Among the many underperforming NBA teams, the Sacramento Kings have the worst record in the league. Things didn’t get any better on Thursday.
The Kings lost to the Orlando Magic 131-94, extending their losing streak to 15 games, breaking the franchise record. That low was previously held twice in a row during his time with the Cincinnati Royals.
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Their current record is 12-45.
Sacramento hasn’t won a game since Jan. 16, when they defeated the equally futile Washington Wizards 128-115. To give sports fans an idea of how long ago that was, the NFL Divisional Round began the next day.
Thursday’s loss was the most lopsided of the series, with a 37-point deficit. Five of the 15 games were actually decided by less than five points, but the Kings couldn’t finish.
As a reminder, the Kings fired current New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown after the Knicks suffered a five-game losing streak.
The Kings get their next chance to snap their winning streak on Saturday when they take on Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on the road. After that, their next three opponents are the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.
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Things are going to get worse before they get better for Kings
There’s little reason to expect improvement later in the season other than thinking NBA teams can’t be this bad. All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis underwent season-ending surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, the Kings announced Wednesday. The team’s leading scorer, Zach LaVine, is out for the season after hand surgery.
With those two out, Thursday provided a vision of how the Kings will operate going forward. DeMar DeRozan scored 13 points on 3-of-11 shooting. Russell Westbrook scored 5 points on 2-of-8 shooting, with 1 assist and 3 turnovers. The bench player scored 30 points on 9-for-29 shooting, 8 assists and 9 turnovers.
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A bright spot may be rookie Maxime Leno, who took over from Sabonis as the starting center and scored 17 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists on 8-of-13 shooting. The Kings were outscored by 14 points in his 39 minutes, which actually had the second-highest plus-minus of the team’s 10 players on the floor.
Maxime Leno was actually one of the Kings’ best players against the Magic. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
(Lachlan Cunningham via Getty Images)
It would be easy to say the Kings won’t even try the rest of the season, but that’s not the case. The front office and front office might not mind more of the same, which would guarantee them a top-five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, but players still have plenty of reasons to compete. Now this happens to be an extremely broken list.
Currently, there is a considerable gap between the Sacramento Kings and the rest of the NBA in the standings. As of Thursday night, the Wizards, Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans all had 15 wins, with the Kings three wins ahead of their closest team “contending” for the top spot in the lottery.