1992–93 Dallas Mavericks season

The 1992–93 NBA season was the 13th season for the Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association. The Mavericks received the fourth overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Jim Jackson out of Ohio State University, and also selected center Sean Rooks from the University of Arizona with the 30th overall pick; however, Jackson held out most of his rookie season due to a contract dispute, and refused to play for the Mavericks. Meanwhile, Fat Lever missed the entire regular season due to a knee injury.

After a 1–3 start to the regular season, the Mavericks went on a 12-game losing streak between November and December, posted a 15-game losing streak between December and January, lost eight consecutive games between January and February, and then suffered a dreadful 19-game losing streak between February and March, which left them with the worst record in NBA history as they stood 4–57 through 61 games. Head coach Richie Adubato was fired after a 2–27 start, and was replaced with assistant Gar Heard as an interim coach. The team held a 4–45 record at the All-Star break during their 19-game losing streak.

However, Jackson finally signed with the Mavericks in early March, and played in the final 28 games of the regular season, averaging 16.3 points, 4.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game, although he was not selected to an NBA All-Rookie Team at season's end. In the final 21 games, Jackson helped the team to seven wins, including two straight to close out the year. However, the Mavericks still finished in last place in the Midwest Division with the league's worst record at 11–71, .134 in winning percentage and the team's worst record in franchise history.

Derek Harper led the team with 18.2 points and 5.4 assists per game, and also led them with 101 three-point field goals, while Rooks averaged 13.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and Terry Davis provided the team with 12.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. In addition, second-year forward Doug Smith provided with 10.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while Randy White averaged 9.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, second-year guard Mike Iuzzolino contributed 8.7 points and 4.7 assists per game, and rookie guard Walter Bond contributed 8.0 points per game.

The 1992–93 Mavericks also had by far the worst average point differential in the history of the NBA at -15.2 points per game – over three points worse than the 1972–73 76ers who won only nine games, and over five points worse than the 2015–16 76ers who won ten. For this reason, NBA historian Kyle Wright declared in 2007 that the 1992–93 Mavericks must rank as, at least relative to their opponents, the worst team in the history of the NBA. Following the season, Heard was fired as head coach, and Iuzzolino signed as a free agent with the Orlando Magic, but was later on released to free agency.

For the season, the Mavericks changed the wordmark of the city and team name on their primary logo, slightly redesigned their home uniforms, and sported new blue road uniforms. The redesigned logo and uniforms both remained in use until 2001.