The Nets have had many regrettable days, forgettable moments and embarrassing times in their star-crossed history. You can add the events of Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 to their annals.

Early in the day, the Nets made hard-working head coach Lawrence Frank the fall guy for their struggles this injury-plagued season. Then the Nets were absolutely throttled by the Lakers as they trailed by 34 points and matched the 1988-89 Heat and 1998-99 Clippers for the worst start in NBA history by dropping to 0-17.

The Nets have seen worse days -– like when they traded Julius Erving and lost Drazen Petrovic to a fatal car wreck. But this day, culminating with a 106-87 defeat at Staples Center in longtime assistant Tom Barrise’s head coaching debut, has to rank high on the list of all-encompassing bad days for this franchise.

Nothing that happened is surprising. Frank was out. It was not a matter of if, but when. All along the belief was it would happen after the Nets returned. But mercifully, over the phone from New York, team president Rod Thorn put Frank out of his misery in the California morning.

At least Frank didn’t have to be there to endure further humiliation and watch the Nets grab a share of perhaps the most embarrassing record in pro basketball. They could set the standard Wednesday when they play host to Jason Kidd and the Mavericks.

But Frank probably would have wanted to be there, to try and be part of the solution. He did everything he could with this team. Many fans wished he would have been fired and they got their wish. But he deserved a better fate than this.

Putting aside that he earned more money than many of us will see in our lifetimes, Frank worked very hard, put everything he had into the job he's had since 2004 and this season was fighting a no-win battle, literally. Even before the injuries, the Nets were going to be bad. Then they lose nearly 50 percent of their team at one point and have lost 100 percent of their games.

But this is what happens. People get fired when a team loses 16 in a row and goes from being competitive to being out of most games early. The Nets were out of the Lakers’ game in the first period, despite an 8-5 start. The quarter ended 27-12 and ballooned to 49-24 midway through the second.

Barrise said the Nets were affected by the loss. Devin Harris said the team was scattered. The Nets had little chance of winning this game anyway.

It’s the end of a long trip. They’re tired of hearing and reading about how bad they are, about how they need to win to save the coach’s job and then had to answer questions Sunday about the coach losing his job and of course the likelihood of reaching the record no player, coach, executive or owner wants on his resume.

Making matters worse was that these were the reigning champs the Nets were playing, and they came off a laugher against Golden State so their legs were rested. They’re basically in a different league than the Nets and there is no way Phil Jackson or Kobe Bryant would let the Lakers lose to this team.

At least Harris and Courtney Lee, still fighting through rust and getting their game legs back after long layoffs due to injury, played heavy minutes that should help them get their rhythm and timing back.

Now it’s about moving on because there are some important days upcoming for the Nets. The first is Tuesday when Thorn announces who will replace Frank for the rest of the season.

Barrise was the coach for the night. He’s a candidate and probably will be interviewed by Thorn today along with assistants John Loyer, Doug Overton and general manager Kiki Vandeweghe.

Whomever Thorn picks will run practice Tuesday and be on the bench Wednesday when the Nets try to avoid further humiliation by having the record all unto themselves.

Let me make this prediction here: Jason Kidd will be fired up for that game, especially after hearing the chants of “Thank You, Cuban” when he made his Meadowlands return last December.

The fans were happy with Harris then. But after everything that has happened since as well as how this season has gone, many of them probably long for the Kidd days. For the most part they were memorable in a very good way.

Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)