With the Los Angeles Lakers recent loss to the Phoenix Suns, they are now officially out of the playoffs. The loss proves to be the final nail in the coffin for what has been one of the most disappointing seasons in not just Lakers History but arguably in the History of the NBA. This years Lakers squad came into the year with high expectations which is usually the case when you have a team with Lebron James on it. Some of their shortcomings were expected such as the injury issues and defensive struggles due to the age of the roster. Still, no one would have expected the Lakers to be the 11th seed in the West and at times be a very hard team to watch. However, as bad as the Lakers have been this year calling them the most disappointing team of all time I feel speaks to recency bias. As a Lakers fan myself, I understand that this years team fell way below expectation but others teams throughout NBA history have done the same. I will highlight teams in years past I feel that have been even more disappointing than the 21-22 Lakers.
The 2006-2007 Dallas Mavericks
When teams have high expectations based on the talent of the roster and fall flagrantly short it is obviously very disappointing. Even worse is when a team plays great in the regular season and appears to have proven themselves as a title contender just to lose in the first round. The 2006-2007 Dallas Mavericks made NBA history in one of the most disappointing ways possible by losing in a historic playoff upset. This season the Mavericks were led by the legendary Dirk Nowitzki, who won MVP for leading his team to a 67-15 record. They had plenty of talent around Dirk such as Josh Howard and Jason Terry. The Mavericks were coming off a loss to the Miami Heat the previous year and appeared determined to make it back to the finals.
In the playoffs, the Mavericks would match up against the eight seeded Golden State Warriors. The Mavericks were heavily favored over the Warriors who finished with just a 42-40 record. Despite the record disparity, the Warriors had a solid amount of talent such as Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, and Al Harrington. Dallas was immediately made aware of how good the Warriors were as they were defeated in Game 1 with Baron Davis dropping a game high 33 points. The Mavericks bounced back by winning game 2 but had no idea what they were in for when they went to Oakland to play in the Warriors' Oracle Arena. The Warriors were hosting their first playoff game in 13 years and the crowd showed their excitement. The raucous crowd uplifted the Warriors as they won back to back at home putting Dallas on the brink of elimination. Dirk stepped up when they returned to Dallas for game 5 and dropped 30 points in a 118-112. Unfortunately, for the Mavericks, the game 5 win only delayed the inevitable. The "We Believe" Warriors shocked the basketball world by destroying the Mavericks 111-86 in game 6. With the loss, the Dallas Mavericks suffered arguably the biggest playoff upset in NBA history. The loss was especially tough for Dirk as he was clearly disappointed when given the MVP award just a few days after the bitter defeat. Fortunately for Dirk he was later able to redeem himself and the Dallas Mavericks a few seasons later by winning a championship in 2011.
The 2014-2015 Los Angeles Clippers
The lob city era Clippers were one of the best teams of the 2010's and no doubt had a championship caliber team. Whether you call it a "Clipper curse" or just plain bad luck, it has to be a surprise or disappointment they never won a ring (Unless you are a Lakers fan). Their are multiple seasons the lob city era Clippers fell short but the most disappointing has to be from the 2014-15 season. The Clippers were just a year removed from the Donald Sterling scandal and once again looked like contenders as they won 50+ games for the 3rd straight season. The Clippers were led by the all star duo of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Blake Griffin at this time was a freak athlete and one of the most exciting players in the NBA. As for Chris Paul, he was every bit the leader and star point guard he had always been throughout his career. They also had a talented roster with players such as 3x 6th man of the year Jamal Crawford. JJ Redick was their elite sharpshooter and Deandre Jordan was a high flying dunker and an excellent shot blocker.
The Clippers had an impressive start to the postseason as they were matched up with the defending champing San Antonio Spurs in the First Round. The series came down to a dramatic finish with the Clippers winning Game 7 111-109 thanks to a game winning layup by Chris Paul. For the second year in a row, the Clippers would make it to the second round and this time matched up against the Houston Rockets. In the first two games of the series, the Clippers were able to take back home court advantage by winning Game 1 in Houston. They were led by Blake Griffin who had a 26 point, 14 rebound and, 13 assist triple double performance. With the series tied at 1-1 the next two games would be played in Los Angeles. The Clippers would dominate on their home floor winning Game 3 by 25 and game 4 by 33. At this point, the Clippers had a 3-1 series lead and seemed ready to make their first appearance in the Conference Finals in franchise history. This is where the disappointment started as they would miss their first opportunity to win the series by losing Game 5 back in Houston. The Clippers would return to Los Angeles where they had previously dominated in the series. To start the 4th quarter of Game 6, the Clippers led by 13 and were just a quarter away from closing out the series. The series seemed over as James Harden was benched in the 4th quarter due to his ineffective play. Next, the improbable happened as Corey Brewer and Josh Smith were suddenly dominating in the 4th. Without their superstar in Harden, the Rockets dropped an incredible 40 points in the 4th quarter. The Clippers seemed shell-shocked and were unable to respond to the Rockets scoring onslaught and scored just 15 points. The Rockets went on an amazing 49-18 run in the final minutes of the game to win 119-107 to send the series back to Houston for a decisive game 7. The Rockets now had all momentum and the Clippers appeared completely flabbergasted. In Game 7 back in Houston, the Clippers put up a fight but the Rockets clearly smelled blood and took advantage. Houston would go on to win Game 7 113-100 and the Clippers blew their 3-1 lead.
With their Game 7 defeat, the Los Angeles Clippers experienced arguably their most disappointed moment in franchise history. This disappointment stings even more particularly because of the talent of the Clippers at this time and the fact they blew their best chance to make a run to the finals. The lob city Clippers were not just one of the most disappointing teams of the 2010s due to not being able to carry over their regular season success into the playoffs. The fact they never even made a conference final with the talented roster they had easily makes them one of the most disappointing teams in NBA history.
When it comes to disappointing teams, the 21-22 Lakers will be remembered for falling far below expectations. However, the teams I previously mentioned were arguably even more historically underwhelming as they both ended their seasons in shocking playoff failures. The Lebron James era for the Lakers has consisted of two missed playoff appearances and a championship. Ultimately, that 19-20 Lakers championship team takes away from the sting of this years team. Also, with Lakers retaining an already proven championship duo in James and Davis for the foreseeable future they can still make moves to become a contender once again.
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