NBA History: Most Devastating Moment for Every NBA Team

With the NBA Lockout looking like it's going to go on for a good, long time, the best thing I can do to keep my sanity is look back on the NBA and get all pumped full of nostalgia.

I don't just look at the good times, either. No, sometimes I enjoy looking back on all the bad times teams have had throughout the years.

Not only is it an interesting look into what franchises have it worse off than others (I'll tell you that the Celtics and Lakers have it way better than the Cavs and Clippers, but that should be no surprise), but it's also nice to just get deep into basketball's history.

So, I've decided to take a look at the worst, most devastating moment in the history of each team. Get ready to cringe.

Atlanta Hawks: Giving Away Bill Russell

Maybe it wasn't as devastating as it was a "What if?" moment, but back in 1956 the St. Louis Hawks drafted a young Bill Russell, a guy who Red Auerbach had his eye on.

Auerbach gave the Hawks the Celtics starting center, Ed Macauley and rookie Cliff Hagan in exchange for Russell, who would lead the Celtics to 11 championships over the next 13 years.

While the Hawks would win one title with Macauley and Hagan as two of their three best players, it was nothing compared to what Russell did for the Celtics.

Boston Celtics: Len Bias' Death

The Boston Celtics have had years and years of exceptional basketball with 49 playoff appearances and 17 championships over 65 seasons.

Think about that for a second; they have been more likely to win a championship than they have been to miss the playoffs.

It seems like the only bit of bad luck they ever had—their only real devastating moment—came in 1986 when they drafted Len Bias out of Maryland, who overdosed on cocaine and was found dead two days later.

With Bias, the Celtics could have survived the decline of Larry Bird a bit better, and who knows, maybe his decline would have been more gradual and the team would have competed for championships well into the '90s.

Charlotte Bobcats: Adam Morrison 3rd?

In the young history of the Charlotte Bobcats, many a dumb move has been made by the front office, which just happens to include Michael Jordan.

One of the worst moves has to have been drafting Adam Morrison third overall in the 2006 draft.

I have a theory that the only time a team should use a high draft pick on a white guy is if he is shorter than 6'3" and taller than 6'9". The track record of medium-sized white guys in the NBA just isn't great.

Chicago Bulls: Jerry Krause Dismantles the Dynasty

In the waning years of the Bulls' second run of three titles, Jerry Krause committed the ultimate act of basketball hubris. Krause saw himself as the biggest reason the Bulls were winning titles; he did, after all put the team together.

Famously, Krause is quoted saying, "Organizations win championships."

So, with Phil Jackson basically a lame-duck coach in the final championship season for the Bulls, Michael Jordan retired at the end of the year, the team released Dennis Rodman and traded Scottie Pippen.

With just a few moves, the Bulls dynasty was gone, and Chicago wept.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Ted Stepien Buys the Team

It seems that the obvious choice should have been LeBron leaving the team, or the playoff loss in 2010 that cause LeBron to leave.

However, I think "The Decision" has created a unifying effect for the people of Cleveland and upset Dan Gilbert so much that there won't be an extended period of basement-dwelling basketball in the city.

The real heartbreaker in Cleveland came back in 1981 when Ted Stepien bought the Cleveland Cavaliers and made so many bad trades that the team was hurt for an entire decade, despite the fact that he sold the team in 1983.

He was such a bad owner that he has a rule named after him. The Stepien Rule states that teams cannot trade first-round draft picks in consecutive seasons, which the Cavs did multiple times under Stepien.

Dallas Mavericks: Injuries End a Promising Run

After the usual period of bad basketball for a few years that accompanies any expansion franchise, the Mavericks put together a good team, even making it to the Western Conference Finals in 1988 behind Mark Aguirre and Rolando Blackman.

However, the next season Aguirre and James Donaldson went down with injuries, causing the team to miss the playoffs. Off-court chaos continued in the following season as the team switched coaches after a slow start and Roy Tarpley got arrested for a DUI.

The team fell apart at the end of the season and the Mavericks didn't make the playoffs again until 2001.

Denver Nuggets: Carmelo Anthony Forces a Trade

I really think that this is going to end up being devastating for the Denver Nuggets.

Sure, they survived the second half of the season last year, even making a nice run in the playoffs, but their team is set to fall apart.

J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin and Wilson Chandler are all playing basketball in China, and won't be coming back if the season starts soon. On top of that, the team traded away their young point guard and are faced with re-signing Nene when the lockout ends.

It could end up that their one-two punch this season is Arron Afflalo and Chris Andersen.

Detroit Pistons: Drafting Darko

Had the Pistons not drafted Darko Milicic, any number of things could have happened.

Sure, they had the biggest need at the bigger positions, but if they went and drafted the best proven talent they could have ended up with Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade.

Instead, they picked Darko, who played less than 600 minutes over just over two years for the Pistons.

Golden State Warriors: Gift-Wrapping a Dynasty

Sometimes the worst thing a team can do is give away a player and watch him flourish on another team. The Warriors did that in 1980—twice.

Golden State sent Robert Parish and a pick that would end up being Kevin McHale for two first-round picks, which ended up being Joe Barry Carroll and Rickey Brown.

Parish and McHale won three titles with the Celtics while Carroll and Brown...well, they didn't.

Houston Rockets: John Stockton's Game Winning 3 in 1997

The Houston Rockets won two titles in the '90s, unfortunately for their legacy, they won them while Michael Jordan was out playing baseball. Who knows what would have happened had he stuck around.

Anyway, after Jordan came back, the Rockets had the opportunity to get back to the finals and prove they could take down the team that nobody could beat.

In 1996 they ran into Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp and lost in the semifinals in the West. They had a better shot in 1997 as they made it to the Western Conference Finals.

Facing off against the Jazz, they were looking at a tough climb, down 3-2 going into Game 6 in Houston. The Rockets were ahead 91-98 at one point, but John Stockton was on a tear. He scored 11 of the team's final 14 points, including a wide-open three at the buzzer to win the game 103-100 for the Jazz.

The next season, the Rockets were too hobbled and haggard to do much, and the following year was the disaster experiment with Scottie Pippen and Charles Barkley on the same team.

That three effectively ended their shot at proving themselves against Jordan's Bulls.

Indiana Pacers: Reggie Miller's Collapse

Throughout most of the '90s, as Reggie Miller's Pacers were steadily improving, Michael Jordan was always there to keep them in check and out of the Finals.

However, in 1999, following the lockout, Jordan was gone and the East was theirs for the taking. They scratched their way to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Knicks, the team Reggie Miller always showed up against.

Well, with their backs against the wall in Game 6 they needed a big game from their superstar. Miller laid an egg, going 3-for-13 and scoring just eight points. The following year they met the beginning of the Lakers dynasty in the Finals and lost in six, effectively ending their stay at the top of the East. 

Los Angeles Clippers: Leaving Buffalo

Ever since the Clippers slipped out of Buffalo, they have been hampered with bad luck.

The Clippers have had an atrocious winning percentage since leaving New York, and a lot of that has been because of bad luck (some say a curse) that strikes their players.

The likes of Bill Walton, Terry Cummings, Derek Smith, Danny Manning, Ron Harper, Shaun Livingston, Elton Brand and Blake Griffin have all missed big chunks of time, most of them coming in some form of a knee injury.

Los Angeles Lakers: Magic Johnson's Press Conference

Showtime in Los Angeles seemed like it was going to last forever, and then, as quick as their fast-break would run up and score a quick two, it was over.

On November 7, 1991, Magic Johnson announced that he had tested positive for HIV, and retired immediately from the game. The Lakers wouldn't contend for a title again for the rest of the decade, which is like 100 years in Lakers years.

Memphis Grizzlies: The Pau Gasol Fleecing

At this point, the trade doesn't look nearly as bad as it did when it happened, but it was still a bad trade as far as the Grizzlies are concerned.

Back in January of 2008, the Grizzlies gave their best player (possibly of all time) to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Marc Gasol (who was the Lakers second-rounder in 2007) and a few future draft picks.

At this point it looks like a swap of Gasol Brothers, but then it looked like the shadiest of shady backroom deals.

Miami Heat: Not Shutting the World Up

The Miami Heat have a relatively short, but successful history. The worst thing that has happened to them probably happened at the end of last season.

As the world criticized, poked and prodded every move the new superteam made, and everyone insisted that they wouldn't win a title, they had the chance to shut everyone up.

A series of fourth-quarter collapses, some leers from Dwyane Wade directed at LeBron James and 239 Chris Bosh celebrations/breakdowns later and the Mavericks were champions.

The fact that they didn't win the title didn't make the season a failure, but the way they lost made it look much worse than it was.

Milwaukee Bucks: Dirk for Tractor

Some would call the Bucks trading Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the most devastating thing to happen to the Bucks, but by the time they ended up having to trade him, he had already helped them to their first title.

However, in 1998, when the Milwaukee Bucks picked Dirk Nowitzki ninth overall, they weren't exactly happy with the choice, so they flipped him with Pat Garrity for Robert Traylor, the sixth pick in the draft.

Dirk went on to become the best European player to ever play the game, while Tractor spent just seven years in the league and was never more than an enforcer.

Minnesota Timberwolves: The Joe Smith Fiasco

At the beginning of the 2000s, it looked like the Timberwolves were slated to be one of the best teams of the next decade. However, they didn't help themselves in 1999 when they signed Joe Smith. 

The team signed Joe Smith to a lesser deal with the promise of a multi-year deal down the road. The NBA found out and took five draft picks away (eventually giving two back) from the T-Wolves, killing their ability to build through the draft and leaving Kevin Garnett with a mediocre cast.

New Jersey Nets: Selling the Doctor

When the Nets came into the NBA from the ABA, they ended up having to pay a fee for encroaching on the Knicks territory, which, along with the entry fee, put them deep in the hole.

The only way they were able to cover the costs was sell Julius Erving to the 76ers for a mere $3 million, enough to cover the entry fee.

New Orleans Hornets: Hurricane Katrina

With the Hornets being such a young team, not much has happened to hurt them in terms of building a championship-caliber team. In fact, they've made the playoffs in more than half the seasons that they've been in the NBA.

The worst thing to happen to the team is more the worst thing to happen to the city, as the Hornets were forced to move to Oklahoma City for the better part of two seasons during the clean up from Hurricane Katrina, which meant the fans of New Orleans would miss out on nearly two seasons of Chris Paul.

New York Knicks: The Isiah Thomas Era

The only thing good that came of the Isiah Thomas Era was the fact that they were left with so much cap space after the era ended, which helped them build the team they have today.

In the years he was the Knicks GM, Thomas brought in more troubled guards than you can imagine, signed too many useless big men to terrible contracts and gave Eddy Curry so much money that he ended up spending it on food and fattening up.

Oklahoma City Thunder: The Seattle Fiasco

It was great for the people of Oklahoma City, but the way that the Supersonics became the Thunder was one of the shadiest deals in sports in the past decade.

When Clay Bennett bought the team back in 2006, he clearly had no desire to stay in Seattle, and with the help of David Stern and the NBA, he was able to wriggle his way out of the city much to the chagrin of the fans.

Orlando Magic: Losing Shaq

The worst thing that's happened to the Orlando Magic is about to happen to them again, only on a much smaller scale (Dwight Howard is no Shaq).

After just four years in Magic black and blue, Shaq bolted for the coast and the Magic fell apart after injuries to Anfernee Hardaway put the final nail in their coffin.

Philadelphia 76ers: 1981 Eastern Conference Finals

After losing in the NBA Finals to the Lakers in 1980, the 76ers were looking to get back for another shot at a title.

Philadelphia was up three games to one over the Celtics, needing just one more win to get back to the finals. The Celtics, however, would win the next three games by a combined total of just five points.

Luckily for the people of Philadelphia, the hurt wouldn't last long, as the 76ers would win a title two years later.

Phoenix Suns: The Coin Flip

One of the most forgotten, yet important "What if?" moments in NBA history came in 1969 as the season ended.

The Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks were up against each other in the most important contest of that year: a coin flip. The Suns called heads, it came up tails and Lew Alcindor was on his way to Milwaukee before J. Walter Kennedy finished the conference call with the two teams.

Phoenix got Neal Walk who, obviously, was no Kareem.

Portland Trail Blazers: Bill Walton's Injuries

The Portland Trail Blazers were lucky enough to draft one of the smartest players in NBA history. Unfortunately, he just so happened to be one of the unluckiest players in NBA history as well.

Bill Walton led the Blazers to the title in 1977 and won an MVP Award in 1978, but injuries here and there never allowed him to play more than 65 games in a single season with the Blazers.

Sacramento Kings: Game 6, 2002 WCF

I'll stand by it that the 2002 Sacramento Kings were the best team of the 2000s to not win a championship. In fact, I'd say they were better than many of the teams that did win a championship.

All things came to a head when they played the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals in 2002. Up three games to two in Game 6, they had two chances to close it out.

As would be alleged later by Tim Donaghy, the referees were told to get the series to a seventh game, in the name of ratings and eyeballs on television sets. Shaq dominated the game, scoring 41 and grabbing 17 rebounds, while calls continually went against the Kings. They lost the game.

Needless to say, the Lakers had all the momentum heading into Game 7 and won 112-106. Afterward, they went on to win the whole shebang.

San Antonio Spurs: Hakeem Dismantles Robinson

Although Tim Duncan helped David Robinson win two titles later in his career, Robinson was exposed in 1995 by Hakeem Olajuwon.

Hakeem topped 40 points thrice and averaged 35 points for the series along with double figure rebounds in every game. Robinson, meanwhile, put up just 23 points a game and looked baffled at times when dealing with The Dream.

Toronto Raptors: Trading Tracy McGrady

In 1997, the Toronto Raptors drafted a young man by the name of Tracy McGrady. The next season they drafted Vince Carter, who just happened to be his cousin.

The two were terrifyingly entertaining, athletic and, really, just good basketball players. However, in 2000, the Raptors pulled off a sign-and-trade with Orlando, shipping T-Mac to the Magic for a draft pick in 2005. 

After only two seasons together, the cousins led the Raptors to their first playoff appearance. Who knows what could have happened had they had more.

Utah Jazz: Michael Jordan's Existence

The NBA in the late '90s wasn't a very deep league. The Bulls and Jazz were top dogs, while Indiana, Houston, New York, Miami and Seattle hung around the top.

Just think, then, if Utah had had to deal with Miami or New York in the Finals in 1996 and 1997 instead of those pesky Bulls.

Washington Wizards: Trading Chris Webber

The Washington Bullets were a great team for years under Wes Unseld, and even managed to hang around the top half of the league through the '80s before the bottom fell out in the early '90s. 

Then, the team managed to grab Chris Webber in his sophomore season for Tom Gugliotta and some draft picks. Webber helped them to their first playoff appearance in years in 1997, but then at the end of the 1998 season they shipped him away.

For Webber they got the underperforming Mitch Richmond and the ancient Otis Thorpe. Then, in that year's draft, Golden State used one of the draft picks they got from Washington on Vince Carter, who turned out to be a pretty good player himself.

If you are one of those twitterers, you can follow me @JDorsey33.