Detroit Pistons 2023-2024 Losing Streak

Overview

Detroit Pistons 2023-2024 Losing Streak refers to the record-setting string of consecutive losses by the NBA's Detroit Pistons in the 2023-2024 season, surpassing the previous NBA record of 26 straight losses. As of December 28th, 2023, the team has lost 27 consecutive games, and the team's ineptitude led to memes mocking them on social media. The team broke the streak at 28, beating the Toronto Raptors.

Background

The Detroit Pistons opened the 2023-2024 season winning two of their first three games.^[1] On October 30th, 2023, they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the first in an ongoing, 27-game losing streak. On December 26th, they lost to the Brooklyn Nets, extending the streak to 27 games and breaking the previous record for the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history, which was jointly held by the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers.^[2] A 28th consecutive loss would give them the all-time NBA record, regardless of season. A 29th consecutive loss would give them the longest losing streak in the history of professional sports.

Online Presence

The Pistons' record-setting losing streak became the subject of jokes and fascination from NBA fans online. One point of fascination was a promotional poster from restaurant chain Wingstop posted to Twitter by @nsitto2^[3] on December 7th, 2023 that advertised "five free wings" if the Pistons won (shown below, left). It's unclear when the promotion began, but Sporting News^[4] theorized from a graphic tweeted by the official Pistons account in November that it began in late November (shown below, right).

The promotion has made Wingstop a regular part of jokes surrounding the Pistons' losing streak. For example, on December 23rd, Twitter user @Kofie^[5] posted a picture of an empty Krusty Krab (from SpongeBob SquarePants), joking that it represented Wingstop after every Pistons game. The tweet gained over 1,900 retweets and 40,000 likes in five days (shown below, top). On December 26th, user @daveydelphia76^[6] posted the Scarface Counting Money video to joke about Wingstop enjoying the promotion, gaining over 1,500 retweets and 23,000 likes in two days (shown below, bottom).

Wingstop executives realizing they signed the greatest sponsorship deal in history with the Pistons: pic.twitter.com/bo2QQcHEk5

— Davey (@Daveydelphia76) December 27, 2023

Ahead of Pistons games, NBA fans have joked about the teams' chances against their opponents with various memes. For example, on December 28th, Kofie^[7] posted a Man vs. Giant meme to joke about the team's bad odds against the Boston Celtics, gaining over 660 retweets and 14,000 likes in a matter of hours (shown below, left). The same day, user @j_shao_^[8] joked with a meme showing how the Pistons were taking the attention away from the San Antonio Spurs, who have also had an abysmal stretch of games where they've gone 1-23, gaining 37 likes (shown below, right).

Search Interest

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External References