The Indiana Pacers were just one win away from being crowned NBA champions last season. They put everything on the line to get to where they did, and that included pushing Tyrese Haliburton past his breaking point. Unfortunately, the All-Star point guard tore his Achilles tendon in Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Pacers are paying the consequences now, as their 1-10 record has them tied for last place in the entire NBA.
The Chicago Bulls famously fell off the face of the Earth after Michael Jordan retired for the second time. There have been a few other massive season-to-season collapses as well. The Pacers are on pace to have one of the biggest record collapses from one season to the next in NBA history.
The Bulls' post-Jordan regression
Under Jordan, the Bulls created arguably the best dynasty in NBA history. They had two separate three-peats, with the two seasons in between, during which they didn't win the NBA Finals, occurring when the best player of all time was off playing baseball. Chicago's 1997-98 season is remembered as “The Last Dance.”
The accounts of Jordan's last season were immortalized in the docuseries of the same name. Those Bulls were well aware that Jerry Krause was going to blow the team up after that season, which motivated the Bulls to have an iconic championship run. After winning his sixth title, Jordan retired for the second of three times. Scottie Pippen was also dealt in a sign-and-trade for Roy Rogers and a second-round pick. Dennis Rodman was released, and Chicago moved on from Phil Jackson and Steve Kerr.
The results of the tank job were predictable, as the Bulls went from first to worst in the Eastern Conference. Before the season started, the league underwent a lockout. There was no basketball activity from July 1, 1998, to Jan. 20, 1999. That surely didn't help Chicago's case, either.
The ensuing result was a 13-37 record over 50 games. The Bulls went from a .756 winning percentage to a .260 winning percentage. They only got worse over the next two years, too, as the Bulls went 17-65 the following year and 15-67 the year after that. The 1998-99 Bulls were the first Bulls team to miss the postseason since 1983-84. They were also just the second defending champions to not make the playoffs. The ultimate low point was when they scored 49 points in a loss to the Miami Heat, the fewest in a game in the shot clock era.
Will the Pacers finish with the worst season-to-season fall off ever?
The Pacers didn't win the championship last season, but they were damn close. Having a worse season than the 1998-99 Bulls won't be easy, either. However, the aforementioned Bulls lost eight of their first nine games after winning the championship. The Pacers are already worse off than that.
The Pacers are tied with the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards at the bottom of the standings with a 1-10 record. They've lost five straight, and their points per game and points against marks both rank 27th in the NBA. On top of losing Haliburton to injury, the Pacers lost Myles Turner to free agency.
Bennedict Mathurin, Cody Martin, Obi Toppin, and Andrew Nembhard have all spent more time on the sideline than on the court this season. T.J. McConnell is just now returning to the fold, too. While the surplus of injuries has resulted in an ugly start, the fact that the team is getting healthier means that the Pacers should be able to get the train back on the rails eventually.
A postseason birth seems unlikely at this point, but the Pacers shouldn't finish with the worst record in the NBA, nor should they finish the season as badly as the 1998-99 Bulls did. Indiana's core also includes Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith. Both players, along with Nembhard, are underrated around the league. Regardless, it has become pretty clear that the Pacers are on track to have one of the worst season-to-season regressions in NBA history.
