The LA Clippers are always in the news for all the wrong reasons. Currently the mess of a franchise just got caught circumventing the salary cap. This comes 12 years after their last owner was caught being a racist by his dipshit girlfriend. They’re also a perennial loser. Are they the worst franchise in professional sports though??? Let’s find out.
Format Note: First up will be the team that could be considered worse but gets a pass for some reason, followed by the runner up, then the big winner for each sport
NFL
It could be the Detroit Lions, but…
The Lions being good over the last few seasons and were fun in the 90s with Barry Sanders, Herman Moore, and Scott Mitchell really hides just how terrible this team has always been. Since the 1957 NFL Championship, the Lions have not only not been to a championship game, but they’ve only been to two conference championship games. At one point, they went 30 years without winning their division and even had an 0-16 in there (19 straight losses). In the end, there’s just something more embarrassing about the Jets losing in New York than the Lions losing in Detroit.
It was almost the New York Jets, but…
New York hasn’t been just bad since Super Bowl III, they’ve been awful. Their current 15 year playoff drought is bad, but did you know they have only won their division 4 times in their 66 years of existence? I don’t mean best record in football or best in the conference, I mean 1st out of 4 or 5 teams. The last time was in 2002, preceded by 1998 and then 1968 and 1969. The only reason they didn’t win is due to the overhwleming resume of the Browns.
Come on now, it was always the Cleveland Browns.
Browns fans will tell you that they’ve won 8 Championships and been to 5 more. I’m sorry, but this isn’t baseball. The body of work before the modern era simply doesn’t cancel out the last 30+ years of losing and horrible decisions. The city of Cleveland did not build the team a new stadium then saw the franchise move to Baltimore and almost immediately become a regular title contender with two rings to show for it. Meanwhile the Browns had to be relaunched and will now go an entire stadium cycle without hosting a single playoff game. That time included an 0-16 season and a 1-15 season back to back. They did however make the worst trade in the history of sports by overpaying for Deshaun Watson AFTER he had been accused of sexual assault by over 30 women. Well, what do you expect from one of the worst owners in sports?
MLB
It could be the Seattle Mariners, but…
They are just so damn likeable. Is there anyone out there who would be upset if Seattle ever won? Of course, that’s the problem. Since 1977, they have never even been to a World Series. They have won their division jus 4 times in 50 years. However, they do have Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Randy Johnson, Felix Hernandez, Ichiro, and now Julio Rodriguez plus the best single regular season in MLB history. You can’t call them the worst if everone likes them.
It was almost the Colorado Rockies, but…
It might not be their fault. Pitchers simply can’t pitch in Denver and unless they get wildly hot/lucky with their pitching like they did in 2007, they really do not have a chance. Of course, it helps that the same ownership has been benefitting from the same great fan support for their entire history. In 33 years, they have two seasons under 2m fans and one of those was 2021 during Covid. Those same fans make the team likeable but also never really motivate ownership for change. The Rockies have NEVER won their division. In fact, they have only even finished 2nd 4 times. WTF!
It is almost surprisingly the San Diego Padres.
The Padres have simply been around 24 years longer than the Rockies. In that first Rockies season, 1993, San Diego even had a worse record. They have two World Series appearances and Tony Gwynn, but they also had a fire sale that wasted a generation of talent and the only year they were a legitimate contender was in the heart of the Yankees 90s dynasty. They have only won the division 5 times in 57 years and more than 90 games just 4 times. Right now, is their longest period of success and it includes no division titles and just 1 game won in an NLCS.
NHL
It could be the Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets, but…
It’s not fair to combine two moribund franchises, but while this is a special case they are also not winning the title. The Jets were kinda good in Winnipeg before moving to Phoenix for the 96-97 season. I say “kinda” because in 18 seasons they never won the division but regularly qualified for the playoffs without ever finding real success. After moving to Phoenix, they managed a division title and a conference finals appearance, but were regularly terrible. Things got so bad with ownership that they screwed up their stadium situation to the point that they were playing on a college campus. Eventually the NHL basically took their franchise away and gave it to Utah which is not considered affiliated. They are dormant. In the meantime, hockey also flamed out in Atlanta and moved back to Winnipeg as the new Jets. Outside of 1 division win two seasons ago, it has been more of the same. They make the playoffs but don’t go anywhere. It does not get more bland.
It was almost the Ottawa Senators, but…
The Senators started in 1992-93 and have had 1 Stanley Cup Appearance, 4 division wins, and absolutely no impact on the NHL. I have a soft spot for them because a family friend was once owned a part of the team, but that’s literally all I can say about them.
The Vancouver Canucks have just been so bad for so long.
This will be the 56th season of Canucks hockey. It will not be a winning one. The team is at the start of another rebuild after their last one fell apart abruptly. There was one short period of winning that resulted in 4 division titles and a Finals appearance but all was for naught. They do have 2 Presidents Trophies but also just one MVP, two post Stanley Cup Finals riots, and multiple sexual assault allegations from their current ownership group.
NBA
It could be the Charlotte Hornets/New Orleans Pelicans/Charlotte Bobcats, but…
Again, it isn’t fair to combine two different franchises. Charlotte was the most fun and well liked team of the 90s outside of the Bulls but then fell into decay thanks to a cheap and despised owner who moved the team when the area essentially wouldn’t build an arena for him out of spite. Then they moved to New Orleans as the Hornets before giving the naming rights back to the since formed Charlotte Bobcats who left their terrible colors and name behind. Despite the Hornets moniker leaving and coming back, only the Charlotte Hornets and Bobcats share connectivity. Regardless of where they play or what franchise it is, anything ever Hornets stinks. In 60 combined seasons, they have 1 division title, won 50 games 4 times, and have the single worst season ever at 7-59 that somehow yielded Charlotte Michael Kidd Gilchrist and New Orleans Anthony Davis. Dang.
It was almost the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, but…
The Nets were at least cool and good in the ABA. Unfortunately, the minute they got to the NBA everything went to hell starting with their prized possession, Julius Erving. Because the NBA granted the Knicks a territorial fee from the Nets, they forced them to sell Dr. J to the Sixers to pay the penalty. In 50 NBA seasons, they only had 1 period of success: 2 Finals appearances and 4 division titles in a 5 season stretch with Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson. Not long after, they were bought by a Russian Oligarch who insisted he could spend his way to the top and made the disastrous trade for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett that completely doomed the next decade of Nets basketball. Outside of a brief respite of hope with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden that ended disastrously, it has been a slog with no end in sight. They are second worst all-time with a .422 win percentage. Still, they are not the Clippers.
Without question, the worst team in professional sports is the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers laugh at all the petty failures above. They’ve made bad trades (Paul George for SGA and the farm), bad draft picks (not picking Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, or Rasheed Wallace/Jerry Stackhouse plus so many more), and have moved twice (Buffalo Braves to San Diego Clippers). They also start completely behind the 8 ball by being the other team in a Lakers town but somehow can’t even beat the Mets as second class citizens (the Mets are at least the people’s choice in New York, no one likes the Clippers). By the time we get to the scandals and the atrocious record, either one would be enough to take them over the top. They get both.
The Clippers have been around for 56 years and have been to one Conference Finals. Just the one. Three times they have won their division. Just the three. While 7 50+ win seasons sounds nice, they have 7 sub-20 win seasons as well. They have more losses than the Lakers despite being around for 20 less years.
After being an NBA doormat for decades, things finally turned around with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Then their owner was caught by his ditsy 20 year old girlfriend being a blatant racist and was forced to sell the team. This same reputation made him millions for being slumlord. Once he was gone, billionaire Steve Ballmer came in and was just slammed with the biggest penalty in NBA history for trying to circumvent the salary cap to pay Kawhi Leonard under the table.
They went from misery, to discrimination, to the death penalty. No team is even close.
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