front office and with season ticket giveaways, saw their all-star point guard from the year before completely fall off the map, employed a coach who acted like he didn't care, played in front of empty arenas every game.
Golden State Warriors: Suffered a ton of injuries all year, had to employ a D-League roster because of that, had their star player mope and deal with trade rumors, dramatically overpaid their other "star," only to see him demand a trade a couple months later, had their emerging center completely fall off the map, carried on with a charade to give their coach the wins record even though he's mentally checked out, suffered through front-office embarrassment, etc.
Philadelphia 76ers: Had hopes of making the playoffs and didn't, had their new coach fail so dramatically, highest-paid player feuded with coach, all their youngsters regressed, their once-solid defense completely fell off the map, their Allen Iverson charade ended when Iverson walked out on the team, their GM didn't blow up the team when it was desperately needed, their players hated each other and the coach by the end.
Minnesota Timberwolves: The Rubio saga, the coach not matching the team's personnel at all, the terrible stretch to begin and end the season, the Darko saga, the terrible play of Al Jefferson, the non-playing of Kevin Love, watching nearly every young point guard outperform Jonny Flynn.
Detroit Pistons: Their free agents completely stinking it up, their fanbase leaving because of the down economy, their owner dying, their GM losing his magic touch, the injuries.
I still think none of those teams come close to ours in terms of disappointment, but that's just me.
UPDATE: Major oversight on my part in not mentioning the Clippers on this list. They're definitely up there.