The 5 most dysfunctional NBA franchises in recent history

The latest drama enveloping the Sacramento Kings and their best player, DeMarcus Cousins, continues to support "Sactown" as royalty among even the most dysfunctional current NBA franchises.

They have competition, however, be it present-day, or going back a few years.

5. Vancouver Grizzlies, 1995-2001

Many won't remember this team, but before the Memphis Grizzlies' ascension to one of the NBA's rock-solid franchises, they were the short-lived Canadian expansion cousins of the Toronto Raptors.

While the easy thing to do is dismiss them as a basketball team in a hockey town, the fact is the Grizzlies did as much to self-immolate their organization than any Canucklehead stereotype.

This peaked in 1999, when despite open warnings by Steve Francis of not wanting to play for the Grizzlies, GM Stu Jackson drafted him anyways. Subsequently forced into a trade, the team came out with a handful of mediocre players, while the likes of Baron Davis, Lamar Odom, and Andre Miller were selected after Francis. Vancouver posted a .216 winning percentage over six seasons, and were moved to Memphis by new owner Michael Heisley in 2001.

4. New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, 2009-present

Since the Nets bottomed out with a 12-70 record in 2009-10, the team has been sold to Mikhail Prokhorov, rebranded, moved from the swampland of Jersey to the hipster hotbed of Brooklyn, taken on the largest payroll in NBA history, and subsequently done everything it could to sell it back off.

For their troubles, they reached the high-water mark of the second round of the playoffs in 2014. The franchise will also watch the Boston Celtics draft for them with what will be a top-five pick in June.

3. Sacramento Kings, 2006-Present

Much of the criticism for the Kings' current stretch of ineptitude falls at the feet of owner Vivek Ranadive. Yet it's important to remember that the situation was already a gong show before Ranadive bought them in 2013. The Kings haven't made the playoffs since 2006, and the corresponding years were highlighted by former owners Joe and Gavin Maloof trying to sell the team so it could be moved to Seattle.

Related: The Kings need to choose between Cousins and Karl

The Kings' ineptitude may well rank among the most prolific all-time. The franchise's lone NBA title came as the Rochester Royals in 1951, and its only truly memorable era in Sacramento was a four-year run in the early 2000s, with a core of Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, and Vlade Divac.

2. New York Knicks, 2001-Present

Cry in the East River all you want for Brooklyn, but things have been even worse for the region's preferred NBA team. The Nets have, for the most part, always been an afterthought. The Knicks were once great.

Since the turn of the century, however, things have been particularly atrocious for the Madison Square Garden faithful. The team has won one playoff series since 2000, which is the same success-rate as the oft-maligned Raptors. Most observers find it no accident that this coincides with chairman James Dolan taking the reins of the Garden's sports properties.

The Knicks have had nine head coaches and only four postseason appearances since 2003. The list is long, but run any number of names by a Knicks fan - Eddy Curry, Isiah Thomas, Penny Hardaway, Andrea Bargnani, for example - and just watch them cringe.

1. Los Angeles Clippers, 1981-2011

Yes, the Clippers have risen to prominence as one of the Western Conference's top teams over the past five seasons. Unfortunately, it will take at least another half-decade of high-level basketball to erase the stench of the previous 30 years. Not only was the team previously owned by an individual who could charitably be described as a decrepit bigot, the Clippers are an organization that Sports Illustrated once dubbed "the worst franchise in sports history."

The present-day Clippers have so far done little to improve the team's poor postseason history. The franchise has never been beyond the second round of the playoffs in any incarnation, dating back to the team's birth in 1970 - be it in Los Angeles, San Diego, or as the Buffalo Braves.