December 30, 2023: The Longest Losing Streak In NBA History

NOTE: While these entries are dated 2022, I decided to backdate the posting dates of events from 2023 onward to the same date in 2022.

December 30, 2023: The Detroit Pistons beat the Toronto Raptors, 129-127 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Pascal Siakam scored 35 points for the Raptors, and Dennis Schröder scored 30. Cade Cunningham scored 30 to lead the Pistons.

This ended a 28-game losing streak for the Pistons. It was tied for the longest losing streak in not just NBA history, but the longest in the history of major league sports in North America. It also became the longest single-season losing streak.

The Pistons had lost their 1st game of the 2023-24 season, then won their next 2. But on October 30, they lost away to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 124-112. They eventually fell to 2-29. Of the 28 losses, 11 of them were by 8 points or less.

From March 27 to December 1, 2015, the Philadelphia 76ers lost 28 straight games, but that was over the course of 2 seasons: Their last 18 games of in 2014-15, and their 1st 10 of 2015-16. They broke their own record: From January 31 to March 29, 2014, they lost 26 straight, tying the record set by the Cleveland Cavaliers from December 20, 2010 to February 11, 2011.

In the 1972-73 season, when the Sixers had the worst record in NBA history, 9-73, their longest losing streak was 20 games, from January 9 to February 14, 1973. And, straddling the previous off-season, they lost 19 straight from March 21 to November 11, 1972.

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December 30, 2023 was a Saturday. These other 5 NBA games were played that day:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers, 140-126 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 105-92 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 108-106 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Miami Heat, 117-109 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

* And the Dallas Mavericks beat the Golden State Warriors, 132-122 at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Luka Dončić of the Mavericks led all scorers on the day with 39 points.

Baseball was out of season. One game was played in the NFL: The Dallas Cowboys beat the Detroit Lions, 20-19 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The Lions scored a touchdown with less than a minute to go, and seemed to have taken the lead on a tackle-eligible play on the two-point conversion attempt. However, the referee ruled that the unusually-eligible player had not announced to him that the play would be tried. The video replay proved that the referee was a liar, and, through either malice or incompetence, the win was stolen from the Lions.

There were 4 college football bowl games played:

* Number 6 Georgia had lost the Southeastern Conference Championship Game to Alabama. Number 4 Florida State had won the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, and were undefeated, but were denied a spot in the National Championship Playoff. They did not make their point well: Georgia beat them, 63-3 in the Orange Bowl, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It was the biggest blowout in bowl game history.

* Number 11 Mississippi (a.k.a. "Ole Miss") beat Number 10 Penn State, 38-25 in the Peach Bowl, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

* Maryland beat Auburn, 31-13 in the Music City Bowl, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

* And the University of Wyoming beat the University of Toledo, 16-15 in the Arizona Bowl, at Arizona Stadium, on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson.

And there were 9 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Boston Bruins, 5-2 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1 at the Amerant Bank Arena in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 in a shootout at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Jeff Skinner scored the winning goal with 3:40 left in overtime.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-2 at the PPG Points Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-2 at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 in a shootout at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

November 3, 2012: The Nets Make Their Brooklyn Debut

November 3, 2012: The Nets make their Brooklyn debut, a little delayed due to Hurricane Sandy. The opponents are the Toronto Raptors, who played their 1st game at home to the Nets, 17 years to the day before.

This time, the Nets announce their freakin' presence with authority. Despite 28 points from the Raps' Kyle Lowry, the Nets win 107-100, led by 27 points from Brook Lopez. Attendance: 17,732.

The Nets have tried, hard, to win an NBA Championship since moving to Brooklyn, through 2 different ownership groups. They reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2014 and 2021, but that's it. Injuries, draft busts, and players who exaggerate their own importance to the team, each of which was all too common when the Nets played on Long Island (1968-77), at Rutgers University (1977-81), at the Meadowlands (1981-2010) and in Newark (2010-12), have reared their heads again. The Nets remain a joke.

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November 3, 2012 was a Saturday. There were 9 other games played in the NBA that day:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Washington Wizards, 89-86 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Miami Heat beat the Denver Nuggets, 119-116 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami. Chris Bosh scored 40 for the Heat.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Charlotte Bobcats, 126-99 at the American Airlines Center.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Houston Rockets, 95-85 in overtime at the Toyota Center.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Sacramento Kings, 106-98 in double overtime at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Chicago Bulls, 89-82 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 105-102 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Utah Jazz, 110-100 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio.

* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 114-110 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

The World Series had ended 6 days earlier, with the San Francisco Giants sweeping the Detroit Tigers in 4 straight games. The NHL team owners had locked the players out, so the season was delayed.

There were college football games played that day, including the following:

* Number 1 Alabama beat Number 5 Louisiana State, 21-17 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The following week, Alabama lost to Texas A&M, but this was not a Southeastern Conference game, so Alabama still advanced to the SEC Championship Game.

* Number 2 Oregon beat Number 18 Southern California, 62-51 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Yes, that's in football, not basketball. A loss to Stanford 2 weeks later cost Oregon a chance at league and national honors.

* Number 3 Kansas State beat Oklahoma State, 44-30 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. Kansas State won the Big Twelve Conference title, but lost to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Number 4 Notre Dame beat the University of Pittsburgh, 29-26 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame went undefeated, and were Number 2 at the end of the regular season. But Alabama beat them in the BCS National Championship Game. It got worse: Notre Dame eventually had to forfeit all of their 2012 and '13 wins due to NCAA rule violations.

* Number 6 Ohio State beat Illinois, 52-22 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Ohio State went undefeated, but, due to earlier NCAA rule violations, were ineligible for the Big Ten Conference and National Championships, or even for a bowl game invitation.

* Number 7 Georgia beat Mississippi, 37-10 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. Georgia won the SEC East Division title, but lost the SEC Championship Game to Alabama. They did go to the Citrus Bowl, and beat Orlando.

* Number 8 Florida beat Missouri, 14-7 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. Losing to Georgia earlier had cost Florida a shot at the SEC title game, but with SEC Champion Alabama ranked Number 1, that opened up the SEC's Sugar Bowl slot. Florida received it, and beat the University of Louisville.

* Number 9 Florida State were idle. They won the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, and beat Mid-American Conference Champions Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl.

* Number 10 Clemson beat Duke, 56-20 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

* Number 13 Oregon state beat Arizona State, 36-26 at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.

* Number 14 Oklahoma beat Iowa State, 35-20 at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. Oklahoma blew their shot at the Big 12 title by losing to Kansas State, but were invited to the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 15 Stanford beat Colorado, 48-0 at Folsom Field in the Denver suburb of Boulder, Colorado. Stanford won the Pacific-Twelve Conference title, and beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 16 Texas A&M beat Number 17 Mississippi State, 38-13 at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi. Despite finishing 3rd in the SEC West Division, Texas A&M achieved what had been their dream in their Southwest Conference years, and went to the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 19 Boise State were upset by San Diego State, 21-19 at Bronco Stadium (now Albertsons Stadium), home of the blue artificial "Smurf Turf," in Boise, Idaho.

* Number 20 Texas Tech were upset by Texas, 31-22 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock. Though that was not as shocking as the fact that Texas Tech were favorites over Texas.

* Number 21 Nebraska beat Michigan State, 28-24 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. Nebraska advanced to the Big 10 Championship Game.

* Number 22 Rutgers were idle, coming off an embarrassing loss at home to Kent State after winning their 1st 7 games. They ended up winning a share of the Big East Conference title, which remains their only league title in over 150 years of football. They ended up losing the Citrus Bowl to Virginia Tech.

* Number 23 West Virginia were upset by Texas Christian, 39-38 at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia.

* Number 24 Arizona lost to Number 25 UCLA, 66-10 at the Rose Bowl outside Los Angeles in Pasadena, California. UCLA won the Pac-12 South Division, but lost the Pac-12 Championship Game to Stanford.

* Michigan beat Minnesota for the Little Brown Jug, 35-13 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* Penn State beat Purdue, 34-9 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. Penn State were ineligible for the Big 10 title and any bowl game, due to the sanctions over the previous year's Jerry Sandusky scandal.

* Wisconsin were idle. Due to Ohio State and Penn State both being ineligible for the Big 10 title, Wisconsin won the North Division despite a 4-4 Division record, and beat Nebraska in the Big 10 Championships Game. But they lost the Rose Bowl to Stanford.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Air Force, 41-21 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy beat Florida Atlantic, 24-17 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

And in English soccer, to my dismay, Manchester United beat Arsenal, 2-1 at Old Trafford in Salford.

November 3, 1995: The NBA Returns to Canada

Tracy Murray (left) and Ed O'Bannon

November 3, 1995: After having a team in the 1st season of the league that would become the NBA, the 1946-47 Toronto Huskies, Canada regains representation in the league, 48 years later. The expansion Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies each play their 1st game.

It went pretty well for the Raptors, the 1st team in North American major league sports to give themselves a dinosaur-themed name: They beat the New Jersey Nets, 94-79 at the SkyDome. Alvin Robertson led them with 30 points.

Their 1st season was typically bad for an expansion team, but not historically bad: 21-61. They played at the SkyDome, now named the Rogers Centre, until 1999, when the Air Canada Centre, now named the Scotiabank Arena, opened. They won the NBA Championship in 2019. Their only other appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals has been in 2016.

The Grizzlies also won their opener, beating the Portland Trail Blazers, 92-80 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Benoit Benjamin led them with 29 points. Three days later, on November 6, they played their 1st home game, and beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 100-98.

Theodore "Blue" Edwards

They were almost historically bad, though, only going 15-67. They played at General Motors Place, which had just opened as their 1st home, and as a replacement for the Pacific Coliseum as the home of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. In 2001, they topped out at 23-59, but hadn't made the Playoffs in 6 seasons. With low attendance, they moved to Memphis, where they have still struggled, but, at least, they haven't had to compete with a hockey team for Canadian fans' attention.

UPDATE: Through the 2025-26 season, the Raptors do not have a team Hall of Fame. They have retired one number, 15, for 1998-2004 guard Vince Carter. Carter, 1997-2000 guard Tracy McGrady, 2003-10 center Chris Bosh, and brief Raptors Chauncey Billups (guard, 1998) and Hakeem Olajuwon (center, 2001-02) have been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Lenny Wilkens had already been elected before serving as their head coach, 2000-03.

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November 3, 1995 was a Friday. All 28 NBA teams were in action on this night. Here are the results of the other 12 games:

* The New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 106-100 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 101-100 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston. This was the Celtics' 1st regular-season game at the new arena, although not their 1st home game at an arena other than the Boston Garden. Early in their history, they played a few games at the Boston Arena, which became Northeastern University's Matthews Arena. And from 1975 to 1978, and again from 1980 to 1995, they played a few "home games" at the Hartford Civic Center, now the PeoplesBank Arena, in Hartford, Connecticut.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Washington Bullets, 105-103 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 111-106 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 99-88 at the Orlando Arena.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Charlotte Hornets, 105-91 at the United Center in Chicago. Michael Jordan scored 42 points.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors, 110-92 at The Summit in Houston. It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 103-97 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 112-94 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns, 112-106 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Kevin Johnson scored 39 in defeat for the Suns.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets, 98-96 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 95-86 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 6 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 7-4 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

* The New York Islanders lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-3 at the ThunderDome (now Tropicana Field) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the USAir Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 3-3 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* And the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 4-4 at the aforementioned GM Place (Rogers Arena).

March 6, 1972: Wayne Embry Becomes the 1st Black GM In American Sports

March 6, 1972: The Milwaukee Bucks hire Wayne Embry as their general manager. This makes him the 1st black GM in major league American sports.

Wayne Richard Embry was born on March 26, 1937 in Springfield, Ohio. He grew up in nearby New Carlisle, and attended Tecumseh High School there. It stands on U.S. Route 40, and that section of the highway has been named Wayne Embry Boulevard. He starred at Miami University of Ohio, which retired his Number 23, and now has a statue honoring him outside their arena, Millett Hall. His wife Terri is also a Miami graduate. They have 2 daughters and a son.

He played for the nearby Cincinnati Royals from 1958 to 1966; with the Boston Celtics until 1968, winning a title that year; and was an original member of the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1968-69 season. Known for a good hook shot, he made 5 NBA All-Star Games.

He retired in 1969, and was immediately hired for the Bucks' front office. With the veteran Oscar Robertson (a teammate of Embry's in Cincinnati) and the young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Bucks won the NBA Championship in 1971, sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in the Finals.

When Ray Patterson, the team's 1st GM, resigned, the Bucks' board of directors unanimously voted to promote Embry to the GM's role. With his front-office work, the Bucks got back to the NBA Finals in 1974, but lost to the Boston Celtics.

He remained with the Bucks until 1979, a year in which the Bucks began a run of 7 straight NBA Division titles. In 1986, he was hired as GM of the Cleveland Cavaliers, a hard-luck team that kept smacking into first the Detroit Pistons' "Motor City Bad Boys," then the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls. They reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 1992, but that would be as close as they came.

He was named NBA Executive of the Year in 1992 and 1998. In 2004, he was hired as senior basketball advisor to the Toronto Raptors, a post he has held ever since. He helped to build the team's 2019 NBA Champions.

He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in its "Contributors" category in 1999.

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March 6, 1972 was a Monday. This was a big day in basketball for another reason, although no one would know it for 20 years: Shaquille O'Neal was born.

Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were no games in the NHL, or in the American Basketball Association.

Only 1 game was played in the NBA: The Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 132-127 in overtime at the Milwaukee Arena. In 1974, it was renamed the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena. Kareem scored 45 points, overcoming 34 from John Havlicek.