Will the Pacers match the Bulls’ futility after Michael Jordan retired?

The Indiana Pacers they were just one win away from the NBA championship title last season. They put everything on the line to get where they did, and that included pushing Tyrese Halliburton passed its breaking point. Unfortunately, the All-Star point guard he tore his Achilles tendon in Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Pacers are now paying the consequences, as their 1-10 record is tied for last in the entire NBA.

The The Chicago Bulls have famously fallen off the face of the Earth after Michael Jordan retired for the second time. There have also been several other major season-to-season collapses. The Pacers are on pace to experience one of the biggest season-to-season record collapses in NBA history.

Bulls regression after Jordan

Under Jordan, the Bulls created arguably the best dynasty in NBA history. They had two separate three-peats, with two seasons in betweenduring which they did not win the NBA Finals, and when did the best player of all time was playing baseball. Chicago’s 1997-98 season is remembered as “The Last Dance.”

Reports of Jordan’s final seasons were immortalized in a documentary of the same name. Those Bulls were well aware that Jerry Krause would blow the team up after that season, which motivated the Bulls to hold on to the iconic championship. 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 start of the season, the league suffered a lockout. There was no basketball activity from July 1, 1998 to January 20, 1999. That certainly didn’t help Chicago’s case either.

The result was a 13-37 record in 50 games. The Bulls went from a .756 winning percentage to a .260 winning percentage. And they only got worse over the next two years, as the Bulls went 17-65 the next 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 only the second defending champion to fail to make the playoffs. Their lowest point was when they scored 49 points in a loss to the Miami Heat least in the game in the era of watches.

Will the Pacers end up with their worst season-to-season slump?

The Pacers didn’t win the championship last season, but they came damn close. It won’t be easy to have a worse season than the 1998-99 Bulls. However, the aforementioned Bulls lost eight of their first nine games after winning the championship. The Pacers are already worse than that.

The Pacers are tied with the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards at the bottom of the standings at 1-10. They have lost five straight, and their points per game and points against rank 27th in the NBA. In addition to losing Halliburton to injury, The Pacers lost Myles Turner to free agency.

Benedict Maturin, Cody Martin, Obi Taupin and Andrew Nembhard have spent more time on the sidelines than on the field this season. TJ McConnell is coming back into the lineup right nowalso. While a glut of injuries has resulted in an ugly start, the fact that the team is getting healthier means the Pacers should be able to get the train back on track 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 end the season as badly as the Bulls did in 1998-99. The Indiana core also includes Pascal Sakak and Aaron Nesmith. Both players, along with Nembhard, are underrated in the league. Regardless, it’s become pretty clear that the Pacers are on their way to having one of the worst season-to-season regressions in NBA history.