The Oklahoma City Thunder’s 31-point defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers gave them their 14th loss in a row, tying the franchise’s record set in the first season in OKC.
In 2008, the Thunder started 1-12, fired head coach P.J. Carlesimo, hired Scott Brooks, and then lost four more games before finally picking up victory No. 2.
The coaches and players who remained a half-decade later remembered this time, during which the Thunder won just three of their first 32 games and finished 23-59.
Current Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said after the loss to the Sixers on Monday that when he arrived in Oklahoma City, players continued to recall this poor stretch and use its lessons.
“I came here … seven years ago and the team was rockin’. It was one of the best teams in the league. Perennially,” Daigneault said. “What was fascinating to me was how much the internal dialogue was referring to the 3-29 start (in 2008). …
“It was an ugly start, but you can tell that a lot of character was built during that time, and a lot of the foundation was laid with how they went about their business in the most extreme of adversity.”
The 2020-21 Oklahoma City team didn’t start as poorly. The Thunder were a respectable 20-27 before embarking on this 14-game losing streak on the heels of losing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to injury.
Daigneault thinks that players who will be around for the next winning Thunder team can use these losses to help when adversity strikes again down the road.
“Right now, that’s what we’re focusing on. How can we leverage the position — as uncomfortable as it might be — into building a foundation for this particular cycle for the team,” Daigneault said.
“We’re remaining optimistic. We’re obviously losing the games, but there’s a lot of wins going on behind the scenes. There’s a lot of developmental wins.
Oklahoma City has 11 games left on the schedule. On-court wins as the Thunder attempt to avoid setting a franchise-record losing streak will be tough to come by, especially with the Boston Celtics lined up to face off Tuesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Central Time.
