The 1998–99 Charlotte Hornets season was the eleventh season for the Charlotte Hornets in the National Basketball Association. This was the Hornets first full season without Muggsy Bogues and Dell Curry on the roster as they were part of the inaugural season. Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50.
Season summary
Off-season During the off-season, the Hornets signed free agents Derrick Coleman, three-point specialist Chuck Person, Eldridge Recasner and Chucky Brown. However, before the regular season began, the team dealt with injuries as Anthony Mason was lost for the entire season due to a biceps injury suffered in practice, and All-Star forward Glen Rice was out due to an elbow injury.
Regular season With the addition of Coleman, Brown and Person, and without Rice and Mason, the Hornets struggled losing eight of their first nine games of the regular season, which included a six-game losing streak in February. Head coach Dave Cowens resigned after a 4–11 start to the season, and was replaced with assistant coach Paul Silas. At mid-season, the team traded Rice, J.R. Reid, and B. J. Armstrong to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for All-Star guard Eddie Jones, and Elden Campbell; Armstrong was released by the Lakers, and later signed with the Orlando Magic. Under Silas, the Hornets improved posting a 22–13 record for the remainder of the season, which included a nine-game winning streak in April, as the team finished in fifth place in the Central Division with a 26–24 record. However, despite finishing with a record above .500 in winning percentage, the Hornets failed to qualify for the NBA playoffs, as they finished just one game behind the 8th–seeded New York Knicks.
Jones averaged 17.0 points, 4.2 assists and 3.0 steals per game in 30 games after the trade, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, while Campbell averaged 15.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game in 32 games. In addition, Bobby Phills provided the team with 14.3 points, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and also led them with 68 three-point field goals, while David Wesley contributed 14.1 points, 6.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game, Coleman averaged 13.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, and Brown provided with 8.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, undrafted rookie center Brad Miller averaged 6.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, Person contributed 6.1 points per game, and Recasner provided with 5.0 points and 2.1 assists per game.
Jones also finished tied in seventh place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, while Silas finished tied in sixth place in Coach of the Year voting. The Hornets finished sixth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 480,807 at the Charlotte Coliseum during the regular season.
Aftermath Following the season, Person signed as a free agent with the Seattle SuperSonics, and Brown signed with the San Antonio Spurs.
Offseason
NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 21 Ricky Davis SF/SG Iowa 2 50 Andrew Betts C California State-Long Beach
Roster
Roster Notes Power forward Anthony Mason was on the injured reserve list due to a ruptured biceps injury, and missed the entire regular season.
Regular season
Season standings
Player statistics
Ragular season PlayerPG50 50 1,848 161 322 100 10 706 37.0 3.2 6.4 2.0 .2 14.1SF50 21 990 132 60 20 8 303 19.8 2.6 1.2 .4 .2 6.1PF 48 21 1,192 174 57 16 19 407 24.8 3.6 1.2 .3 .4 8.5SG 46 1 557 84 58 30 7 209 12.1 1.8 1.3 .7 .2 4.5PG 44 2 708 77 91 17 1 222 16.1 1.8 2.1 .4 .0 5.0SG 43 43 1,574 174 149 60 25 613 36.6 4.0 3.5 1.4 .6 14.3C 38 0 469 117 22 9 18 238 12.3 3.1 .6 .2 .5 6.3PF 37 29 1,178 328 78 24 42 486 31.8 8.9 2.1 .6 1.1 13.1†C 32 32 1,134 301 61 38 57 490 35.4 9.4 1.9 1.2 1.8 15.3C 32 4 367 129 13 5 13 107 11.5 4.0 .4 .2 .4 3.3†SF 30 30 1,157 118 125 90 34 509 38.6 3.9 4.2 3.0 1.1 17.0†PF 16 16 556 113 25 22 10 243 34.8 7.1 1.6 1.4 .6 15.2†PG 16 0 150 23 20 7 2 35 9.4 1.4 1.3 .4 .1 2.2†PG 10 1 178 16 27 3 0 57 17.8 1.6 2.7 .3 .0 5.7SF 8 0 62 19 2 2 1 15 7.8 2.4 .3 .3 .1 1.9SF 3 0 18 6 0 0 0 4 6.0 2.0 .0 .0 .0 1.3PF 3 0 12 1 0 0 0 0 4.0 .3 .0 .0 .0 .0
Awards and records Eddie Jones, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
Transactions January 21, 1999
Signed Brad Miller as a free agent.
Signed Eldridge Recasner as a free agent.
Signed Charles Shackleford as a free agent.
Signed Chucky Brown as a free agent.
Signed Derrick Coleman as a free agent. January 26, 1999
Signed Chuck Person as a free agent. February 3, 1999
Signed Joe Wolf as a free agent. February 28, 1999
Signed Willie Burton as a free agent. March 8, 1999
Waived Willie Burton. March 10, 1999
Waived Joe Wolf.
Traded B. J. Armstrong, J. R. Reid and Glen Rice to the Los Angeles Lakers for Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones. March 16, 1999
Waived Travis Williams. March 17, 1999
Signed Corey Beck to the first of two 10-day contracts. April 6, 1999
Signed Corey Beck to a contract for the rest of the season.
Player Transactions Citation:
References