1991–92 Charlotte Hornets season
NBA professional basketball team season
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The 1991–92 Charlotte Hornets season was the fourth season for the Charlotte Hornets in the National Basketball Association.[1] The Hornets won the NBA draft lottery, and selected power forward Larry Johnson from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with the first overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft,[2][3][4] and hired Allan Bristow as their new head coach.
| 1991–92 Charlotte Hornets season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Allan Bristow |
| General manager | Dave Twardzik |
| Owner | George Shinn |
| Arena | Charlotte Coliseum |
| Results | |
| Record | 31–51 (.378) |
| Place | Division: 7th (Central) Conference: 12th (Eastern) |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Stats at Basketball Reference | |
| Local media | |
| Television | WCCB SportSouth (Steve Martin, Gerry Vaillancourt) |
| Radio | WBT (Matt Pinto, Gil McGregor) |
Under Bristow, and with the addition of Johnson, the Hornets struggled losing eight of their first nine games of the regular season, and later on held a 14–33 record at the All-Star break.[5] At mid-season, the team traded Rex Chapman to the Washington Bullets in exchange for Tom Hammonds, who was out due to a season-ending groin injury he sustained with the Bullets.[6][7][8] The Hornets won 9 of their 13 games in February, while posting a five-game winning streak between February and March, but lost seven of their final eight games of the season, finishing tied in last place in the Central Division with a 31–51 record, which was a five-game improvement over the previous season.[9]
Johnson averaged 19.2 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year, and was also named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.[10][11][12] In addition, second-year star Kendall Gill averaged 20.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game, while sixth man Dell Curry provided the team with 15.7 points per game off the bench, and Johnny Newman contributed 15.3 points per game. Meanwhile, Kenny Gattison averaged 12.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, J.R. Reid provided with 11.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, but only played 51 games due to injury, and Muggsy Bogues contributed 8.9 points, 9.1 assists and 2.1 steals per game.[13]
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida, Johnson participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest,[14][15] while Curry participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout.[16][15] Gill finished tied in eighth place in Most Improved Player voting.[17] The Hornets led the NBA in home-game attendance for the third time in four seasons, which an attendance of 971,618 at the Charlotte Coliseum during the regular season.[13][18]
Draft picks
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Larry Johnson | PF |  United States | UNLV |
| 2 | 28 | Kevin Lynch | SG | United States | Minnesota |
Roster
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Head coach
Assistant(s)
Legend
Roster |
Roster notes
- Power forward Tom Hammonds was acquired by the Hornets from the Washington Bullets in a mid-season trade, but was placed on the injured reserve list due to a groin injury he sustained with the Bullets, and did not play with the Hornets this season.
Regular season
Season standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Chicago Bulls | 67 | 15 | .817 | — | 36–5 | 31–10 | 22–6 |
| x-Cleveland Cavaliers | 57 | 25 | .695 | 10 | 35–6 | 22–19 | 21–7 |
| x-Detroit Pistons | 48 | 34 | .585 | 19 | 25–16 | 23–18 | 15–13 |
| x-Indiana Pacers | 40 | 42 | .488 | 27 | 26–15 | 14–27 | 13–15 |
| Atlanta Hawks | 38 | 44 | .463 | 29 | 23–18 | 15–26 | 7–21 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 31 | 51 | .378 | 36 | 25–16 | 6–35 | 10–18 |
| Charlotte Hornets | 31 | 51 | .378 | 36 | 22–19 | 9–32 | 10–18 |
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | z-Chicago Bulls | 67 | 15 | .817 | – |
| 2 | y-Boston Celtics | 51 | 31 | .622 | 16 |
| 3 | x-Cleveland Cavaliers | 57 | 25 | .695 | 10 |
| 4 | x-New York Knicks | 51 | 31 | .622 | 16 |
| 5 | x-Detroit Pistons | 48 | 34 | .585 | 19 |
| 6 | x-New Jersey Nets | 40 | 42 | .488 | 27 |
| 7 | x-Indiana Pacers | 40 | 42 | .488 | 27 |
| 8 | x-Miami Heat | 38 | 44 | .463 | 29 |
| 9 | Atlanta Hawks | 38 | 44 | .463 | 29 |
| 10 | Philadelphia 76ers | 35 | 47 | .427 | 32 |
| 11 | Milwaukee Bucks | 31 | 51 | .378 | 36 |
| 12 | Charlotte Hornets | 31 | 51 | .378 | 36 |
| 13 | Washington Bullets | 25 | 57 | .305 | 42 |
| 14 | Orlando Magic | 21 | 61 | .256 | 46 |
- z – clinched division title
- y – clinched division title
- x – clinched playoff spot
Game log
Player statistics
Ragular season
| Player | POS | GP | GS | MP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | MPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Johnson | PF | 82 | 77 | 3,047 | 899 | 292 | 81 | 51 | 1,576 | 37.2 | 11.0 | 3.6 | 1.0 | .6 | 19.2 |
| Kenny Gattison | PF | 82 | 71 | 2,223 | 580 | 131 | 59 | 69 | 1,042 | 27.1 | 7.1 | 1.6 | .7 | .8 | 12.7 |
| Muggsy Bogues | PG | 82 | 69 | 2,790 | 235 | 743 | 170 | 6 | 730 | 34.0 | 2.9 | 9.1 | 2.1 | .1 | 8.9 |
| Kendall Gill | SG | 79 | 79 | 2,906 | 402 | 329 | 154 | 46 | 1,622 | 36.8 | 5.1 | 4.2 | 1.9 | .6 | 20.5 |
| Dell Curry | SG | 77 | 0 | 2,020 | 259 | 177 | 93 | 20 | 1,209 | 26.2 | 3.4 | 2.3 | 1.2 | .3 | 15.7 |
| Anthony Frederick | SF | 66 | 26 | 852 | 144 | 71 | 40 | 26 | 389 | 12.9 | 2.2 | 1.1 | .6 | .4 | 5.9 |
| Eric Leckner | C | 59 | 2 | 716 | 206 | 31 | 9 | 18 | 196 | 12.1 | 3.5 | .5 | .2 | .3 | 3.3 |
| Johnny Newman | SF | 55 | 55 | 1,651 | 179 | 146 | 70 | 14 | 839 | 30.0 | 3.3 | 2.7 | 1.3 | .3 | 15.3 |
| Kevin Lynch | SG | 55 | 3 | 819 | 85 | 83 | 37 | 9 | 224 | 14.9 | 1.5 | 1.5 | .7 | .2 | 4.1 |
| J. R. Reid | C | 51 | 7 | 1,257 | 317 | 81 | 49 | 23 | 560 | 24.6 | 6.2 | 1.6 | 1.0 | .5 | 11.0 |
| Elliot Perry† | PG | 40 | 0 | 371 | 32 | 64 | 25 | 2 | 113 | 9.3 | .8 | 1.6 | .6 | .1 | 2.8 |
| Mike Gminski | C | 35 | 10 | 499 | 118 | 31 | 11 | 16 | 202 | 14.3 | 3.4 | .9 | .3 | .5 | 5.8 |
| Rex Chapman† | PG | 21 | 11 | 545 | 54 | 86 | 14 | 8 | 260 | 26.0 | 2.6 | 4.1 | .7 | .4 | 12.4 |
| Greg Grant† | PG | 13 | 0 | 57 | 4 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 4.4 | .3 | 1.4 | .6 | .0 | .1 |
| Ronnie Grandison | PF | 3 | 0 | 25 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 8.3 | 3.7 | .3 | .3 | .3 | 3.3 |
| Tony Massenburg† | PF | 3 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.3 | 1.3 | .0 | .3 | .0 | .3 |
| Michael Ansley† | SF | 2 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6.5 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 3.0 |
| Cedric Hunter | PG | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
- † Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Hornets only.
Awards and records
Transactions
- July 15, 1991
Waived Randolph Keys.
- September 4, 1991
Signed Anthony Frederick as a free agent.
- October 10, 1991
Signed Scott Haffner as a free agent.
- October 11, 1991
Waived Scott Haffner.
- October 31, 1991
Claimed Greg Grant on waivers from the Indiana Pacers.
- November 5, 1991
Waived Kevin Lynch.
- December 9, 1991
Signed Elliot Perry as a free agent.
Waived Greg Grant.
- December 11, 1991
Signed Tony Massenburg as a free agent.
- December 30, 1991
Signed Ron Grandison as a free agent.
- January 1, 1992
Signed Ron Grandison to the first of two 10-day contracts.
- January 2, 1992
Released Michael Ansley.
- January 7, 1992
Waived Ron Grandison.
Waived Tony Massenburg.
- January 10, 1992
Signed Michael Ansley to a 10-day contract.
- February 15, 1992
Signed Cedric Hunter to a 10-day contract.
- February 19, 1992
Traded Rex Chapman to the Washington Bullets for Tom Hammonds.
- February 20, 1992
Waived Cedric Hunter.