Lawrence Frank: dead man walking

Lawrence Frank is a very good coach, and he just so happens to be the longest-tenured coach in the Eastern Conference. But there comes a point when a team’s record is so bad that not even the “rebuilding” excuse can possibly save you -- take it from Doc Rivers, who the Orlando Magic fired in 2003 en route to a 1-19 start. The New Jersey Nets are off to a miserable 0-13 start, and after losing at home to the Knicks of all teams, there’s no way of knowing how far it can go. The Nets are the first team to lose their first 13 games of the year since the 2002-2003 Memphis Grizzlies.

Two teams hold the record for the longest losing streak to begin a season: the 1988-89 Miami Heat (an expansion team) and the 1999 Los Angeles Clippers (in a lockout-shortned season) both lost their first 17 straight games. The Nets, sadly, are looking really good to shatter that record. Of course when you’re the worst team in the NBA, no game looks winnable, but it doesn’t help that New Jersey has a really tough schedule ahead of them:

It’s not impossible that they could beat the Kings on the road or the Mavericks at home -- after all, they did both of those things last season. But the Blazers, Lakers and Nuggets are automatic losses, and it’s hard to imagine that the Mavs or Kings will lay an egg against a such an underwhelming opponent. Should New Jersey lose these five games, they will officially eclipse the record for the worst start to a season in NBA history.

Also, keep in mind that the Nets lost the final game of the 2008-09 season, meaning that their collective losing streak would be 19 straight should they lose their next five. If that’s the case, then they’ll also be in the running for the longest losing streak in history, 24 games, which is held by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1982. To avoid the longest losing streak EVER, the Nets would then have to win one of the following six games:

Of course, none of this will matter if the Nets manage to sneak in a win out of nowhere. And their opponents in games 19 through 24 are so easy that it’s hard imagine they’ll even sniff breaking the record. Nonetheless, I have trouble believing that’ll save Lawrence Frank from getting fired.