Tom Hauck / Staff
With 15 wins and the remainder of the NBA season in serious doubt, it’s possible this year’s Golden State Warriors will finish the season with the fewest wins in a season since the team moved west. Still, they’re not the worst team in franchise history according to longtime beat writer Marcus Thompson.
That honor goes to the 2000-2001 squad, who went 17-65, posting a win percentage (.207) that is worse that the current Warriors (.231). What made them especially bad is that the roster had no business finishing with just 17 wins, as Thompson explained to Papa & Lund on Monday.
“The record didn’t match the talent,” Thompson said. “They shouldn’t have been a 17-win team but it was such a mess. The stories about Mookie Blaylock and Dave Cowens, the nonstop rash of injuries, I mean they had so many unique dudes, ‘different cats’ right?”
Blaylock, 32 at the time, was a major problem. In addition to alcohol problems that plagued his career and his life afterwards, Blaylock was suspended at one point by Cowens for skipping practice which he says he thought was optional. Blaylock hit up the golf course instead.
He was also at the center of one of the funnier anecdotes from Thompson’s recent story on the team:
“And if Fortson’s injury wasn’t enough, where this season was headed became evident in Indianapolis a few days later. The Warriors’ team bus from the hotel randomly stopped at a burger joint, making the team late. Why were they stopping at a fast-food joint on the way to practice? Blaylock wanted Steak ‘n Shake.”
Those kind of antics wouldn’t fly on most high school basketball teams, let alone an NBA outfit.
“It wasn’t so much they couldn’t play. I mean they weren’t a great team, but you’ve got Larry Hughes, Mookie Blaylock, Bobby Sura coming off the bench, Danny Fortson, Erik Dampier, Chris Mills, like they had an actual team. They had some guys who knew how to play in the NBA, but they were just a mess.
“I was looking at the quotes, and (Antawn) Jamison got to the point where he didn’t care. Literally in-season being like ‘I can’t wait to get home and be with my daughter. Like this is not even a basketball team.’ I was like ‘wow!’”
Listen to the full interview below.