The 1989–90 Charlotte Hornets season was the second season for the Charlotte Hornets in the National Basketball Association.
Season summary
Off-season After finishing with a 20–62 record in their inaugural season, the Hornets received the fifth overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft, and selected power forward J.R. Reid from the University of North Carolina. In December, the team signed free agent Kenny Gattison. The Hornets moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference, also switching from the Atlantic Division to the Midwest Division for the season.
Regular season In their second season, and with the addition of J.R. Reid, the Hornets struggled losing 18 of their first 21 games of the regular season, which included a 10-game losing streak between November and December. In December, the team traded Kurt Rambis to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Armen Gilliam. After an 8–32 start to the season, head coach Dick Harter was fired and replaced with assistant coach Gene Littles as an interim coach. The Hornets held an 8–37 record at the All-Star break, posted a 12-game losing streak between January and February, posted an eight-game losing streak in March, and lost six of their final seven games of the season. The Hornets finished in last place in the Midwest Division with a 19–63 record, which was one game worse than the previous year.
Gilliam averaged 18.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in 60 games after the trade, while second-year star Rex Chapman averaged 17.5 points per game, and Dell Curry played an increased as the team's sixth man, averaging 16.0 points and 1.5 steals per game off the bench. In addition, Kelly Tripucka contributed 15.6 points per game, while J.R. Reid provided the team with 11.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and Muggsy Bogues provided with 9.4 points, 10.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Meanwhile, Robert Reid contributed 6.4 points per game, and Gattison averaged 5.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida, Chapman participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Despite the lack of success on the court, the Hornets sold out every home game, finishing second in the NBA in home-game attendance behind the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves, with an attendance of 979,941 at the Charlotte Coliseum during the regular season.
Aftermath Following the season, Robert Reid and Mike Holton were both released to free agency.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 5 J.R. Reid PF North Carolina 2 29 (traded to Indiana) SF/PF Tennessee
Roster
Regular season Season standings
Game log
Regular season
| 17 | December 7, 1989 | Portland | L 86–96
| Charlotte Coliseum | 3–14 |- | 21 | December 16, 1989 | @ Chicago | L 104–115
| Chicago Stadium | 3–18
| 32 | January 12, 1990 | Chicago | L 95–107
| Charlotte Coliseum | 7–25 |- | 33 | January 15, 1990 | @ Phoenix | L 108–118 (OT)
| Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 7–26 |- | 37 | January 21, 1990 | @ Portland | L 100–115
| Memorial Coliseum | 8–29 |- | 39 | January 25, 1990 | Phoenix | L 97–124
| Charlotte Coliseum | 8–31
|- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" |- | 50 | February 20, 1990 | Portland | L 94–104
| Charlotte Coliseum | 9–41
| 59 | March 11, 1990 | Detroit | L 88–98
| Charlotte Coliseum | 10–49 |- | 62 | March 16, 1990 | @ Portland | L 109–124
| Memorial Coliseum | 10–52 |- | 65 | March 21, 1990 | @ Phoenix | W 115–114 (OT)
| Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 12–53 |- | 69 | March 28, 1990 | @ Detroit | L 97–106
| The Palace of Auburn Hills | 14–55 |- | 70 | March 29, 1990 | Phoenix | L 92–105
| Charlotte Coliseum | 14–56
Player statistics
Ragular season PlayerC82 82 2,757 691 101 92 54 908 33.6 8.4 1.2 1.1 .7 11.1PG 81 65 2,743 207 867 166 3 763 33.9 2.6 10.7 2.0 .0 9.4SF 79 73 2,404 322 224 75 16 1,232 30.4 4.1 2.8 .9 .2 15.6SG 67 13 1,860 168 159 98 26 1,070 27.8 2.5 2.4 1.5 .4 16.0PF 63 2 941 197 39 35 31 372 14.9 3.1 .6 .6 .5 5.9†PF 60 59 2,159 529 91 63 46 1,128 36.0 8.8 1.5 1.1 .8 18.8†SF 60 27 1,117 143 82 36 14 383 18.6 2.4 1.4 .6 .2 6.4SG 54 52 1,762 179 132 46 6 945 32.6 3.3 2.4 .9 .1 17.5PF 54 2 604 127 55 20 9 231 11.2 2.4 1.0 .4 .2 4.3PF 44 2 559 131 22 18 11 225 12.7 3.0 .5 .4 .3 5.1†C 39 1 466 131 17 12 24 101 11.9 3.4 .4 .3 .6 2.6†PG 34 8 469 19 92 16 2 118 13.8 .6 2.7 .5 .1 3.5†SF 32 5 723 116 49 30 6 336 22.6 3.6 1.5 .9 .2 10.5†PG 22 1 303 31 77 22 1 151 13.8 1.4 3.5 1.0 .0 6.9†PF 16 16 448 120 28 32 10 146 28.0 7.5 1.8 2.0 .6 9.1PG 16 0 109 2 16 1 0 29 6.8 .1 1.0 .1 .0 1.8C 10 2 135 36 6 2 1 40 13.5 3.6 .6 .2 .1 4.0SF 9 0 92 15 3 6 2 22 10.2 1.7 .3 .7 .2 2.4†PG 8 0 84 3 20 7 0 22 10.5 .4 2.5 .9 .0 2.8†SF 3 0 20 6 0 1 0 10 6.7 2.0 .0 .3 .0 3.3
Awards and records J. R. Reid, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team
Transactions August 16, 1989 Signed Clifford Lett as a free agent. September 11, 1989 Traded Tim Kempton to the Denver Nuggets for a 1991 2nd round draft pick (Kevin Lynch was later selected).
Signed Jerry Sichting as a free agent. September 26, 1989 Signed Kenny Gattison as a free agent. September 28, 1989 Signed Terry Dozier as a free agent. October 5, 1989 Signed Andre Turner as a free agent. October 17, 1989 Traded Robert Reid to the Portland Trail Blazers for Richard Anderson. October 19, 1989 Waived Kenny Gattison. October 23, 1989 Waived Clifford Lett. October 31, 1989 Waived Andre Turner. November 1, 1989 Andre Turner claimed on waivers by the Los Angeles Clippers. November 23, 1989 Signed Andre Turner as a free agent. November 25, 1989 Greg Kite signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Sacramento Kings. November 27, 1989 Waived Terry Dozier. December 2, 1989 Signed Kenny Gattison as a free agent. December 3, 1989 Waived Andre Turner. December 13, 1989 Traded Kurt Rambis, a 1990 2nd round draft pick (Negele Knight was later selected) and a 1991 2nd round draft pick (Chad Gallagher was later selected) to the Phoenix Suns for Armen Gilliam.
Signed Robert Reid as a free agent. February 22, 1990 Traded Stuart Gray to the New York Knicks for a 1991 2nd round draft pick (Jimmy Oliver was later selected).
Traded a 1991 2nd round draft pick (Jimmy Oliver was later selected) to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Randolph Keys. February 23, 1990 Waived Jerry Sichting. March 13, 1990 Signed Micheal Williams to the first of two 10-day contracts. April 2, 1990 Signed Micheal Williams to a contract for the rest of the season. April 14, 1990 Signed Ralph Lewis to a 10-day contract.
Player Transactions Citation:
References