1989–90 San Antonio Spurs season

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1989–90 San Antonio Spurs season
Division champions
Head coachLarry Brown
General managerBob Bass
Owner(s)Red McCombs
ArenaHemisFair Arena
Results
Record56–26 (.683)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Midwest)
Conference: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finishConference Semifinals
(Lost to Trail Blazers 3–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKSAT-TV
(Dave Barnett, Greg Simmons)
Home Sports Entertainment
(Dave Barnett, Greg Simmons)
RadioWOAI
(Jay Howard)
< 1988–89 1990–91 >

The 1989–90 NBA season was the Spurs' 14th season in the National Basketball Association, and 23rd season as a franchise.[1] They finished with a franchise-best 56–26 regular season record, surpassing the 53-win season of 1982–83.

As the 1980s ended, the 1989–90 season proved to be the rebirth of the Spurs franchise. With his tour of duty over, David Robinson arrived to the Spurs along with the newly added Terry Cummings, who was acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks, and 1989 first round draftee Sean Elliott. The team also acquired Maurice Cheeks from the Philadelphia 76ers during the offseason, but traded him at midseason to the New York Knicks for second-year guard Rod Strickland. This season would mark a turning point for the franchise, the Spurs would miss the playoffs only once between 1990 and 2019 (that coming in 1996–97).

Although there was speculation that Robinson might choose not to sign with the Spurs and to become a free agent once his Navy commitment ended,[2][3] Robinson decided to play in San Antonio. Robinson joined the Spurs for the 1989-90 season, and he helped the team produce the second greatest single season turnaround in NBA history.[4] Robinson had one of the most successful rookie seasons for a center in NBA history, finishing the season as Rookie of the Year while averaging 24.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Spurs swept the Denver Nuggets in three games. However, they would lose in a full seven game series to the Portland Trail Blazers in the semifinals.

For the season, the Spurs introduced a new logo, which featured the fiesta colors of turquoise, fuchsia and orange. The uniforms remained silver and black, although starting this season the team nickname replaced the city name on road jerseys. The "fiesta" logo lasted until 2002.

Draft picks[]

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 3 Sean Elliott SF  United States Arizona

Roster[]

Roster listing
1989–90 San Antonio Spurs roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From
SG 40 Anderson, Willie 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1967-01-08 Georgia
C 33 Blab, Uwe 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 252 lb (114 kg) 1962-03-26 Indiana
C 43 Brickowski, Frank 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1959-08-14 Penn State
PF 34 Cummings, Terry 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1961-03-15 DePaul
SF 32 Elliott, Sean 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1968-02-02 Arizona
PF 27 Jones, Caldwell 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 217 lb (98 kg) 1950-08-04 Albany State
SF 34 Mitchell, Mike 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1956-01-01 Auburn
PG 00 Moore, Johnny 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1958-03-03 North Carolina
C 50 Robinson, David 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1965-08-06 Navy
PG 1 Strickland, Rod 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1966-07-11 DePaul
SF 2 Williams, Reggie 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1964-03-05 Georgetown
SG 25 Wingate, David 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1963-12-15 Georgetown
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Last transaction: April 22, 1990

Roster Notes[]

  • Small forward Mike Mitchell was signed by the Spurs before the playoffs began. He did not play during the regular season.

Regular season[]

The Spurs went from 21–61[5] in the 1988–89 NBA season to 56–26 in 1989–90, for a remarkable 35-game improvement. They advanced to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs where they lost in seven games to the eventual western conference champions, the Portland Trail Blazers. Following the 1989–90 season, David Robinson was unanimously named the NBA Rookie of the Year, and subsequently SEGA produced a game featuring him entitled David Robinson's Supreme Court.[citation needed]

Season standings[]

Midwest Division
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-San Antonio Spurs 56 26 .683 – 34–7 22–19 19–9
x-Utah Jazz 55 27 .671 1 36–5 19–22 21–7
x-Dallas Mavericks 47 35 .573 9 30–11 17–24 17–11
x-Denver Nuggets 43 39 .524 13 28–13 15–26 15–13
x-Houston Rockets 41 41 .500 15 31–10 10–31 13–15
Minnesota Timberwolves 22 60 .268 34 17–24 5–36 6–22
Charlotte Hornets 19 63 .232 37 13–28 6–35 7–21
# Western Conference
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

Record vs. opponents[]

1989-90 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS CHA CHI CLE DAL DEN DET GSW HOU IND LAC LAL MIA MIL MIN NJN NYK ORL PHI PHO POR SAC SAS SEA UTA WAS
Atlanta — 1–3 2–0 0–5 2–3 0–2 1–1 3–2 2–0 2–0 2–3 1–1 0–2 4–0 3–2 1–1 2–2 1–3 5–0 2–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–2
Boston 3–1 — 2–0 2–2 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 2–0 1–3 1–1 0–2 5–0 2–2 1–1 5–1 4–1 4–0 3–2 1–1 0���2 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–3
Charlotte 0–2 0–2 — 0–2 1–1 1–3 3–2 0–2 2–2 1–4 1–1 2–2 0–4 1–1 0–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–3 0–4 1–3 0–5 0–4 0–5 0–2
Chicago 5–0 2–2 2–0 — 5–0 2–0 1–1 1–4 2–0 1–1 2–3 1–1 1–1 4–0 4–1 2–0 3–1 3–1 3–2 2–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 3–1
Cleveland 3–2 1–3 1–1 0–5 — 0–2 0–2 1–4 1–1 0–2 3–2 1–1 1–1 4–0 3–2 1–1 4–0 2–2 4–1 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–1
Dallas 2–0 1–1 3–1 0–2 2–0 — 2–3 1–1 3–1 4–1 2–0 3–1 0–4 2–0 1–1 4–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–3 0–4 3–1 3–2 2–2 1–3 1–1
Denver 1–1 1–1 2–3 1–1 2–0 3–2 — 0–2 2–2 4–1 0–2 2–2 0–4 2–0 1–1 5–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–3 2–2 4–0 1–3 2–2 0–4 1–1
Detroit 2–3 2–2 2–0 4–1 4–1 1–1 2–0 — 1–1 1–1 4–1 1–1 1–1 3–1 3–2 2–0 4–0 4–0 5–0 1–3 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 4–0
Golden State 0–2 1–1 2–2 0–2 1–1 1–3 2–2 1–1 — 2–2 1–1 3–1 1–4 2–0 1–1 3–1 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–5 2–2 3–2 1–3 2–3 2–2 1–1
Houston 0–2 0–2 4–1 1–1 2–0 1–4 1–4 1–1 2–2 — 1–1 2–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–2 1–3 4–0 2–2 2–2 3–2 1–1
Indiana 3–2 3–1 1–1 3–2 2–3 0–2 2–0 1–4 1–1 1–1 — 0–2 0–2 3–1 3–2 1–1 4–0 1–3 4–1 0–4 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–1
L.A. Clippers 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–3 2–2 1–1 1–3 2–2 2–0 — 1–4 0–2 1–1 3–1 2–0 0–2 2–0 0–2 0–4 0–5 2–3 0–4 3–2 0–4 1–1
L.A. Lakers 2–0 2–0 4–0 1–1 1–1 4–0 4–0 1–1 4–1 2–2 2–0 4–1 — 2–0 1–1 4–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–1 2–3 5–0 2–2 4–0 2–2 1–1
Miami 0–4 0–5 1–1 0–4 0–4 0–2 0–2 1–3 0–2 1–1 1–3 2–0 0–2 — 2–2 1–1 1–4 1–5 3–1 0–5 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–3
Milwaukee 2–3 2–2 2–0 1–4 2–3 1–1 1–1 2–3 1–1 1–1 2–3 1–1 1–1 2–2 — 2–0 4–0 2–2 5–0 1–3 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 3–1
Minnesota 1–1 1–1 2–2 0–2 1–1 1–4 0–5 0–2 1–3 2–2 1–1 1–3 0–4 1–1 0–2 — 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–4 1–3 2–2 1–4 1–3 0–5 1–1
New Jersey 2–2 1–5 1–1 1–3 0–4 0–2 0–2 0–4 0–2 1–1 0–4 0–2 0–2 4–1 0–4 1–1 — 1–4 1–3 1–4 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–3
New York 3–1 1–4 1–1 1–3 2–2 1–1 1–1 0–4 2–0 1–1 3–1 2–0 0–2 5–1 2–2 1–1 4–1 — 2–2 2–3 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 5–0
Orlando 0–5 0–4 1–1 2–3 1–4 0–2 0–2 0–5 0–2 0–2 1–4 0–2 1–1 1–3 0–5 1–1 3–1 2–2 — 2–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–4
Philadelphia 2–2 2–3 2–0 2–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 4–0 2–0 1–1 5–0 3–1 1–1 4–1 3–2 2–2 — 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 5–1
Phoenix 2–0 1–1 3–1 0–2 1–1 3–1 3–1 0–2 5–0 2–2 1–1 4–0 1–3 2–0 1–1 4–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 — 2–3 5–0 0–4 3–2 3–1 2–0
Portland 1–1 2–0 4–0 1–1 1–1 4–0 2–2 1–1 2–2 3–1 1–1 5–0 3–2 2–0 1–1 3–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 3–2 — 4–0 3–1 3–2 2–2 1–1
Sacramento 1–1 0–2 3–1 1–1 0–2 1–3 0–4 0–2 2–3 0–4 1–1 3–2 0–5 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–5 0–4 — 0–4 2–2 1–3 1–1
San Antonio 1–1 1–1 5–0 1–1 1–1 2–3 3–1 1–1 3–1 2–2 1–1 4–0 2–2 2–0 1–1 4–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 4–0 1–3 4–0 — 3–1 3–2 2–0
Seattle 1–1 0–2 4–0 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–2 1–1 3–2 2–2 1–1 2–3 0–4 2–0 0–2 3–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–3 2–3 2–2 1–3 — 1–3 2–0
Utah 1–1 1–1 5–0 2–0 1–1 3–1 4–0 1–1 2–2 2–3 1–1 4–0 2–2 1–1 2–0 5–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–3 2–2 3–1 2–3 3–1 — 2–0
Washington 2–2 3–2 2–0 1–3 1–3 1–1 1–1 0–4 1–1 1–1 1–3 1–1 1–1 3–2 1–3 1–1 3–2 0–5 4–0 1–5 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 —

Game log[]

Regular season[]

1989–90 game log
Total: 56–26 (Home: 34–7; Road: 22–19)
November: 8–5 (Home: 5–1; Road: 3–4)
December: 11–2 (Home: 7–0; Road: 4–2)
January: 10–6 (Home: 7–0; Road: 3–6)
February: 8–5 (Home: 4–3; Road: 4–2)
March: 11–5 (Home: 7–2; Road: 4–3)
April: 7–6 (Home: 4–1; Road: 3–5)
1989–90 schedule

Playoffs[]

1990 playoff game log
First Round: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0)
Conference Semifinals: 3–4 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–4)
1990 schedule

Player statistics[]

Legend
  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

Regular season[]

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Willie Anderson 82 81 34.0 .492 .269 .748 4.5 4.4 1.4 .7 15.7
Uwe Blab 7 0 7.1 .545 . .500 1.3 .1 .0 .0 2.1
Frank Brickowski 78 12 18.4 .545 .000 .674 4.2 1.3 .8 .5 6.6
Maurice Cheeks 50 49 35.3 .478 .111 .832 3.3 6.0 1.6 .1 10.9
Terry Cummings 81 78 34.8 .475 .322 .780 8.4 2.7 1.4 .6 22.4
Sean Elliott 81 69 25.1 .481 .111 .866 3.7 1.9 .6 .2 10.0
Caldwell Jones 72 2 12.3 .465 .200 .704 3.2 .3 .3 .4 2.4
Jeff Lebo 4 0 8.0 .286 . 1.000 1.0 .8 .5 .0 1.5
Vernon Maxwell 49 2 22.8 .435 .288 .621 2.9 3.0 .9 .1 6.9
Johnny Moore 53 8 9.7 .373 .235 .593 1.0 1.5 .6 .1 2.2
Zarko Paspalj 28 1 6.5 .342 .000 .818 1.1 .4 .1 .3 2.6
David Robinson 82 81 36.6 .531 .000 .732 12.0 2.0 1.7 3.9 24.3
Rod Strickland 31 24 36.2 .468 .222 .615 4.3 8.0 1.8 .2 14.2
Chris Welp 13 1 4.3 .304 . .500 .9 .4 .1 .0 1.2
Reggie Williams 10 0 6.8 .452 .000 .667 .8 .5 .1 .3 4.2
David Wingate 78 2 23.8 .448 .000 .777 2.5 2.7 1.1 .2 6.8

Playoffs[]

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Willie Anderson 10 10 37.5 .518 .400 .806 5.4 5.2 .9 .4 20.5
Uwe Blab 2 0 2.5 .000 . .500 1.0 .0 .0 .0 1.5
Frank Brickowski 10 0 16.1 .574 . .654 4.4 1.1 .8 .1 7.9
Terry Cummings 10 10 37.5 .528 .200 .808 9.4 2.2 .7 .4 24.9
Sean Elliott 10 10 29.1 .552 .000 .724 4.1 1.8 .9 .6 12.7
Caldwell Jones 9 0 7.3 .444 . .000 1.4 .2 .0 .3 .9
Mike Mitchell 4 0 3.8 .375 . . .8 .5 .0 .0 1.5
Johnny Moore 9 0 9.6 .250 .000 .500 1.2 2.3 .8 .1 1.8
David Robinson 10 10 37.5 .533 . .677 12.0 2.3 1.1 4.0 24.3
Rod Strickland 10 10 38.4 .425 .000 .556 5.3 11.2 1.4 .0 12.3
Reggie Williams 9 0 5.4 .333 .000 1.000 1.2 .3 .2 .0 2.2
David Wingate 10 0 29.3 .519 .667 .750 3.7 3.8 1.8 .3 9.1

Award winners[]

References[]

  1. ^ 1989–90 San Antonio Spurs
  2. ^ SPORTS OF THE TIMES; THE ROBINSON PLOT THICKENS, The New York Times, May 18, 1987.
  3. ^ The Summer Our Ship Came In, Tom Orsborn, San Antonio Express-News, May 20, 2007.
  4. ^ NBA.com: David Robinson Bio
  5. ^ "NBA.com: 1988-89 Standings". Archived from the original on 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2007-10-20.

External links[]

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