The Houston Rockets are the ultimate losers of the 2026 playoffs
They lost to the Lakers, who got swept by OKC, Who lost to the Spurs, who lost to the Knicks in the finals, making them the ultimate losers
Classic KD effect
He can’t fucking win with Ime coaching man. Jabri is a dickhead. Reed Shepherd is white for some reason. Fucking Amen? I say “amen” every time he shoots because I pray no one gets hit in the side of the head with those clanks. What do you want me…I mean what do you want Kevin, to do?
Reeds been in the gym this off season working on the white thing
Jared Dasheppard incoming?
Kareed Abdul Sheppard on deck
Whoa he even converted to Islam
Lmfao
jimmy_kimmel_karl_malone.jpg
heard he goes by Isaiah now
He can’t fucking win with Brooks coaching man. Westbrook is a dickhead. Andre Roberson is white for some reason. Fucking Waiters? I say “Wait No” every time he shoots because I pray no one gets hit in the side of the head with those clanks. What do you want me…I mean what do you want Kevin, to do?
Blessed be the pasta born anew, it is pasta that feeds the mouths of the poor r/nba nephews. In Kelvin Benjamin’s girth we pray,
Amen [now Kelvin can eat]
Kelvin Benjamin: “You had me at waiters”
This is glorious
Oh, hey Kevin
Bless this comment so that it may become pasta anew,
Amen [Thompson]
He can’t fucking win with Nash… I mean, Vaughn coaching man. Kyrie is a dickhead. Joe Harris is white for some reason. Fucking Ben Simmons? I say “amen” every time he shoots because the dude gets nightmares everytime he thinks about Trae Young. What do you want me…I mean what do you want Kevin, to do?
I mean it’s true though
Bus. Rider.
Blame the man that played one game😂😂😂😂 Not even remotely his fault
hey
K.D. had a great season last season. You must be a t r o l l.
What’s crazier
Rockets choke was only the 4th worst
Magic choke was only the 3rd worst
Cavs choke was only the 2nd worst
Don’t forget the Celtics choke too
As Celtics fan I can’t help but feel like that was the worst choke. I think C’s take cavs and give us an actual ECF but lose to Knicks.
Your playoff run ended once Tatum got injured though anyways.
Completely forgot he got injured again and when I read your comment I was like “Damn, this dude basically said your run already ended last playoffs, why even bother with this year?”
The Celtics wouldn’t have played the Cavs in round 2 though
How does their post have 20 upvotes lol
Ah yeah, I think we were just talking all made up anyways
Wouldn’t it have been C’s vs Knicks in the semi’s though?
Yes
Idk many people thought the Celtics were gonna be nowhere near the 2 seed at the start of the season, getting that far was already impressive with a team that wasn’t really build to win in the playoffs.
I’m a bit of a hater but in my opinion I’d say the rockets choke was the real 2nd worst, because they really added KD and then lost to a Lakers team missing their top two leading scorers.
Rockets didnt have their starting pg and c for the series, starting sf only played 1 game
Well they didn’t have their starting pg and c all season, the team was what it was and was still favorites to win that series.
Favorites when KD was supposed to play the whole series. He only played 1 game.
Oh yeah that’s true but they did lose that game too
Sure but I’m just pointing out the erroneous belief of us being favorites. Granted, I watched the entire Rockets regular season and if there was one team to lose to a depleted Lakers squad it was definitely this team lol.
Oh yeah I also picked the lakers pre series too
KD played in 1 out of 6 games?
Nuggets and Jokic skating by on r_nba as usual when they lost to a Wolves with no ANT, AYO, AND DDV. And I mean it wasn’t even close, Jaden McDaniels was the best player on the floor and dad-dicked them after calling out their defense publicly.
Yeah lwk the nuggets was worse objectively but we already knew the wolves owned the nuggets and that jokic is a defensive liability before the playoffs started, versus rockets going down 0-3 was more of a shock
Celtics shouldve been a play-in team with Tatum out and playing in the playoffs at maybe 80%. Team was toast when Tatum sat out game 7. My expectations here were low because this team was definitely not build to win a chip.
You would’ve played the Knicks in the Semifinals, not ECF
the tatumless celtics would have faced the knicks in round 2, not the cavs
and given that the celtics lost in 7 to a team that the knicks absolutely steamrolled in 4, I don’t see it being much of a series
Hey now, don’t forget us, epic choke job over here.
Man the hate watchers ate well this year. Jokic shai and wemby all lost in series they were betting favorites in.
76ers got nothing after winning VS celtics. Embiid and PG went from all nba players to tired + washed.
Since when is having your star player injured the same thing as choking?
Did Jalen Williams choke cause he was hurt? Chet 100% choked and could easily have been the difference maker, but what option does Jalen have
I mean a 3-1 lead is a 3-1 lead, but yeah the Celtics choke was probably the most excusable of the many we have had this postseason.
Except it came against the Sixers, a team the Celtics have owned for decades.
yeah, i had to finally retire the “it’s not a rivalry” screenshot :(
So many championships this year.
Sixers beating Celts
Spurs beating OKC
and ofc OKC in finals
pur championship was making the Conference Finals…..
And promptly being sent to the shadow realm.
I cannot call that excusable, they were up 3-1 and Tatum only missed the last game. They had a double digit lead in game 5 and the game was within 1 with a few minutes left in game 7 so even if they choked game 5 they still were good enough to win game 7 without Tatum.
They shot below 30% from 3 in all those games and just kept taking them just praying the 3P% would go back to average, it was a total exposure of Joe Mazzulla’s coaching style to not make an adjustment that could have won them any of those games. Heres a crazy fact, the Celtics went 1⁄12 in the last 4.5 minutes of game 7. Every single miss was a jump shot and the 1 make was a layup, that says it all.
We were down 3 with like 40 seconds left in game 7. I think a healthy tatum who is an amazing game performer would have won jt for us
Also lost games 5 and 6 tho too
Tatum got in jired like a quarter into game 6
… I mean also Embiid also missed the first three games, and Tatum was only out for the last game. Also, most people thought that the Celtics were the team most likely to come out of the east before the playoffs began. I don’t see how you can spin that series to not be a choke lol.
Obviously losing the last game without Tatum is slightly less of a choke, but they were still a top seed despite Tatum missing most of the season lol, it’s not like the rest of the team is bums
Favored to be the ECF champs, to getting beat by the 76ers for the first time since 1982
What was the worst?
You know damn well lmao
Say it. SAY IT
Spurs
The Spurs
Magic being only 3rd is crazy, how many shots did they miss in a row?
23… If we care so dekring the stakes at hand us being third is probably fair but if this is purely off how badly a team choked in the moment we have to be number 1 kr 2 right?
I think the context makes you guys number 1.
I watched that game, i thought the pistons were done for and about to be gone, y’all were also hot and then holy shit just what the fuck happened out there in the second half.
Spurs’ was worst one because of the magnitude of its meaning and signigicance. It’s the Finals, at home, etc.
As far as ugly basketball goes, Magic’s was the worst. That game 6 is the stuff of legends. The only excuse the Magic has is Franz Wagner’s injury.
Hawks lost by 51 points and it wasn’t even the greatest loss of the playoffs
There’s no way we escaped this list
i know i am not seeing a Spurs flair talking about choke, we sold game 3 and that’s it
It went from a competitive series to being over because of that play.
[deleted]
no not really you were already 2-0 at that point, most Rockets fans knew deep down that regardless whether its Lakers or Nuggets or Wolves we were getting bounced in the first round, team had no effective playmaker, Reed is a sophomore, team chemistry got blown up by KDF and he got injured as well, you didn’t have Luka but you had Bron and that’s all you need
Man, I was down on them before the playoffs even began. Adams and VanVleet being out for the season coupled with the getoffmydickerson bullshit just being poison to the team’s chemistry was just too much for that roster to handle.
Everyone else was like, well, on paper, this team should beat the Lakers! And I was like, oh boy, I can’t wait. The Rockets are gonna get manhandled and everyone is going to pretend like it’s an upset.
What loser mentality, no wonder Rockets just don’t do anything. Loser franchise with a loser fanbase.
Now I know you ain’t talkin’ with that flair.
Spurs might have been the worst. Then the nuggets/celtics. Then rockets. Then cavs and magic.
2026 NBA Choke Championship
This is some wild perspective. Damn lol it just got worse each round
So are you saying KD might regret not coming to the Knicks?
ima be that guy… they wouldn’t have a chip lol
Oh absolutely not lol
KD one of my favorite players precisely because he’s never been on my team lol. I just get to enjoy the highlights and funny moments without having to live with the many consequences of him being on my team.
Could you imagine that dude having a burner account with the NY media
Was he not with Brooklyn when that came out?
Oh shit I think you’re right
Yeah… imagine
To be fair he was money for Team USA.
And we thank him for that and wish him well and see him off when it’s time for the NBA season lol
It’s super easy playing for Team USA, it’s summer camp a couple of weeks with some of the best players on your team, and then it’s over and you go back to the grind of reality.
He doesn’t make teams better. He just sells jerseys lol
He’s a ceiling raiser. Not a floor raiser. You need a good team to add KD too.
Dude he was a ceiling raiser. I’m not convinced that that is still the case
I think anyone who can score like him is a ceiling raiser. The only argument you can make is that he’s taking shots away from a player who scores more efficiently (which you can’t) or that he’s a locker room cancer and no one wants to play with him. Which can be true. But his skillset is that of a ceiling raiser. The problem is that only works with a great or really good team without him. Like the Warriors were.
I agree that his on-court output is still high. And I’ll put aside the question of his locker room presence, because that isn’t the primary issue imo.
For me, i think the big thing is that the value he commands on the trade market is not commensurate with what he actually contributes. The Nets had to give DLo to the Warriors. The Suns then gave up Bridges, Cam Johnson, and four first rounders in the trade for him. The Rockets lost Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, a first and 5 seconds.
Aside from maybe the Nets, I’m not convinced that any of these teams would have been worse off if they had kept those assets and just not had KD. His gravitas as a player is inflating his value beyond what he actually contributes on the court
Knicks have no problems selling jerseys, sold out every where. The only way to get Knicks gear right now is from those guys selling on the street corners.
Oh I bet lol
Gotta snag a Brunson jersey eventually. Love this Knicks team
Based af
Without KD we damn near got swept by the lukaless Lakers. Pretty sure he makes us better.
This KD’s burner? Jk
This was more so a joke though. He’s obviously one of the best NBA players of all time. I think he’s just missing the championship caliber drive in him. Wish he would’ve got one with OKC and not Golden State.
Rockets will be dangerous in very near future.
Nah we won’t lol. Our coach and GM still have their heads up their asses thinking 33 y.o. FVV on 1 good ACL is the only PG we need to be serious contenders. Joke of an org starting from the Trump-supporting owner currently playing Ambassador to Italy at the top.
If he was a shoe size smaller, he beats the Bucks and that nets team probably wins a ‘ship. Crazy how narratives can change on just a couple inches.
That’s it goes. Before Giannis won one he was an all time choker and bud was about to get fired. Before Jokic won one he was fat and an mvp that could never take his team all the way.
Luka is going through that now and all of a sudden the Wemby love about his competitiveness is now arrogance.
At this point that’s an outlier is the issue
I think he does but you better already have some sort of a system where he just plays KD ball.
If you’re expecting him to be leading, he’s not that type of guy i don’t think. But he’s absolutely that last missing piece of a puzzle to any team.
that last missing piece of a puzzle to any team.
…to which teams specifically?
KD needs good leaders next to him to make a team better. He ruins the chemistry if hes the only leader
But the Knicks have Brunson, KAT, OG etc to keep him in check. And if he’s in check his skills are otherworldly
They wouldn’t have the same composition of players if KD was in Knicks except for maybe Brunson.
Buddy Brooklyn was about to win a ring with 3 divas off of pure talent
But they didn’t, in part because of the personalities KD chose to surround himself with.
I swear to God, people try to count a semifinal exit as nearly equivalent to a ring just to cut KD’s post Warriors run some slack.
Bro harden had a hamstring injury and kyrie had an unlucky landing. There’s no way anybody believes that another team in the league would beat the healthy nets that year.
At the end of the day it’s a sport competition not a story with a moral. The leadership stuff doesn’t matter outside of long term development and even in extreme cases like if KD was out there shooting his own teammates or something you shouldn’t use that to judge his on court abilities.
they were close to beating the bucks. I’ll give you that. There is no indication about how their matchup would have played out against the suns.
Thinking the suns had a chance vs the nets is like thinking that the 2017 warriors would’ve lost to the healthy spurs or some crap. At some point the talent gap is just so large that it’s decisive. Sure KD would’ve likely not won FMVP but he would’ve been 1b on that team
It’s a different team with completely different matchup and challenges. Just because team A beats team b, and team B beat team C, doesn’t mean Team A can beat team C.
About to win a ring? Ok lol
The only one that kept KD in check was Draymond, but I think KD only tolerated it as long as he was viewed as the top dog. He’d never be treated as top dog in NYC.
gsw is filled with bad leaders and they were unstoppable… only to break chemistry but i mean it was more so draymon/them not him right?
I was gonna say replace OG with KD and they lose in the 2nd round but I don’t think any of their East opponents had it in them this year. So I guess I’ll say they would lose in 5 to SAS
WE HAD DEBLASIO
ny might not have a chip that way lol.
honestly tho,i think KD probably regrets a lot of things, professionally speaking, but after having witnessed the Rockets’ offensive gameplan this postseason without him, as a neutral fan, im comfortable with him regretting coming to Houston.
i don’t know a lot of things worse than that, basketball wise. idgaf about his defense, Ime Udoka Is a basketball terrorist
Damn, I’m just trying to enjoy clips of OG being blasted. Didn’t need to catch this stray.
Hard agree… but OP is also not wrong
It was kinda awesome to see LeBron rewind the clock that series
And just insane, I think even though it got a lot of attention, still think Lebron’s playoffs went under the radar. The guy is 41, 23rd year, this simply does not happen. MF lost Luka and AR and played imo a team that should have beaten them in 5-6 with or without KD. He just schooled them
Then against literally the defending champs with the MVP and all defense level defenders, I think for sure he was the best guy on the court for like a game or 2. I mean put this guy on like your team instead of literally the MVP, you probably won’t win, but I think he still makes it a close series against SAS
r/fuckyouinparticular
The Houston rockets have not made the finals in over 30 years
The Chris Paul injury is heartbreaking
Either the CP3 injury or the historically large cap spike allowing the Warriors to add KD to a 73 win team outright and giving up nothing. One of those things doesn’t happen, we probably win.
Do you know why other teams weren’t able to use the cap increase as effectively as the warriors? The Kd acquisition is obviously the biggest move of that change, but what were the other contenders doing?
It was the cap spike combined with Curry being on a heavily undervalued contract he signed when he was still dealing with chronic ankle injuries and before Kerr came on and turned them into a juggernaut. Prior to that he looked like an All-Star but definitely not an MVP caliber, top5 All-Time PG player. Other franchises had their stars on appropriately costly contracts.
They could have won Game 7 and were handling the Warriors all game until they decided to force a 3 through instead of playing ball.
14⁄19 from 2 in the 2nd half of Game 7. 1⁄21 from 3.
“They were winning by doing exactly the same thing that helped them set a franchise record in wins* and put them up 3-2 on the defending champions, what the fuck were they thinking. I, a tactical prodigy, would have changed my strategy in the last game of the WCF.”
A lot of people blame the CP3 injury, I blame Trevor Ariza
Edit: And God
We haven’t won the lottery twice with generational players coming in at #1 the last 30 years either
To be fair neither has 28 other teams
Yeah but the dude commenting didnt have one of those other 28 flairs, so fuck’em
And ingot to watch Hakeem shit on everyone those 2 seasons. Was beautiful.
havent been gifted 2 generational players
Pathetic
Fuck yall
Morally dogpiling Houston is something…
That’ll teach em
KD is loathed. All time amazing player, but will never be forgiven for chasing a ring with his previous years top rival. Rightly or wrongly he’s perceived as a player who hurts the locker room, and doesn’t lift up his team mates.
You’re not wrong
But you are an asshole (lovingly)
Analytically that’s spot on
Analytically speaking, this means we are actually the best at something, and therefore, analytically, the champions.
Houston Rockets, 2026 analytical champions (at something). It has a nice ring to it.
Those tough post-James Harden years feel like they were in vain when you see what the Spurs and Thunder have accomplished. The Lakers will always have the dual benefit of extensive winning history and a sought-after location. It’s no surprise that they always get handed talent in free agency and in trades, so I can’t be that upset at their situation. But it’s been over 30 years since the Rockets made it to the top of this league. And it feels like we’re rounding that corner where it could very well be another 20 years before we ever reach that peak. KD robbed us of a chip when he went to the Warriors, and I’m feeling like the dude poisoned the well this last year. I don’t know why our franchise is always chasing old talent. I’d heard rumors about possibly making moves for Kyrie or JB. Both are very talented, but I’m not sure those guys are the sort of leaders that have the heart of a champion to lead you to the promised land. KD definitely isn’t that dude.
If only we could have had Wemby and Harper fall into our laps as well.
Rui bodybagged them.
I think Cleveland is the biggest loser of the playoffs
Analytical champions always means something
so last year was orlando for losing to boston, who lost to NY, who lost to Pacers, who lost to OKC
We took that title much earlier than this
I made a list of the last 8 today and didn’t it cuz I didn’t think anyone else would care or think about it. In this last 8 year stretch of unique champions. The nets are the only 2 time ultimate loser.
True, but it could be worse, you could be the Heat who lost to the Charlotte Hornets in the play-in. Ouch
I remember when this was posted about the lakers in 2024 and commenters were so pissed off mods removed the post altogether lmao.
The Dallas Stars were this in the NHL but i bet this subreddit is gonna be way weirder and more defensive about it when it’s just a trivia answer.
not surprising considering they didn’t have their PG nor Center and an injured KD for 1 game
Fully healthy Rockets with FVV, KD, and Adams vs Lakers with fully healthy Reeves and Luka who would win?
Idk. Maybe we’ve learned a lesson about playing playoff series on paper?
The other person brought up injuries as a legitimate reason for the Rockets loss. I was just genuinely asking what do they, and anyone really, think would happen between two fully healthy teams.
Rockets beat them fully healthy. Lose to okc in 6 next round.
I’ve lived in Houston and I approve this message.
Also, Dallas Stars. Way to go Texas.
Why did you have to remind me of this…
Y’all acting like you really thought KD and wheelchair Harden were about to do anything lol
I’d rather have Draymond as a teammate than Durant
The loser of the loser of the loser is a loser
tbf they overachieved just getting there. nobody had them making it that far. but yeah that collapse in game 6 was brutal to watch
true
Rockets were missing a star pg
I’m over here still enjoying our new uniforms (‘cause they don’t give me a lot else to enjoy) and you gotta bring me down like this? 😞
It felt like it too.
Horrible team to root for this year.
This is the greatest consolation prize
Lil B curse lives on
Dang it
It’s okay we will be back next year with ketchup n mustard!
They are already elimidated from the playoffs. ?
I’m surprised no one has mentioned it yet but this “honor” is often called the wooden spoon award.
Ohhh you made me remember HOU in this off season… well yeah!!! They are a joke… i mean without Luka, LAL still won over HOU… thats just a sad one for HOU fans as they have no excuse for that one…
And ohhh Sengun!!! Yeah!!! He has been exposed in that series as well
I don’t know why they swallowed the fly.
I guess they’ll die.
Sengun got cancelled. No more street cred or aura
They ass coz of KD
The Houston roads weren’t made for busses.
Fuck you for being so funny 😂
Thankksss guys haha
As a Houston hater, I respect this
I can get behind this