1989–90 Seattle SuperSonics season
NBA professional basketball team season
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The 1989–90 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 22nd season for the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association.[1] It was the final season for Bernie Bickerstaff as head coach of the SuperSonics. In the 1989 NBA draft, the SuperSonics selected point guard Dana Barros out of Boston College with the 16th overall pick, and also selected power forward Shawn Kemp out of Trinity Valley Community College with the 17th overall pick.[2][3][4]
| 1989–90 Seattle SuperSonics season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Bernie Bickerstaff |
| General manager | Bob Whitsitt |
| Owner | Barry Ackerley |
| Arena | Seattle Center Coliseum |
| Results | |
| Record | 41–41 (.500) |
| Place | Division: 4th (Pacific) Conference: 9th (Western) |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Stats at Basketball Reference | |
| Local media | |
| Television | |
| Radio | KJR |
With the addition of Barros and Kemp, the SuperSonics played around .500 in winning percentage with a 7–7 start to the regular season. After an 18–16 start to the season, the team fell below .500 by posting a five-game losing streak in January, as the team later on held a 22–23 record at the All-Star break.[5] The SuperSonics posted a five-game winning streak in February, which led to a 28–25 record as of February 25, 1990. However, the team played below .500 for the remainder of the season, and finished in fourth place in the Pacific Division with a 41–41 record;[6] the SuperSonics lost the eighth seed in the Western Conference to the Houston Rockets, who finished with the same record, but were ahead after tie-breaks as the SuperSonics did not qualify for the NBA playoffs.[7][8]
Dale Ellis led the SuperSonics in scoring averaging 23.5 points per game, but only played 55 games due to a collapsed lung, and broken ribs suffered from a car accident in January,[9][10][11] while Xavier McDaniel averaged 21.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, and Derrick McKey provided the team with 15.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. In addition, Sedale Threatt contributed 11.4 points per game, while Michael Cage averaged 9.7 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, and Barros contributed 9.7 points per game. Meanwhile, Kemp averaged 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, Nate McMillan provided with 6.4 points, 7.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and Olden Polynice provided with 4.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.[12]
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida, Kemp participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.[13][14] One notable highlight of the regular season occurred on November 9, 1989, in a road game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center; the SuperSonics lost to the Bucks in a quintuple-overtime game, 155–154. Ellis scored 53 points in 69 minutes, while McDaniel posted a double-double of 37 points and 13 rebounds in 68 minutes.[15][16][17]
The SuperSonics finished 26th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 473,277 at the Seattle Center Coliseum during the regular season, which was the second-lowest in the league.[12][18] This was also McDaniel's final full season in Seattle, as he would be traded midway through the following season to the Phoenix Suns.[19][20][21]
Draft picks
Seattle drafted future All-Stars Dana Barros and Shawn Kemp as their only two picks of the 1989 Draft. Kemp would go on to have a successful 8-year run with the Sonics.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Dana Barros | PG |  United States | Boston College |
| 1 | 17 | Shawn Kemp | PF / C | United States | Trinity Valley CC |
Roster
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Head coach
Assistant(s)
Legend
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Regular season
Season standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Los Angeles Lakers | 63 | 19 | .768 | – | 37–4 | 26–15 | 22–6 |
| x-Portland Trail Blazers | 59 | 23 | .720 | 4 | 35–6 | 24–17 | 20–8 |
| x-Phoenix Suns | 54 | 28 | .659 | 9 | 32–9 | 22–19 | 20–8 |
| Seattle SuperSonics | 41 | 41 | .500 | 22 | 30–11 | 11–30 | 11–17 |
| Golden State Warriors | 37 | 45 | .451 | 26 | 27–14 | 10–31 | 11–17 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 30 | 52 | .366 | 33 | 20–21 | 10–31 | 7–21 |
| Sacramento Kings | 23 | 59 | .280 | 40 | 16–25 | 7–34 | 7–21 |
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | z-Los Angeles Lakers | 63 | 19 | .768 | – |
| 2 | y-San Antonio Spurs | 56 | 26 | .683 | 7 |
| 3 | x-Portland Trail Blazers | 59 | 23 | .720 | 4 |
| 4 | x-Utah Jazz | 55 | 27 | .671 | 8 |
| 5 | x-Phoenix Suns | 54 | 28 | .659 | 9 |
| 6 | x-Dallas Mavericks | 47 | 35 | .573 | 16 |
| 7 | x-Denver Nuggets | 43 | 39 | .524 | 20 |
| 8 | x-Houston Rockets | 41 | 41 | .500 | 22 |
| 9 | Seattle SuperSonics | 41 | 41 | .500 | 22 |
| 10 | Golden State Warriors | 37 | 45 | .451 | 26 |
| 11 | Los Angeles Clippers | 30 | 52 | .366 | 33 |
| 12 | Sacramento Kings | 23 | 59 | .280 | 40 |
| 13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 22 | 60 | .268 | 41 |
| 14 | Charlotte Hornets | 19 | 63 | .232 | 44 |
Game log
| 1989–90 game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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November
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December
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January
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February
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March
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April
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| 1989–90 schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Player statistics
Legend
- GP: Games played
- GS: Games started
- MPG: Minutes per game
- FG%: Field goal percentage
- 3FG%: 3-point field goal percentage
- FT%: Free throw percentage
- RPG: Rebounds per game
- APG: Assists per game
- SPG: Steals per game
- BPG: Blocks per game
- PPG: Points per game
Season
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dana Barros | 81 | 25 | 20.1 | 40.5% | 39.9% | 80.9% | 1.6 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 9.7 |
| Michael Cage | 82 | 82 | 31.6 | 50.4% | – | 69.8% | 10.0 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 9.7 |
| Quintin Dailey | 30 | 2 | 16.4 | 40.4% | 20% | 78.8% | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 8.2 |
| Dale Ellis | 55 | 49 | 37.0 | 49.7% | 37.5% | 81.8% | 4.3 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 23.5 |
| Jim Farmer | 38 | 0 | 10.5 | 43.8% | 29.6% | 71.3% | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 6.4 |
| Avery Johnson | 53 | 10 | 10.8 | 38.7% | 25% | 72.5% | 0.8 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2.6 |
| Steve Johnson 1 | 21 | 0 | 11.5 | 53.3% | – | 60% | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 5.6 |
| Shawn Kemp | 81 | 1 | 13.8 | 47.9% | 16.7% | 73.6% | 4.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 6.5 |
| Xavier McDaniel | 69 | 67 | 35.2 | 49.6% | 29.4% | 73.3% | 6.5 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 21.3 |
| Derrick McKey | 80 | 80 | 34.4 | 49.3% | 13% | 78.2% | 6.1 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 15.7 |
| Nate McMillan | 82 | 69 | 28.5 | 47.3% | 35.5% | 64.1% | 4.9 | 7.3 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 6.4 |
| Scott Meents | 26 | 0 | 5.7 | 43.2% | – | 73.9% | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 2.1 |
| Olden Polynice | 79 | 7 | 13.7 | 54% | 50% | 47.5% | 3.8 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 4.6 |
| Brad Sellers 1 | 45 | 0 | 13.0 | 42.4% | 0% | 80.3% | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 4.8 |
| Sedale Threatt | 65 | 18 | 22.8 | 50.6% | 25% | 82.8% | 1.8 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 11.4 |
- 1.^ Statistics with the SuperSonics.
Player statistics citation:[12]
Awards, records, and honors
The Sonics did not have any awards, records, and honors. [22]
Transactions
Overview
| Players Added Via draft Via free agency Via trade |
Players Lost Via draft Via free agency Via trade |
Trades
| June 26, 1989 | To Seattle SuperSonics Brad Sellers |
To Chicago Bulls Conditional 1989 first round pick |
| June 27, 1989 | To Seattle SuperSonics Conditional 1989 first round pick |
To Golden State Warriors Conditional 1990 first round pick |
| To Seattle SuperSonics Conditional 1993 second round pick |
To Chicago Bulls Seattle's agreement not to draft B. J. Armstrong with the 16th or 17th draft pick. | |
| August 7, 1989 | To Seattle SuperSonics Conditional 1990 first round pick |
To Golden State Warriors Alton Lister |
| February 22, 1990 | To Seattle SuperSonics Steve Johnson |
To Minnesota Timberwolves Brad Sellers |
Free agents
Additions
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Subtractions
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Player Transactions Citation:[23]