1991–92 Washington Bullets season

The 1991–92 Washington Bullets season was the 31st season for the Washington Bullets in the National Basketball Association, and their 19th season in Washington, D.C.

Season summary

Off-season The Bullets had the 19th overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard LaBradford Smith from the University of Louisville; the Bullets originally had the eighth overall pick in the draft, but traded it to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for former Bullets guard Michael Adams. During the off-season, the team signed free agents David Wingate, Andre Turner, and undrafted rookie small forward Larry Stewart.

However, Bernard King would miss the entire regular season due to a right knee injury; to make matters worse, Hot Plate Williams was suspended for the entire season due to continuing weight problems.

Regular season With the addition of Adams, Wingate and Stewart, and the loss of King and Williams, the Bullets got off to a 6–9 start to the regular season, but then posted an eight-game losing streak in December afterwards. The team managed to win six of their next seven games, but then posted another eight-game losing streak in January, and later on held a 16–30 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Tom Hammonds to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Rex Chapman; however, Chapman would only play in the final game of the season due to a strained left heel injury he sustained with the Hornets. The Bullets posted a six-game losing streak between February and March, posted a seven-game losing streak in March, and another six-game losing streak in April. The Bullets lost 15 of their final 18 games of the season, and finished in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with a 25–57 record.

Pervis Ellison showed improvement averaging 20.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, and was named the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year, while Adams averaged 18.1 points, 7.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game, and led the Bullets with 125 three-point field goals. In addition, Harvey Grant provided the team with 18.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while Ledell Eackles contributed 13.2 points per game, and second-year guard A.J. English provided with 10.9 points per game. Meanwhile, Stewart averaged 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, becoming the first undrafted NBA player to be named to an NBA All-Rookie Team. Wingate averaged 7.9 points and 1.5 steals per game, while Smith contributed 5.1 points per game, but only played just 48 games due to injury, Turner provided with 4.4 points and 2.5 assists per game, and defensive center Charles Jones averaged 1.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game; Jones struggled only shooting .367 in field-goal percentage.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida, Adams was selected for the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; it was his first and only All-Star appearance. The Bullets finished 26th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 505,988 at the Capital Centre during the regular season, which was the second-lowest in the league.

Aftermath Following the season, Williams signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Clippers, while Wingate signed with the Charlotte Hornets during the following season, and English and Turner were both released to free agency.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 19 LaBradford Smith SG Louisville

Roster

Roster Notes Power forward Mark Alarie was on the injured reserve list due to a knee injury, and missed the entire regular season. Small forward Bernard King was on the injured reserve list due to a right knee injury, and missed the entire regular season. Power forward John "Hot Plate" Williams was suspended indefinitely due to weight problems, and not maintaining playing shape.

Regular season

Season standings

y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot

z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot

Game log Regular season

Player statistics

Regular season

| style="text-align:left;"| | 78 || 78 || 35.8 || .393 || .324 || .869 || 4.0 || 7.6 || 1.9 || .1 || 18.1

| style="text-align:left;"|† | 1 || 0 || 22.0 || .417 || .000 || || 4.0 || 3.0 || 1.0 || .0 || 10.0

| style="text-align:left;"| | 65 || 25 || 22.5 || .468 || .200 || .743 || 2.7 || 1.9 || .7 || .1 || 13.2

| style="text-align:left;"| | 66 || 64 || 38.0 || .539 || .333 || .728 || 11.2 || 2.9 || .9 || 2.7 || 20.0

| style="text-align:left;"| | 81 || 6 || 20.6 || .433 || .176 || .841 || 2.1 || 1.8 || .4 || .1 || 10.9

| style="text-align:left;"| | 49 || 3 || 11.2 || .461 || .000 || .714 || 3.0 || .7 || .1 || .2 || 4.3

| style="text-align:left;"| | 64 || 60 || 37.3 || .478 || .125 || .800 || 6.8 || 2.7 || 1.2 || .4 || 18.0

| style="text-align:left;"| | 37 || 19 || 26.6 || .488 || .000 || .610 || 5.0 || 1.0 || .6 || .4 || 11.9

| style="text-align:left;"| | 75 || 32 || 18.2 || .367 || || .500 || 4.2 || .8 || .6 || 1.2 || 1.1

| style="text-align:left;"| | 6 || 0 || 9.8 || .367 || .286 || .875 || 1.8 || .8 || .5 || .0 || 5.2

| style="text-align:left;"| | 10 || 0 || 10.8 || .310 || .000 || .667 || 3.0 || .4 || .3 || .8 || 2.2

| style="text-align:left;"| | 48 || 5 || 14.8 || .407 || .095 || .804 || 1.7 || 2.1 || .9 || .0 || 5.1

| style="text-align:left;"| | 76 || 43 || 29.3 || .514 || .000 || .807 || 5.9 || 1.6 || .7 || .6 || 10.4

| style="text-align:left;"| | 1 || 0 || 12.0 || .000 || || .750 || 5.0 || 1.0 || .0 || .0 || 3.0

| style="text-align:left;"| | 70 || 3 || 12.4 || .425 || .063 || .792 || 1.3 || 2.5 || .8 || .0 || 4.1

| style="text-align:left;"| | 81 || 72 || 26.3 || .465 || .056 || .719 || 3.3 || 3.0 || 1.5 || .3 || 7.9

Player statistics citation:

Awards and records Pervis Ellison, NBA Most Improved Player Award Larry Stewart, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team

1991–92 Washington Bullets season

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