From the Penthouse to the Outhouse

Teams that have gone from a 50-win season to a 50-loss season.

Last season, the Memphis Grizzlies became just the eighth team in NBA history to follow-up a 50-win season with a 50-loss season, going from 51-31 in 2022-23 (second in the Western Conference) to 27-55 in 2023-24 (13th). So many things went wrong for the Grizzlies, including:

• All-NBA guard Ja Morant was suspended the first 25 games of the season, returned for nine of the next 10 games, then missed the remainder of the campaign with a shoulder injury.

• Desmond Bane, who averaged 21.5 PPG in 2022-23, missed almost half the season (40 games) with an ankle injury.

• Marcus Smart, an offseason acquisition and former Defensive Player of the Year, missed 62 games due to injuries.

• Starting center Steven Adams missed the entire season with a knee injury.

• Forward Brandon Clarke, a solid bench player, missed the first 72 games due to a torn Achilles suffered the previous season.

All told, the Grizzlies had 33 players appear in at least one game, an NBA record. They used 51 different starting lineups, the most by a team since the league began tracking starters in 1970-71.

I thought it might be interesting to take a closer look at the seven other teams that went from the penthouse to the outhouse. I’ll take a look at what happened to each team to cause the fall, and see if they were able to bounce back the next season.

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1960-1962 St. Louis Hawks

W-L Records

• 51-28 (1960-61)

• 29-51 (1961-62)

What Happened?

The 1960-61 Hawks lost in the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics, but the next season was a disaster, as the club lost 51 games and went through three head coaches in the process.

Lenny Wilkens had a solid rookie season for the Hawks in 1960-61, but in 1961-62 he played in just 20 games while fulfilling his military commitment to the U.S. Army. Meanwhile, Hall of Fame center Clyde Lovellette was limited to 40 games thanks to a foot injury suffered in early January.

And as luck would have it for the Hawks, Wilkens’ military service and Lovellette’s injury were timed such that the pair appeared in just one game together all season (on February 3, a game in which Lovellette played just one minute). In fact, that was the only appearance Lovellette made from January 5 through the end of the season.

The Next Season

The Hawks rebounded nicely in 1962-63, finishing 48-32 in the regular season before losing to Lakers in seven games in the Western Division finals.

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1979-1981 Atlanta Hawks

W-L Records

• 50-32 (1979-80)

• 31-51 (1980-81)

What Happened?

After winning the Central Division title and finishing with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference in 1979-80, the Hawks fell all the way to eighth place in the conference in 1980-81. Head coach Hubie Brown was fired with just three games remaining in the season.

The Hawks’ starting frontcourt was bitten by the injury bug:

• Small forward John Drew, who made the only All-Star Game of his career in 1979-80, missed 15 games, including the last 12 of the season.

• Power forward Dan Roundfield, an All-Star selection both seasons, missed 19 games.

• Center Tree Rollins, who had been fantastic in 1979-80 (9.4 RPG and 3.0 BPG in 25.9 MPG), missed 42 games due to a knee injury.

The Hawks were especially bad without Roundfield in the lineup, winning just two of the 19 games he did not suit up.

The Next Season

Atlanta returned to the postseason in 1981-82 with Kevin Loughery at the helm, but at 42-40 they were the final team to qualify for the postseason. In the playoffs, they were swept in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers.