1989–90 San Antonio Spurs season

The 1989–90 NBA season was the Spurs' 14th season in the National Basketball Association, and 23rd season as a franchise.[1] They finished with a franchise-best 56–26 regular season record, surpassing the 53-win season of 1982–83.

1989–90 San Antonio Spurs season
Division champions
Head coachLarry Brown
OwnersRed McCombs
ArenaHemisFair Arena
Results
Record56–26 (.683)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Midwest)
Conference: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finishWest Semifinals
(Lost to Trail Blazers 3–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKSAT-TV
(Dave Barnett, Greg Simmons)
Home Sports Entertainment
(Dave Barnett, Greg Simmons)
RadioWOAI
(Jay Howard)

As the 1980s ended, the 1989–90 season proved to be the rebirth of the Spurs franchise. With his tour of duty over, David Robinson arrived to the Spurs along with the newly added Terry Cummings, who was acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks, and 1989 first round draftee Sean Elliott. The team also acquired Maurice Cheeks from the Philadelphia 76ers during the offseason, but traded him at midseason to the New York Knicks for second-year guard Rod Strickland. This season would mark a turning point for the franchise, the Spurs would miss the playoffs only once between 1990 and 2019 (that coming in 1996–97).

Although there was speculation that Robinson might choose not to sign with the Spurs and to become a free agent once his Navy commitment ended,[2][3] Robinson decided to play in San Antonio. Robinson joined the Spurs for the 1989-90 season, and he helped the team produce the second greatest single season turnaround in NBA history.[4] Robinson had one of the most successful rookie seasons for a center in NBA history, finishing the season as Rookie of the Year while averaging 24.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Spurs swept the Denver Nuggets in three games. However, they would lose in a full seven game series to the Portland Trail Blazers in the semifinals.

For the season, the Spurs introduced a new logo, which featured the fiesta colors of turquoise, fuchsia and orange. The uniforms remained silver and black, although starting this season the team nickname replaced the city name on road jerseys. The "fiesta" logo lasted until 2002.

Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 3 Sean Elliott SF  United States Arizona

Roster
Roster listing
San Antonio Spurs roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
G/F 40 Anderson, Willie 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Georgia
C 33 Blab, Uwe 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 252 lb (114 kg) Indiana
F 43 Brickowski, Frank 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Penn State
F 34 Cummings, Terry 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) DePaul
F 32 Elliott, Sean 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Arizona
F 27 Jones, Caldwell 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 217 lb (98 kg) Albany State
F 34 Mitchell, Mike 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Auburn
G 00 Moore, Johnny 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) North Carolina
C 50 Robinson, David 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Navy
G 1 Strickland, Rod 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) DePaul
SF 2 Williams, Reggie 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Georgetown
G/F 25 Wingate, David 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Georgetown
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster Notes
  • Forward Mike Mitchell was signed before the playoffs began. He did not play during the regular season.

Regular season

The Spurs went from 21–61[5] in the 1988–89 NBA season to 56–26 in 1989–90, for a remarkable 35-game improvement. They advanced to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs where they lost in seven games to the eventual western conference champions, the Portland Trail Blazers. Following the 1989–90 season, David Robinson was unanimously named the NBA Rookie of the Year, and subsequently SEGA produced a game featuring him entitled David Robinson's Supreme Court.

Season standings
Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-San Antonio Spurs 5626.683–34–722–1919–9
x-Utah Jazz 5527.671136–519–2221–7
x-Dallas Mavericks 4735.573930–1117–2417–11
x-Denver Nuggets 4339.5241328–1315–2615–13
x-Houston Rockets 4141.5001531–1010–3113–15
Minnesota Timberwolves 2260.2683417–245–366–22
Charlotte Hornets 1963.2323713–286–357–21
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Los Angeles Lakers6319.768–
2 y-San Antonio Spurs5626.6837
3 x-Portland Trail Blazers5923.7204
4 x-Utah Jazz5527.6718
5 x-Phoenix Suns5428.6599
6 x-Dallas Mavericks4735.57316
7 x-Denver Nuggets4339.52420
8 x-Houston Rockets4141.50022
9 Seattle SuperSonics4141.50022
10 Golden State Warriors3745.45126
11 Los Angeles Clippers3052.36633
12 Sacramento Kings2359.28040
13 Minnesota Timberwolves2260.26841
14 Charlotte Hornets1963.23244

Record vs. opponents
1989-90 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 UTA WAS
Atlanta —1–32–00–52–30–21–13–22–02–02–31–10–24–03–21–12–21–35–02–20–21–11–11–11–11–12–2
Boston 3–1—2–02–23–11–11–12–21–12–01–31–10–25–02–21–15–14–14–03–21–10–22–01–12–01–12–3
Charlotte 0–20–2—0–21–11–33–20–22–21–41–12–20–41–10–22–21–11–11–10–21–30–41–30–50–40–50–2
Chicago 5–02–22–0—5–02–01–11–42–01–12–31–11–14–04–12–03–13–13–22–22–01–11–11–11–10–23–1
Cleveland 3–21–31–10–5—0–20–21–41–10–23–21–11–14–03–21–14–02–24–12–21–11–12–01–11–11–13–1
Dallas 2–01–13–10–22–0—2–31–13–14–12–03–10–42–01–14–12–01–12–01–11–30–43–13–22–21–31–1
Denver 1–11–12–31–12–03–2—0–22–24–10–22–20–42–01–15–02–01–12–01–11–32–24–01–32–20–41–1
Detroit 2–32–22–04–14–11–12–0—1–11–14–11–11–13–13–22–04–04–05–01–32–01–12–01–11–11–14–0
Golden State 0–21–12–20–21–11–32–21–1—2–21–13–11–42–01–13–12–00–22–01–10–52–23–21–32–32–21–1
Houston 0–20–24–11–12–01–41–41–12–2—1–12–22–21–11–12–21–11–12–01–12–21–34–02–22–23–21–1
Indiana 3–23–11–13–22–30–22–01–41–11–1—0–20–23–13–21–14–01–34–10–41–11–11–11–11–11–13–1
L.A. Clippers 1–11–12–21–11–11–32–21–11–32–22–0—1–40–21–13–12–00–22–00–20–40–52–30–43–20–41–1
L.A. Lakers 2–02–04–01–11–14–04–01–14–12–22–04–1—2–01–14–02–02–01–11–13–12–35–02–24–02–21–1
Miami 0–40–51–10–40–40–20–21–30–21–11–32–00–2—2–21–11–41–53–10–50–20–21–10–20–21–12–3
Milwaukee 2–32–22–01–42–31–11–12–31–11–12–31–11–12–2—2–04–02–25–01–31–11–11–11–12–00–23–1
Minnesota 1–11–12–20–21–11–40–50–21–32–21–11–30–41–10–2—1–11–11–11–10–41–32–21–41–30–51–1
New Jersey 2–21–51–11–30–40–20–20–40–21–10–40–20–24–10–41–1—1–41–31–40–20–21–10–20–20–22–3
New York 3–11–41–11–32–21–11–10–42–01–13–12–00–25–12–21–14–1—2–22–31–10–22–01–11–11–15–0
Orlando 0–50–41–12–31–40–20–20–50–20–21–40–21–11–30–51–13–12–2—2–20–20–21–11–10–21–10–4
Philadelphia 2–22–32–02–22–21–11–13–11–11–14–02–01–15–03–11–14–13–22–2—1–11–11–11–11–11–15–1
Phoenix 2–01–13–10–21–13–13–10–25–02–21–14–01–32–01–14–02–01–12–01–1—2–35–00–43–23–12–0
Portland 1–12–04–01–11–14–02–21–12–23–11–15–03–22–01–13–12–02–02–01–13–2—4–03–13–22–21–1
Sacramento 1–10–23–11–10–21–30–40–22–30–41–13–20–51–11–12–21–10–21–11–10–50–4—0–42–21–31–1
San Antonio 1–11–15–01–11–12–33–11–13–12–21–14–02–22–01–14–12–01–11–11–14–01–34–0—3–13–22–0
Seattle 1–10–24–01–11–12–22–21–13–22–21–12–30–42–00–23–12–01–12–01–12–32–32–21–3—1–32–0
Utah 1–11–15–02–01–13–14–01–12–22–31–14–02–21–12–05–02–01–11–11–11–32–23–12–33–1—2–0
Washington 2–23–22–01–31–31–11–10–41–11–11–31–11–13–21–31–13–20–54–01–50–21–11–10–20–20–2—

Game log

Regular season
1989–90 game log
Total: 56–26 (Home: 34–7; Road: 22–19)
November: 8–5 (Home: 5–1; Road: 3–4)
December: 11–2 (Home: 7–0; Road: 4–2)
January: 10–6 (Home: 7–0; Road: 3–6)
February: 8–5 (Home: 4–3; Road: 4–2)
March: 11–5 (Home: 7–2; Road: 4–3)
April: 7–6 (Home: 4–1; Road: 3–5)
1989–90 schedule

Playoffs
1990 playoff game log
First round: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0)
Conference Semifinals: 3–4 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–4)
1990 schedule

Playoffs

West First Round

(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (7) Denver Nuggets: Spurs win series 3-0

Last Playoff Meeting: 1985 Western Conference First Round (Denver won 3-2)

West Conference Semifinals

(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (3) Portland Trail Blazers: Blazers win series 4-3

Last Playoff Meeting: Not available (first playoff meeting)

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

Regular season
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Willie Anderson 828134.0.492.269.7484.54.41.4.715.7
Uwe Blab 707.1.545..5001.3.1.0.02.1
Frank Brickowski 781218.4.545.000.6744.21.3.8.56.6
Maurice Cheeks 504935.3.478.111.8323.36.01.6.110.9
Terry Cummings 817834.8.475.322.7808.42.71.4.622.4
Sean Elliott 816925.1.481.111.8663.71.9.6.210.0
Caldwell Jones 72212.3.465.200.7043.2.3.3.42.4
Jeff Lebo 408.0.286.1.0001.0.8.5.01.5
Vernon Maxwell 49222.8.435.288.6212.93.0.9.16.9
Johnny Moore 5389.7.373.235.5931.01.5.6.12.2
Zarko Paspalj 2816.5.342.000.8181.1.4.1.32.6
David Robinson 828136.6.531.000.73212.02.01.73.924.3
Rod Strickland 312436.2.468.222.6154.38.01.8.214.2
Chris Welp 1314.3.304..500.9.4.1.01.2
Reggie Williams 1006.8.452.000.667.8.5.1.34.2
David Wingate 78223.8.448.000.7772.52.71.1.26.8

Playoffs
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Willie Anderson 101037.5.518.400.8065.45.2.9.420.5
Uwe Blab 202.5.000..5001.0.0.0.01.5
Frank Brickowski 10016.1.574..6544.41.1.8.17.9
Terry Cummings 101037.5.528.200.8089.42.2.7.424.9
Sean Elliott 101029.1.552.000.7244.11.8.9.612.7
Caldwell Jones 907.3.444..0001.4.2.0.3.9
Mike Mitchell 403.8.375...8.5.0.01.5
Johnny Moore 909.6.250.000.5001.22.3.8.11.8
David Robinson 101037.5.533..67712.02.31.14.024.3
Rod Strickland 101038.4.425.000.5565.311.21.4.012.3
Reggie Williams 905.4.333.0001.0001.2.3.2.02.2
David Wingate 10029.3.519.667.7503.73.81.8.39.1

Award winners

References
  1. 1989–90 San Antonio Spurs
  2. SPORTS OF THE TIMES; THE ROBINSON PLOT THICKENS, The New York Times, May 18, 1987.
  3. The Summer Our Ship Came In, Tom Orsborn, San Antonio Express-News, May 20, 2007.
  4. NBA.com: David Robinson Bio
  5. "NBA.com: 1988-89 Standings". Archived from the original on 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
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