1996–97 San Antonio Spurs season

1996–97 San Antonio Spurs season
Head coach	Bob Hill (fired) Gregg Popovich
General manager	Gregg Popovich
President	Gregg Popovich (vice)
Owner(s)	Peter Holt
Arena	Alamodome
Results
Record	20–62 (.244)
Place	Division: 6th (Midwest) Conference: 13th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	KSAT-TV KRRT Fox Sports Southwest
Radio	WOAI
< 1995–96 1997–98 >

The 1996–97 NBA season was the Spurs' 21st season in the National Basketball Association, and 30th season as a franchise.^[1] During the off-season, the Spurs signed free agent and former All-Star forward Dominique Wilkins, who previously played in Greece last season,^[2] while re-signing former Spurs guard Vernon Maxwell.^[3] However, without All-Star center David Robinson, who only played just six games due to back and foot injuries,^[4] and three-point specialist Chuck Person, who was out for the entire season with an off-season back injury,^[5] the Spurs struggled losing 13 of their first 15 games in November, which included an 8-game losing streak. After 18 games, head coach Bob Hill was fired and replaced with General Manager Gregg Popovich.

Wilkins appeared in 63 games with the Spurs, averaging 18.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.^[6] However, it would not be nearly enough as Sean Elliott played just 39 games due to a knee injury, and Charles D. Smith only appeared in just 19 games also with a knee injury. The Spurs lost their final six games, and finished sixth in the Midwest Division with an awful 20–62 record.^[7] The Spurs had the worst team defensive rating in the NBA.^[8] Robinson averaged 17.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game during his short six-game stint, while Elliott averaged 14.9 points per game, Maxwell provided the team with 12.9 points per game, Vinny Del Negro contributed 12.3 points per game, and Avery Johnson provided with 10.5 points, 6.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. In addition, Monty Williams showed improvement averaging 9.0 points per game, while Will Perdue provided with 8.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, and Carl Herrera contributed 8.0 points per game.^[6]

Since the Spurs joined the NBA in 1976, this was only the fourth time they missed the playoffs. Until 2020, this was the Spurs' last season in which they failed to make the playoffs, due in large part to turning the lottery pick they earned in 1997 into perennial All-Star Tim Duncan,^[9] who would create a dynasty that won them their first championship 2 years later, then four more championships in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014. Following the season, Wilkins left to play in Italy,^[10] while Maxwell was released to free agency, Greg Anderson signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks, and Smith retired.

Draft picks[]

The Spurs did not have any draft picks in 1996.

Roster[]

1996–97 San Antonio Spurs roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From G 1 Alexander, Cory 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) –– Virginia C 33 Anderson, Greg 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) –– Houston G 15 Del Negro, Vinny 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) –– North Carolina State F 32 Elliott, Sean 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) –– Arizona F 14 Feick, Jamie 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 255 lb (116 kg) –– Michigan State F 7 Herrera, Carl 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) –– Houston G 6 Johnson, Avery 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) –– Southern G 11 Maxwell, Vernon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) –– Florida C 41 Perdue, Will 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) –– Vanderbilt F 45 Person, Chuck  (IN) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) –– Auburn C 50 Robinson, David  7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) –– Navy F 54 Smith, Charles 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) –– Pittsburgh F 21 Wilkins, Dominique 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) –– Georgia F 3 Williams, Monty 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) –– Notre Dame

Head coach Gregg Popovich Assistant coach(es) Mike Budenholzer Hank Egan Paul Pressey Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Roster Notes[]

• Small forward Chuck Person missed the entire season due to a back injury.

Regular season[]

The Spurs were trying to continue the success of the last two seasons which had records of 59-23 and 62-20 respectively. However they would finish a dismal 20–62, Scoring leader David Robinson was injured, and was only able to play just six games due to back and foot injuries. Also injured was forward and three-point specialist Chuck Person, who missed the entire season with an off-season back injury. Head coach Bob Hill was fired midway through the season after starting 3-15, being replaced by Gregg Popovich, who would finish 17–47. He would later be appointed head coach after the season's end. This would be the only losing season for Gregg Popovich and the first losing season for the Spurs since the 1988-89 NBA season. However the lone silver lining in this season would be winning the number one pick for the 1997 NBA Draft.^{[citation needed]}

Season standings[]

Midwest Division v t	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Utah Jazz	64	18	.780	–	38–3	26–15	19–5
x-Houston Rockets	57	25	.695	7	30–11	27–14	19–5
x-Minnesota Timberwolves	40	42	.488	24	25–16	15–26	16–8
Dallas Mavericks	24	58	.293	40	14–27	10–31	9–15
Denver Nuggets	21	61	.256	43	12–29	9–32	7–17
San Antonio Spurs	20	62	.244	44	12–29	8–33	8–16
Vancouver Grizzlies	14	68	.171	50	8–33	6–35	6–18

1996–97 NBA West standings

#	Western Conference v t
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Utah Jazz	64	18	.780	–
2	y-Seattle SuperSonics	57	25	.695	7
3	x-Houston Rockets	57	25	.695	7
4	x-Los Angeles Lakers	56	26	.683	8
5	x-Portland Trail Blazers	49	33	.598	15
6	x-Minnesota Timberwolves	40	42	.488	24
7	x-Phoenix Suns	40	42	.488	24
8	x-Los Angeles Clippers	36	46	.439	28
9	Sacramento Kings	34	48	.415	30
10	Golden State Warriors	30	52	.366	34
11	Dallas Mavericks	24	58	.293	40
12	Denver Nuggets	21	61	.256	43
13	San Antonio Spurs	20	62	.244	44
14	Vancouver Grizzlies	14	68	.171	50

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents[]

1996-97 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	TOR	UTA	VAN	WAS
Atlanta	—	3–1	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–0	1–1	1–3	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	1–2	4–0	2–0	3–1	1–3	3–1	4–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	4–0	1–1	2–0	2–1
Boston	1–3	—	0–4	0–4	1–2	1–1	1–1	0–4	1–1	0–2	1–2	0–2	1–1	0–4	1–3	0–2	0–4	0–4	0–4	1–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	3–1	0–2	0–2	0–4
Charlotte	3–1	4–0	—	0–4	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–2	2–2	2–0	4–0	3–1	1–2	4–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–2	0–2	2–0	3–1
Chicago	3–1	4–0	4–0	—	3–1	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	2–2	4–0	2–0	3–1	2–2	3–0	4–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–1
Cleveland	1–3	2–1	1–3	1–3	—	2–0	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–2	3–1	2–0	1–1	0–4	2–2	2–0	4–0	1–3	2–2	3–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	3–1	1–1	2–0	1–3
Dallas	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	—	3–1	0–2	0–4	0–4	1–1	2–2	0–4	0–2	0–2	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	0–2	1–3	3–1	0–2
Denver	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–3	—	0–2	1–3	1–3	0–2	1–3	0–4	0–2	1–1	0–4	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–2	0–4	2–2	2–2	0–4	1–1	0–4	3–1	1–1
Detroit	3–1	4–0	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–0	2–0	—	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	0–4	3–1	2–0	4–0	1–2	2–2	2–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	4–0
Golden State	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	4–0	3–1	0–2	—	0–4	1–1	1–3	0–4	0–2	1–1	1–3	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–4	2–2	1–3	4–0	0–4	2–0	0–4	3–1	0–2
Houston	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	4–0	3–1	1–1	4–0	—	1–1	3–1	3–1	0–2	1–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–2	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–1	1–1	2–2	3–1	2–0
Indiana	1–3	2–1	2–2	0–4	1–3	1–1	2–0	1–3	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	1–1	1–3	2–2	2–0	2–2	1–3	1–3	3–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–0	0–2	2–0	1–3
L.A. Clippers	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–2	3–1	0–2	3–1	1–3	0–2	—	2–2	0–2	2–0	1–3	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–2	0–4	2–2	4–0	1–3	2–0	1–3	4–0	0–2
L.A. Lakers	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–0	4–0	1–1	4–0	1–3	1–1	2–2	—	1–1	2–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	4–0	1–3	4–0	2–2	3–1	1–1	1–3	4–0	2–0
Miami	2–1	4–0	2–1	2–2	4–0	2–0	2–0	4–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	—	4–0	1–1	3–1	1–3	2–2	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	3–1	0–2	2–0	3–1
Milwaukee	0–4	3–1	2–2	0–4	2–2	2–0	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	2–2	0–2	0–2	0–4	—	0–2	2–1	1–2	2–2	3–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	1–3
Minnesota	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–2	3–1	4–0	0–2	3–1	0–4	0–2	3–1	1–3	1–1	2–0	—	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–2	0–4	4–0	0–4	1–1	1–3	4–0	1–1
New Jersey	1–3	4–0	0–4	1–3	0–4	1–1	1–1	0–4	0–2	0–2	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–2	0–2	—	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–3	0–2	2–0	1–3
New York	3–1	4–0	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–1	1–1	2–2	—	3–1	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	3–0	1–1	2–0	4–0
Orlando	1–3	4–0	2–1	0–3	2–2	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	3–1	1–3	—	2–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–0	0–2	1–1	1–3
Philadelphia	0–4	3–1	0–4	0–4	0–3	0–2	1–1	1–2	0–2	0–2	0–3	1–1	0–2	1–3	1–3	1–1	2–2	2–3	2–2	—	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–3	0–2	2–0	1–3
Phoenix	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–1	2–2	2–0	4–0	2–2	1–1	2–2	0–4	0–2	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	—	1–3	4–0	3–1	2–2	0–2	1–3	2–2	1–1
Portland	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	3–1	4–0	1–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	4–0	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–1	—	2–2	4–0	1–3	0–2	2–2	4–0	0–2
Sacramento	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–2	2–2	1–1	3–1	0–4	1–1	2–2	0–4	0–2	2–0	4–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–4	2–2	—	3–1	1–3	1–1	0–4	4–0	0–2
San Antonio	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	3–1	2–2	0–2	0–4	1–3	1–1	0–4	2–2	0–2	1–1	0–4	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–3	0–4	1–3	—	0–4	1–1	1–3	1–3	0–2
Seattle	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	2–0	3–1	4–0	1–1	4–0	1–3	1–1	3–1	1–3	2–0	1–1	4–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	3–1	3–1	4–0	—	2–0	1–3	4–0	2–0
Toronto	0–4	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–0	1–1	1–3	0–2	1–1	0–4	0–2	1–1	1–3	1–3	1–1	3–0	0–3	0–4	3–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	—	1–1	1–1	2–2
Utah	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	4–0	1–1	4–0	2–2	2–0	3–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–1	1–1	—	4–0	2–0
Vancouver	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–3	1–3	0–2	1–3	1–3	0–2	0–4	0–4	0–2	0–2	0–4	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–2	0–4	0–4	3–1	0–4	1–1	0–4	—	1–1
Washington	1–2	4–0	1–3	1–2	3–1	2–0	1–1	0–4	2–0	0–2	3–1	2–0	0–2	1–3	3–1	1–1	3–1	0–4	3–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–2	0–2	1–1	—

Game log[]

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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

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Cory Alexander	80	6	18.2	.396	.373	.736	1.5	3.2	1.0	.2	7.2
Greg Anderson	82	48	20.2	.496	.000	.667	5.5	.4	.8	.8	3.9
Joe Courtney	5	0	9.6	.313	–	.600	1.4	.0	.0	.0	2.6
Vinny Del Negro	72	53	31.2	.467	.314	.868	2.9	3.2	.8	.1	12.3
Sean Elliott	39	39	35.7	.422	.333	.755	4.9	3.2	.6	.6	14.9
Jamie Feick	38	0	16.2	.353	.308	.523	5.6	.7	.4	.3	3.8
Devin Gray	3	0	8	.333	–	–	1.7	.0	.3	.0	3.3
Darrin Hancock	1	0	8	.500	–	1.000	.0	1.0	.0	.0	4.0
Carl Herrera	75	58	24.5	.433	.333	.686	4.5	.7	.8	.7	8.8
Stephen Howard	7	0	9.9	.583	–	.857	1.3	.1	1.1	.3	3.7
Avery Johnson	76	76	32.5	.477	.231	.690	1.9	6.8	1.3	.2	10.5
Tim Kempton	10	0	5.9	.200	–	1.000	.8	.2	.1	.1	.4
Vernon Maxwell	72	31	28.7	.375	.309	.744	2.2	2.1	1.2	.3	12.9
Gaylon Nickerson	3	0	12	.333	.000	1.000	1.3	.3	.0	.3	4.3
Will Perdue	65	34	29.5	.568	–	.579	9.8	.6	.5	1.6	8.7
David Robinson	6	6	24.5	.500	–	.654	8.5	1.3	1.0	1.0	17.7
Jason Sasser	6	0	10.3	.421	.500	–	1.2	.2	.3	.0	2.8
Charles Smith	19	7	17.3	.405	.000	.769	3.4	.7	.7	1.2	4.6
Dominique Wilkins	63	26	30.9	.417	.293	.803	6.4	1.9	.6	.5	18.2
Monty Williams	65	26	20.7	.509	.000	.645	3.2	1.4	.8	.8	9.0

Awards and records[]

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Transactions[]

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References[]

See also[]

• 1996-97 NBA season