1997–98 Vancouver Grizzlies season

The 1997–98 Vancouver Grizzlies season was the third season for the Vancouver Grizzlies in the National Basketball Association.

Season summary

Off-season After finishing with the league's worst record in their first two seasons, the Grizzlies received the fourth overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft, and selected point guard Antonio Daniels out of Bowling Green State University. During the off-season, the team acquired former All-Star forward Otis Thorpe from the Detroit Pistons, acquired three-point specialist Sam Mack from the Houston Rockets, and acquired Tony Massenburg from the Boston Celtics. The Grizzlies also hired Brian Hill as their new head coach; Hill previously coached the Orlando Magic, and led them to the 1995 NBA Finals, where they lost to the 6th–seeded Houston Rockets in a four-game sweep.

For the season, the Grizzlies revealed new black alternate road uniforms, which featured a V-shaped collar, the city name "Vancouver" on the front of their jerseys, a turquoise, white and red trim, and turquoise side panels with a red outline on their jerseys and the left leg of their shorts; the leg left also featured the team's alternate logo of a grizzly bear scratching a turquoise letter "G". The team's new alternate uniforms would eventually become their primary road jerseys for the 2000–01 season, where they would also redesign their home uniforms by adding a V-shaped collar and turquoise side panels.

Both uniforms would remain in use until 2004, although "Vancouver" would be replaced with the city name "Memphis" in 2001, after the franchise's relocation to Memphis, Tennessee.

Regular season Under Hill and with the addition of Thorpe, Mack and Daniels, the Grizzlies played slightly below .500 in winning percentage with a 6–7 start to the regular season. However, the team continued to struggle posting a 13-game losing streak between December and January, and later on held a 13–36 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Thorpe along with second-year guard Chris Robinson back to his former team, the Sacramento Kings, in exchange for Michael Smith and Bobby Hurley, and traded Anthony Peeler to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Doug West. Before the trade, Thorpe averaged 11.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in 47 games, while Peeler averaged 9.9 points per game in only just eight games;

Thorpe and Peeler were both disgruntled in Vancouver, while Peeler spent most of the first half of the season on the Grizzlies' bench, as Hill mainly used Mack and sixth man Blue Edwards at shooting guard. Meanwhile, West, who sustained a hip contusion injury before the trade, struggled with substance abuse and depression, and went into rehab for alcohol treatment, as he was out for the remainder of the season; West refused to play for the Grizzlies after suffering from losing in his first seven seasons with the Timberwolves since their inaugural season. In late February, the Grizzlies continued to make changes to their starting lineup, as Hill replaced Daniels with Lee Mayberry as the team's starting point guard; Daniels played third-string behind Hurley, the team's backup point guard behind Mayberry, for the remainder of the season.

The Grizzlies posted a seven-game losing streak between January and February, posted an eight-game losing streak between February and March, another seven-game losing streak in March, and then posted a six-game losing streak between March and April. The Grizzlies finally escaped last place by finishing in sixth place in the Midwest Division with a 19–63 record, as the Denver Nuggets finished in last place with a league-worst 11–71 record; this was also the first, and only season in which the Grizzlies finished with a better record than their Canadian rival, the Toronto Raptors, who finished with a 16–66 record.

Second-year star Shareef Abdur-Rahim averaged 22.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, while Bryant Reeves averaged 16.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, and Mack provided the team with 10.8 points per game, and also led them with 110 three-point field goals. In addition, Edwards contributed 10.8 points per game, while Daniels provided with 7.8 points and 4.5 assists per game, George Lynch contributed 7.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, and Massenburg averaged 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Smith averaged 6.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in 30 games after the trade, Pete Chilcutt provided with 4.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, Mayberry contributed 4.6 points and 4.4 assists per game, and Hurley contributed 4.5 points and 3.6 assists per game in 27 games.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, Mack participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, while Daniels was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Western Conference Rookie team. The Grizzlies finished 19th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 660,457 at General Motors Place during the regular season.

Aftermath Following the season, Daniels was traded to the San Antonio Spurs on draft day after only one season with the Grizzlies, while Edwards signed as a free agent with the Miami Heat during the next season, Lynch signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, and Hurley was released to free agency.

Draft picks The Grizzlies first draft pick was Antonio Daniels, which was the fourth overall pick in the draft.

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 4 Antonio Daniels PG/SG Bowling Green State University 2 52 C.J. Bruton G Indian Hills Community College

Roster

Roster Notes Shooting guard Doug West was acquired by the Grizzlies from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a mid-season trade, but was placed on the injured reserve list; West struggled with substance abuse and depression, and went into rehab for alcohol treatment, also sustained a hip contusion injury with the Timberwolves, and did not play for the Grizzlies this season.

Regular season The Grizzlies got off to their best start in team history, as thirteen games into the season, the team had a 6–7 record. On October 31, 1997, Violet Palmer made history in Vancouver when she officiated the NBA season opener between the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Dallas Mavericks, in British Columbia, Canada. The team would then fall into a slump, which included a thirteen-game losing streak as they fell out of playoff contention. Vancouver would finish the year with a 19–63 record, their best in team history, and finish out of last place for the first time ever.

Highs Vancouver recorded their first ever three game winning streak, as on January 20, they defeated the Denver Nuggets, followed by sweeping a home and home series against the Golden State Warriors. On March 23, 1998, Vancouver defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 106–95 to earn their sixteenth win of the season, a team record. Vancouver finished with nineteen wins, four higher than their previous high of fifteen, set in 1995–96. The Grizzlies finished out of the Midwest Division cellar for the first time in team history, as they had a 19–63 record, eight games better than the Denver Nuggets, who finished the year 11–71.

Lows On January 15, 1998, the Washington Wizards defeat Vancouver 112–110, sending the Grizzlies to their thirteenth consecutive loss. From January 27 to April 5, the Grizzlies win only 3 of 31 games.

Season standings

Game log # Date Opponent Score Record Attendance 1 October 31 Dallas Mavericks 88–90 0–1 17,021 2 November 1 Sacramento Kings 97–96 1–1 15,460 3 November 4 @ Dallas Mavericks 87–92 1–2 14,285 4 November 5 @ San Antonio Spurs 79–87 1–3 14,523 5 November 7 Minnesota Timberwolves 97–108 1–4 15,302 6 November 9 Detroit Pistons 104–96 (OT) 2–4 14,925 7 November 11 Los Angeles Clippers 119–113 3–4 15,160 8 November 12 @ Utah Jazz 80–98 3–5 19,851 9 November 15 Milwaukee Bucks 109–94 4–5 17,666 10 November 16 @ Los Angeles Lakers 95–121 4–6 17,139 11 November 18 @ Denver Nuggets 100–87 5–6 9,718 12 November 19 @ Seattle SuperSonics 87–107 5–7 17,072 13 November 21 Denver Nuggets 99–96 6–7 15,988 14 November 23 @ New York Knicks 84–104 6–8 19,763 15 November 26 @ Milwaukee Bucks 82–101 6–9 15,126 16 November 27 @ Indiana Pacers 85–106 6–10 14,391 17 November 29 @ Minnesota Timberwolves 87–106 6–11 17,494 18 November 30 @ Detroit Pistons 97–95 7–11 16,030 19 December 3 Orlando Magic 97–101 7–12 15,069 20 December 5 Cleveland Cavaliers 98–107 7–13 15,558 21 December 9 @ Phoenix Suns 85–107 7–14 19,023 22 December 12 Golden State Warriors 95–88 8–14 14,810 23 December 14 Houston Rockets 110–105 9–14 14,411 24 December 16 @ Houston Rockets 91–118 9–15 16,285 25 December 17 @ San Antonio Spurs 87–98 9–16 13,576 26 December 19 @ Portland Trail Blazers 91–96 9–17 19,863 27 December 21 Portland Trail Blazers 88–86 10–17 15,174 28 December 26 Phoenix Suns 100–118 10–18 17,023 29 December 28 Utah Jazz 88–89 10–19 16,488 30 December 30 San Antonio Spurs 115–124 10–20 15,872 31 January 1 Philadelphia 76ers 104–115 10–21 15,495 32 January 2 @ Sacramento Kings 80–94 10–22 13,925 33 January 4 Seattle SuperSonics 108–120 10–23 15,122 34 January 6 Los Angeles Lakers 87–100 10–24 15,837 35 January 7 @ Los Angeles Clippers 102–110 10–25 4,107 36 January 9 Charlotte Hornets 90–98 10–26 15,251 37 January 11 Miami Heat 90–96 10–27 15,186 38 January 13 @ Philadelphia 76ers 89–107 10–28 10,838 39 January 15 @ Boston Celtics 93–97 10–29 16,855 40 January 16 @ Washington Wizards 110–112 10–30 16,763 41 January 20 Denver Nuggets 88–77 11–30 15,852 42 January 23 @ Golden State Warriors 88–80 12–30 12,359 43 January 24 Golden State Warriors 107–96 13–30 16,223 44 January 27 Chicago Bulls 85–103 13–31 19,193 45 January 29 Minnesota Timberwolves 106–112 13–32 15,111 46 January 31 New Jersey Nets 106–116 13–33 17,094 47 February 2 @ Dallas Mavericks 90–104 13–34 11,049 48 February 3 @ Houston Rockets 97–110 13–35 16,285 49 February 5 @ Charlotte Hornets 93–108 13–36 21,984 50 February 12 Houston Rockets 103–112 13–37 15,620 51 February 14 Washington Wizards 110–108 14–37 16,105 52 February 18 Boston Celtics 105–114 14–38 16,703 53 February 20 @ Atlanta Hawks 92–115 14–39 9,022 54 February 22 @ Toronto Raptors 105–113 (OT) 14–40 16,932 55 February 24 @ New Jersey Nets 101–110 14–41 13,335 56 February 25 @ Cleveland Cavaliers 101–106 14–42 13,701 57 March 1 Atlanta Hawks 76–101 14–43 15,371 58 March 3 Indiana Pacers 103–111 14–44 15,09559 March 6 Sacramento Kings 96–98 14–45 14,60560 March 8 Toronto Raptors 113–106 15–45 16,09861 March 12 @ Denver Nuggets 93–98 15–46 9,11262 March 13 @ Utah Jazz 101–110 15–47 19,91163 March 15 Los Angeles Lakers 110–119 15–48 18,98364 March 17 @ Orlando Magic 92–99 15–49 17,24865 March 18 @ Miami Heat 91–94 15–50 14,65366 March 20 @ Chicago Bulls 92–98 15–51 24,02367 March 21 @ Minnesota Timberwolves 88–102 15–52 18,33668 March 23 Los Angeles Clippers 106–95 16–52 15,39269 March 26 @ Portland Trail Blazers 102–108 16–53 20,58170 March 27 New York Knicks 89–97 (OT) 16–54 17,63071 March 29 @ Phoenix Suns 98–106 16–55 19,02372 March 31 Dallas Mavericks 101–104 16–56 15,12073 April 3 Seattle SuperSonics 98–138 16–57 19,19374 April 5 Utah Jazz 93–99 16–58 18,06875 April 7 @ Los Angeles Clippers 110–94 17–58 5,12476 April 8 @ Los Angeles Lakers 102–113 17–59 17,50577 April 11 Portland Trail Blazers 105–96 (OT) 18–59 16,43278 April 12 Phoenix Suns 106–129 18–60 16,26679 April 14 @ Seattle SuperSonics 98–110 18–61 17,07280 April 16 San Antonio Spurs 97–110 18–62 17,48581 April 18 @ Golden State Warriors 100–112 18–63 16,48182 April 19 @ Sacramento Kings 112–108 (OT) 19–63 15,329

Player statistics

Ragular season