It’s official.
In the 1985-86 and 2007-08 seasons, the Knicks went 23-59, which, until now, had been the worst record in franchise history. But with Saturday’s blowout loss in Chicago (where current Knicks president Phil Jackson won 6 titles as a coach), the Knicks broke the franchise record for losses in a season, falling to 14-60. With 8 games left on the schedule, the Knicks figure to set their new “record” by a wide margin, and could approach the record for most losses by ANY team (although they will not “catch” the 9-73 Sixers team from 1973).
Now, while the Knicks have set all kinds of “worst in team history” records this season, that doesn’t mean things can’t turn around. They lost 58, 59, and 58 games over a three-year stretch in the mid-80s, and the last two of those seasons came WITH Patrick Ewing on the roster (the first helped them GET Patrick Ewing on the roster). This miserable stretch was followed by a decade and a half of great Knicks teams. The Knicks have cap space, and will have a good pick (obviously), so with some luck and good planning, they have a chance to flip the script and get to the top of the league.
But there’s no question that THIS is rock bottom.
-Tommy Rothman