1990–91 Los Angeles Clippers season
NBA professional basketball team season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1990–91 Los Angeles Clippers season was the 21st season for the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association, and their seventh season in Los Angeles, California.[1] The Clippers received the eighth overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Bo Kimble out of Loyola Marymount, and also selected power forward Loy Vaught from the University of Michigan with the 13th overall pick.[2][3][4] During the off-season, the team hired Mike Schuler as their new head coach.[5][6]
| 1990–91 Los Angeles Clippers season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Mike Schuler |
| General manager | Elgin Baylor |
| Owner | Donald Sterling |
| Arena | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena |
| Results | |
| Record | 31–51 (.378) |
| Place | Division: 6th (Pacific) Conference: 10th (Western) |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Stats at Basketball Reference | |
| Local media | |
| Television | KTLA (Ralph Lawler, Mike Fratello) Prime Ticket (Tom Kelly, Earl Strom) |
| Radio | KRLA (Rich Marotta) |
Under Schuler, and with the addition of Kimble and Vaught, the Clippers played around .500 in winning percentage with a 10–10 start to the regular season. However, the team continued to struggle losing 12 of their next 13 games, which included a seven-game losing streak between December and January, and later on held a 15–32 record at the All-Star break.[7] Ron Harper only played just 39 games due to a knee injury.[8][9] At mid-season, the team traded Benoit Benjamin to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Olden Polynice.[10][11][12] The Clippers posted a six-game losing streak between January and February, but posted a five-game winning streak in late March, and then lost six of their final seven games of the season. The Clippers finished in sixth place in the Pacific Division with a 31–51 record;[13] the team reached 50 losses for the tenth consecutive season, and also missed the NBA playoffs for the 15th consecutive year.[14][1]
Charles D. Smith averaged 20.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, while Harper averaged 19.6 points, 5.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and Ken Norman provided the team with 17.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. In addition, Danny Manning provided with 15.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, while Gary Grant contributed 8.7 points, 8.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and Winston Garland contributed 8.2 points, 4.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Meanwhile, second-year guard Jeff Martin averaged 7.1 points per game, Kimble contributed 6.9 points per game, Vaught averaged 5.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, and Tom Garrick contributed 3.9 points and 3.3 assists per game.[15]
The Clippers finished 21st in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 522,111 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena during the regular season.[15][16] Following the season, Garland was traded to the Denver Nuggets.[17][18]
Draft picks
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Bo Kimble | SG |  United States | Loyola Marymount |
| 1 | 13 | Loy Vaught | PF | United States | Michigan |
Roster
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Head coach
Assistant(s)
Legend
|
Roster notes
- Center Mike Smrek became the 4th former Laker to play with the crosstown rival Clippers.
Regular season
Season standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Portland Trail Blazers | 63 | 19 | .768 | — | 36–5 | 27–14 | 18-10 |
| x-Los Angeles Lakers | 58 | 24 | .707 | 5 | 33–8 | 25-16 | 19-9 |
| x-Phoenix Suns | 55 | 27 | .671 | 8 | 32–9 | 23-18 | 17–11 |
| x-Golden State Warriors | 44 | 38 | .537 | 19 | 30–11 | 14–27 | 13–15 |
| x-Seattle SuperSonics | 41 | 41 | .500 | 22 | 28-13 | 13–28 | 12-16 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 31 | 51 | .378 | 32 | 23–18 | 8-33 | 10-18 |
| Sacramento Kings | 25 | 57 | .305 | 38 | 24-17 | 1–40 | 9–19 |
- y - clinched division title
- x - clinched playoff spot
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | z-Portland Trail Blazers | 63 | 19 | .768 | – |
| 2 | y-San Antonio Spurs | 55 | 27 | .671 | 8 |
| 3 | x-Los Angeles Lakers | 58 | 24 | .707 | 5 |
| 4 | x-Phoenix Suns | 55 | 27 | .671 | 8 |
| 5 | x-Utah Jazz | 54 | 28 | .659 | 9 |
| 6 | x-Houston Rockets | 52 | 30 | .634 | 11 |
| 7 | x-Golden State Warriors | 44 | 38 | .537 | 19 |
| 8 | x-Seattle SuperSonics | 41 | 41 | .500 | 22 |
| 9 | Orlando Magic | 31 | 51 | .378 | 32 |
| 10 | Los Angeles Clippers | 31 | 51 | .378 | 32 |
| 11 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 29 | 53 | .354 | 34 |
| 12 | Dallas Mavericks | 28 | 54 | .341 | 35 |
| 13 | Sacramento Kings | 25 | 57 | .305 | 38 |
| 14 | Denver Nuggets | 20 | 62 | .244 | 43 |
- z - clinched division title
- y - clinched division title
- x - clinched playoff spot
Game log
Player statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 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 |
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Smith | 74 | 74 | 36.5 | 46.9 | 0.0 | 79.3 | 8.2 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 20.0 |
| Ron Harper | 39 | 34 | 35.5 | 39.1 | 32.4 | 66.8 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 19.6 |
| Ken Norman | 70 | 45 | 33.0 | 50.1 | 18.8 | 62.9 | 7.1 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 17.4 |
| Danny Manning | 73 | 47 | 30.1 | 51.9 | 0.0 | 71.6 | 5.8 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 15.9 |
| Benoit Benjamin | 39 | 38 | 34.3 | 49.2 | 0.0 | 72.8 | 12.0 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 14.9 |
| Olden Polynice | 31 | 30 | 36.5 | 57.9 | 0.0 | 57.2 | 9.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 12.3 |
| Gary Grant | 68 | 65 | 31.0 | 45.1 | 23.1 | 68.9 | 3.1 | 8.6 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 8.7 |
| Winston Garland | 69 | 26 | 24.7 | 42.6 | 15.4 | 75.2 | 2.9 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 8.2 |
| Jeff Martin | 74 | 26 | 18.0 | 42.2 | 30.7 | 68.0 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 7.1 |
| Bo Kimble | 62 | 22 | 16.2 | 38.0 | 29.2 | 77.3 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 6.9 |
| Loy Vaught | 73 | 0 | 16.1 | 48.7 | 0.0 | 66.2 | 4.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 5.5 |
| Tom Garrick | 67 | 0 | 14.2 | 42.4 | 0.0 | 75.9 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 3.9 |
| Ken Bannister | 47 | 3 | 7.2 | 53.1 | 0.0 | 38.5 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 2.4 |
| Greg Butler | 9 | 0 | 4.1 | 26.3 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| Cedric Ball | 7 | 0 | 3.7 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
| Mike Smrek | 10 | 0 | 7.0 | 18.8 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
Player statistics citation:[15]
Transactions
The Clippers were involved in the following transactions during the 1990–91 season.
Trades
| February 20, 1991 | To Los Angeles Clippers
|
To Seattle SuperSonics |
Player Transactions Citation:[19]