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The post-LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers have the distinction of holding the longest losing streak in NBA history, which many would argue makes them the worst team in the history of the NBA. This season, the Charlotte Bobcats are working to make sure the Cavaliers maintain that distinction.

Last season’s Bobcats had the worst year, statistically, in NBA history, going 7-59 in the lockout-shortened, 66-game marathon. They ended the season on a 23-game losing streak, just three shy of Cleveland’s record-breaking bout with futility, and so they must win one of their first four games to avoid supplanting the Cavaliers in that most dubious of records.

Some head coaches would probably prefer to have their team focus on the season at hand, not dwell on the failures of the past, especially a new head coach who had nothing to do with the past. In the case of Bobcats head coach Mike Dunlap, however, he wants his team focused on that record and on avoiding it.

“I think we’ve got to talk about it and we’ve got to get it done at some point, and obviously the sooner the better,” Dunlap told HOOPSWORLD. “It’s an ownership issue for all of us, so the sooner we can address that the better off, but I think that the elephant in the locker room is the one you got to shoot and we got to get that thing done.”

“Ownership means we own it, we avoid nothing,” Dunlap continued. “It’s there, everybody is talking about it in terms of… it’s one of those things the media wants to bring to you with heaviness. Like you eluded to, it’s an opportunity to knock one off the board, let’s go get it and talk about it openly because I think if you avoid those things, there’s a lot of other things that lead to that kind of thinking and I’m not of those, let’s go right at it.”

Ben Gordon, likewise, is new to the losing streak, but he is no stranger to rebuilding and he likes what he has seen from his new teammates in preseason.

“If you look at the energy of the guys, each and every game hasn’t wavered,” Gordon said. “That’s a good sign, regardless of it’s a win or, early on, a first win, or if it was a loss. The main thing is to just be consistent with your energy and your effort and eventually things will fall your way.”

A couple of guys who suffered through last season’s futility are very optimistic that the Bobcats can take a step forward and avoid setting a new dubious record.

“Definitely,” said Kemba Walker without hesitation. “We’ll be fine. What happened last year, it happens. Teams lose and they have bad years. The good teams are the teams who stick together through all the battles and through all the bad times. The only thing we can do is go up; we can’t do any worse. I think we’re getting a lot better as a team and it’s been showing.”

“I think it’s there,” said Gerald Henderson of the subject of the losing streak. “It’s there and you can’t really avoid it. But we do have a new team, we do have five new guys that are going to play, as well as a brand new coach and new coaching staff. We have a whole new attitude and style of play, so we want a fresh start, but it’s there. We want to go ahead and get our first win early, so that can be a goal of ours, to get it out of the way early so we’ll be looking to do that.”

One area that Henderson believes his team has improved already is their defensive scheme.

“I think, number one, our defense has been pretty good,” Henderson said. “We’ve played some pretty good defensive quarters and Coach has been trying out different groups to see if we can pressure a bit more. We’ve used smaller groups so we can do a lot of switching and keep our pressure on. I think our defense has been definitely pretty good in preseason.”

The Bobcats did win one preseason game, and while that doesn’t count towards ending the streak, it’s a positive sign. Their season begins on Friday, when they host the Indiana Pacers, and then they play in Phoenix, host Dallas and then go to New Orleans. Their best bet at ending the streak might be the Suns game, as Phoenix has a number of new faces and young players, much like the Bobcats do. It would certainly be a nice reward for their home crowd if they ended the steak before it reaches record proportions and if they did so in the friendly confines of Time Warner Cable Arena.

Sessions Hopes To Bring Some Lakers Mojo

One key influence as the Charlotte Bobcats look to avoid a date with destiny is newcomer Ramon Sessions, who spent part of last season as the starting point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. He talks with HOOPSWORLD about his new team, how his time in Los Angeles and playing with Kobe Bryant changed his perspective and more in this exclusive interview:

Lin Hopes For A Winning Beginning

The 2012-13 NBA season officially got underway last night, but after just three games last night, the vast majority of the league will actually kick off their schedules tonight. Among them is the Houston Rockets, a team very much in disarray, but also a team with a great deal of potential. That potential starts with point guard Jeremy Lin, once discarded by the franchise and now hailed a franchise cornerstone. He will make the first opening night start of his career as the Rockets take on the Detroit Pistons this evening.

“I just want to help the team win,” Lin said in a recent interview with Rockets.com. “We really want to get this game. We want to get off to the right start. I think this team believes in itself and I think tonight we need to come out and do a great job of getting out to a fast start and then closing the game. I think that’s important for us, especially going forward with the season we’re going to have

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