1989–90 San Antonio Spurs season

The 1989–90 NBA season was the 14th season for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association, and their 23rd season as a franchise.^[1] This marked the first NBA season for rookie center David Robinson, who was selected by the Spurs as the first overall pick in the 1987 NBA draft; with his tour of duty at the Navy over, Robinson arrived to the Spurs for the 1989–90 season.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

1989–90 San Antonio Spurs season
Division champions
Head coach	Larry Brown
General manager	Bob Bass
Owner(s)	Red McCombs
Arena	HemisFair Arena
Results
Record	56–26 (.683)
Place	Division: 1st (Midwest) Conference: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	Conference semifinals (lost to Trail Blazers 3–4)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	KSAT-TV (Dave Barnett, Greg Simmons) Home Sports Entertainment (Dave Barnett, Greg Simmons)
Radio	WOAI (Jay Howard)
< 1988–89 1990–91 >

In the 1989 NBA draft, the Spurs received the third overall pick, and selected small forward Sean Elliott from the University of Arizona,^{[7][8][9][10]} acquired All-Star forward Terry Cummings from the Milwaukee Bucks,^{[11][12][13][14][15]} and acquired All-Star guard Maurice Cheeks and David Wingate from the Philadelphia 76ers during the off-season.^{[16][17][18][19][20]}

With the addition of Robinson, Cummings, Cheeks and Elliott, the Spurs showed a lot of improvement, winning 19 of their first 25 games of the regular season, and holding a 32–14 record at the All-Star break.^[21] At mid-season, Cheeks, who only spent half a season in San Antonio, was traded to the New York Knicks in exchange for second-year guard Rod Strickland.^{[22][23][24][25]} The Spurs finished in first place in the Midwest Division with a franchise-best 56–26 regular season record, earning the second seed in the Western Conference, and surpassing the 53-win season of 1982–83.^[26]

Robinson had one of the most successful rookie seasons for a center in NBA history, averaging 24.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 3.9 blocks per game, as he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year,^[27][28][29] and was named to the All-NBA First Team, to the NBA All-Rookie First Team and NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and was also selected for the 1990 NBA All-Star Game in Miami, Florida, which was his first ever All-Star appearance;^{[30][31][32][33]} he also finished in sixth place in Most Valuable Player voting.^[34][35] In addition, Cummings averaged 22.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, while second-year guard Willie Anderson provided the team with 15.7 points, 4.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and Elliott contributed 10.0 points per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Off the bench, Wingate provided with 6.8 points and 2.7 assists per game, and Frank Brickowski averaged 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.^[36]

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1990 NBA playoffs, the Spurs swept the Denver Nuggets in three straight games.^{[37][38][39][40]} However, they would lose in a full seven-game series to the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Semi-finals.^{[41][42][43][44]} The Trail Blazers would lose to the defending champion Detroit Pistons in five games in the 1990 NBA Finals.^{[45][46][47][48][49]} Following the season, Brickowski was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.^[50][51][52]

As the 1980s ended, the 1989–90 season proved to be the rebirth of the Spurs franchise; 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).

For the season, the Spurs introduced a new primary logo, which featured the fiesta colors of turquoise, fuchsia and orange.^[53] The uniforms remained silver and black, although starting this season, the team name "Spurs" replaced the city name "San Antonio" on the road jerseys.^[54][55] The "fiesta" logo and the new uniforms both remained in use until 2002.

Draft picks

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

Roster

1989–90 San Antonio Spurs roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From G 40 Willie Anderson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1967–01–08 Georgia C 33 Uwe Blab 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 252 lb (114 kg) 1962–03–26 Indiana C 43 Frank Brickowski 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1959–08–14 Penn State F 34 Terry Cummings 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1961–03–15 DePaul F 32 Sean Elliott 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1968–02–02 Arizona F 27 Caldwell Jones 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 217 lb (98 kg) 1950–08–04 Albany State F 34 Mike Mitchell 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1956–01–01 Auburn G 00 Johnny Moore 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1958–03–03 North Carolina C 50 David Robinson 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1965–08–06 Navy G 1 Rod Strickland 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1966–07–11 DePaul F 2 Reggie Williams 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1964–03–05 Georgetown G 25 David Wingate 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1963–12–15 Georgetown

Head coach Larry Brown Assistant(s) R. C. Buford Ed Manning Gregg Popovich Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Updated: April 22, 1990

Roster Notes

• Small forward Mike Mitchell was signed by the Spurs before the NBA playoffs began; he did not play with the team during the regular season.

Regular season

The Spurs went from 21 to 61^[56] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Season standings

Midwest Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-San Antonio Spurs	56	26	.683	–	34–7	22–19	19–9
x-Utah Jazz	55	27	.671	1	36–5	19–22	21–7
x-Dallas Mavericks	47	35	.573	9	30–11	17–24	17–11
x-Denver Nuggets	43	39	.524	13	28–13	15–26	15–13
x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	15	31–10	10–31	13–15
Minnesota Timberwolves	22	60	.268	34	17–24	5–36	6–22
Charlotte Hornets	19	63	.232	37	13–28	6–35	7–21

#	Western Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Los Angeles Lakers	63	19	.768	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	56	26	.683	7
3	x-Portland Trail Blazers	59	23	.720	4
4	x-Utah Jazz	55	27	.671	8
5	x-Phoenix Suns	54	28	.659	9
6	x-Dallas Mavericks	47	35	.573	16
7	x-Denver Nuggets	43	39	.524	20
8	x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	22
9	Seattle SuperSonics	41	41	.500	22
10	Golden State Warriors	37	45	.451	26
11	Los Angeles Clippers	30	52	.366	33
12	Sacramento Kings	23	59	.280	40
13	Minnesota Timberwolves	22	60	.268	41
14	Charlotte Hornets	19	63	.232	44

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) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 November 4 L.A. Lakers W 106–98 HemisFair Arena 1–0 2 November 8 Portland L 104–108 HemisFair Arena 1–1 3 November 10 @ Utah L 92–106 Salt Palace 1–2 4 November 11 Denver W 122–108 HemisFair Arena 2–2 5 November 14 @ Milwaukee L 97–108 Bradley Center 2–3 6 November 15 @ Minnesota W 86–76 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 3–3 7 November 17 @ Philadelphia L 101–108 The Spectrum 3–4 8 November 18 @ New Jersey W 110–95 Brendan Byrne Arena 4–4 9 November 21 Phoenix W 107–98 HemisFair Arena 5–4 10 November 24 @ L.A. Clippers W 90–89 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 6–4 11 November 26 @ L.A. Lakers L 112–132 Great Western Forum 6–5 12 November 28 Seattle W 117–104 HemisFair Arena 7–5 13 November 30 Dallas W 93–89 HemisFair Arena 8–5
December: 11–2 (home: 7–0; road: 4–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 14 December 2 Charlotte W 118–110 HemisFair Arena 9–5 15 December 6 Golden State W 121–119 HemisFair Arena 10–5 16 December 8 @ Dallas W 99–93 Reunion Arena 11–5 17 December 9 New Jersey W 109–92 HemisFair Arena 12–5 18 December 12 @ Atlanta L 94–102 The Omni 12–6 19 December 14 Houston W 104–100 HemisFair Arena 13–6 20 December 16 Orlando W 125–116 HemisFair Arena 14–6 21 December 20 Sacramento W 103–100 HemisFair Arena 15–6 22 December 22 @ Phoenix W 119–115 Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 16–6 23 December 23 Utah W 115–98 HemisFair Arena 17–6 24 December 26 @ Charlotte W 107–82 Charlotte Coliseum 18–6 25 December 27 @ Washington W 107–97 Capital Centre 19–6 26 December 29 @ Chicago L 97–101 Chicago Stadium 19–7
January: 10–6 (home: 7–0; road: 3–6) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 27 January 3 Philadelphia W 103–94 HemisFair Arena 20–7 28 January 6 Minnesota W 109–96 HemisFair Arena 21–7 29 January 8 @ Orlando L 102–111 Orlando Arena 21–8 30 January 9 @ Miami W 107–102 Miami Arena 22–8 31 January 12 @ Boston W 97–90 Boston Garden 23–8 32 January 13 @ New York L 101–107 Madison Square Garden 23–9 33 January 15 @ Cleveland L 89–92 Richfield Coliseum 23–10 34 January 17 New York W 101–97 HemisFair Arena 24–10 35 January 19 Cleveland W 104–101 HemisFair Arena 25–10 36 January 20 @ Denver L 99–126 McNichols Sports Arena 25–11 37 January 22 Washington W 124–115 HemisFair Arena 26–11 38 January 24 L.A. Clippers W 106–98 HemisFair Arena 25–13 39 January 26 @ Portland L 103–109 Memorial Coliseum 26–13 40 January 27 @ Seattle L 98–109 Seattle Center Coliseum 26–14 41 January 29 @ L.A. Lakers W 86–84 Great Western Forum 28–13 42 January 31 Charlotte W 129–95 HemisFair Arena 29–13
February: 8–5 (home: 4–3; road: 4–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 43 February 2 @ Charlotte W 118–107 Charlotte Coliseum 30–13 44 February 3 Chicago W 112–111 HemisFair Arena 31–13 45 February 6 Atlanta W 105–94 HemisFair Arena 32–13 46 February 8 Indiana L 100–105 HemisFair Arena 32–14 47 February 13 @ Dallas L 96–103 Reunion Arena 32–15 48 February 14 Boston L 95–106 HemisFair Arena 32–16 49 February 16 Utah W 100–86 HemisFair Arena 33–16 50 February 17 @ Houston W 104–102 The Summit 34–16 51 February 20 L.A. Lakers L 114–115 (OT) HemisFair Arena 34–17 52 February 23 Minnesota W 105–95 HemisFair Arena 35–17 53 February 25 @ L.A. Clippers W 107–106 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 36–17 54 February 26 @ Sacramento W 105–96 ARCO Arena 37–17 55 February 28 @ Golden State L 135–144 (OT) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 37–18
March: 11–5 (home: 7–2; road: 4–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 56 March 2 Golden State W 131–115 HemisFair Arena 38–18 57 March 3 @ Utah L 98–112 Salt Palace 38–19 58 March 5 Houston L 105–109 HemisFair Arena 38–20 59 March 10 Denver W 118–111 HemisFair Arena 39–20 60 March 12 @ Minnesota W 92–88 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 40–20 61 March 13 @ Indiana W 103–102 Market Square Arena 41–20 62 March 15 @ Detroit L 98–110 Palace of Auburn Hills 41–21 63 March 17 Miami W 111–98 HemisFair Arena 42–21 64 March 19 @ Phoenix W 113–102 Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 43–21 65 March 20 @ Seattle W 128–106 Seattle Center Coliseum 44–21 66 March 22 Portland W 107–106 HemisFair Arena 45–21 67 March 24 Detroit W 105–98 HemisFair Arena 46–21 68 March 26 @ Houston L 95–113 The Summit 46–22 69 March 27 Seattle W 115–103 HemisFair Arena 47–22 70 March 29 Dallas L 105–109 HemisFair Arena 47–23 71 March 31 Milwaukee W 107–100 HemisFair Arena 48–23
April: 7–6 (home: 4–1; road: 3–5) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 72 April 3 Minnesota L 90–92 HemisFair Arena 48–24 73 April 4 @ Dallas L 98–104 Reunion Arena 48–25 74 April 7 @ Sacramento W 111–93 ARCO Arena 49–25 75 April 8 @ Portland L 105–112 Memorial Coliseum 49–26 76 April 10 @ Golden State W 132–122 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 50–26 77 April 12 L.A. Clippers W 105–98 HemisFair Arena 51–26 78 April 14 Sacramento W 105–94 HemisFair Arena 52–26 79 April 16 @ Charlotte W 110–101 Charlotte Coliseum 53–26 80 April 18 Utah W 102–93 HemisFair Arena 54–26 81 April 20 @ Denver W 112–108 McNichols Sports Arena 55–26 82 April 22 Phoenix W 108–93 HemisFair Arena 56–26
1989–90 schedule

Playoffs

1990 playoff game log
First Round: 3–0 (home: 2–0; road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 26 Denver W 119–103 Willie Anderson (27) David Robinson (13) Rod Strickland (9) HemisFair Arena 15,910 1–0 2 April 28 Denver W 129–120 David Robinson (31) Terry Cummings (13) Rod Strickland (13) HemisFair Arena 15,910 2–0 3 May 1 @ Denver W 131–120 Terry Cummings (28) David Robinson (16) Rod Strickland (9) McNichols Sports Arena 15,604 3–0
Conference semifinals: 3–4 (home: 3–0; road: 0–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 5 @ Portland L 94–107 Frank Brickowski (20) David Robinson (9) Rod Strickland (9) Memorial Coliseum 12,884 0–1 2 May 8 @ Portland L 112–122 Terry Cummings (33) David Robinson (8) Rod Strickland (14) Memorial Coliseum 12,884 0–2 3 May 10 Portland W 121–98 David Robinson (28) Strickland, Cummings (9) Rod Strickland (17) HemisFair Arena 15,910 1–2 4 May 12 Portland W 115–105 Terry Cummings (35) Terry Cummings (11) Rod Strickland (14) HemisFair Arena 15,910 2–2 5 May 15 @ Portland L 132–138 (2OT) Terry Cummings (32) David Robinson (15) Rod Strickland (7) Memorial Coliseum 12,884 2–3 6 May 17 Portland W 112–97 Willie Anderson (30) David Robinson (13) Rod Strickland (12) HemisFair Arena 15,910 3–3 7 May 19 @ Portland L 105–108 (OT) Terry Cummings (27) David Robinson (16) Rod Strickland (8) Memorial Coliseum 12,884 3–4
1990 schedule

Player statistics

Ragular season

Player	POS	GP	GS	MP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
David Robinson	C	82	81	3,002	983	164	138	319	1,993	36.6	12.0	2.0	1.7	3.9	24.3
Willie Anderson	SG	82	81	2,788	372	364	111	58	1,288	34.0	4.5	4.4	1.4	.7	15.7
Terry Cummings	PF	81	78	2,821	677	219	110	52	1,818	34.8	8.4	2.7	1.4	.6	22.4
Sean Elliott	SF	81	69	2,032	297	154	45	14	810	25.1	3.7	1.9	.6	.2	10.0
Frank Brickowski	C	78	12	1,438	327	105	66	37	517	18.4	4.2	1.3	.8	.5	6.6
David Wingate	SG	78	2	1,856	195	208	89	18	527	23.8	2.5	2.7	1.1	.2	6.8
Caldwell Jones	PF	72	2	885	230	20	20	27	173	12.3	3.2	.3	.3	.4	2.4
Johnny Moore	PG	53	8	516	52	82	32	3	118	9.7	1.0	1.5	.6	.1	2.2
Maurice Cheeks†	PG	50	49	1,766	167	302	82	5	545	35.3	3.3	6.0	1.6	.1	10.9
Vernon Maxwell†	SG	49	2	1,118	141	146	42	5	340	22.8	2.9	3.0	.9	.1	6.9
Rod Strickland†	PG	31	24	1,121	133	249	57	6	439	36.2	4.3	8.0	1.8	.2	14.2
Žarko Paspalj	SF	28	1	181	30	10	3	7	72	6.5	1.1	.4	.1	.3	2.6
Chris Welp†	C	13	1	56	12	5	1	0	15	4.3	.9	.4	.1	.0	1.2
Reggie Williams†	SF	10	0	68	8	5	1	3	42	6.8	.8	.5	.1	.3	4.2
Uwe Blab†	C	7	0	50	9	1	0	0	15	7.1	1.3	.1	.0	.0	2.1
Jeff Lebo	SG	4	0	32	4	3	2	0	6	8.0	1.0	.8	.5	.0	1.5

• ^† Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Spurs only.

Playoffs

Player	POS	GP	GS	MP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Rod Strickland	PG	10	10	384	53	112	14	0	123	38.4	5.3	11.2	1.4	.0	12.3
Terry Cummings	PF	10	10	375	94	22	7	4	249	37.5	9.4	2.2	.7	.4	24.9
David Robinson	C	10	10	375	120	23	11	40	243	37.5	12.0	2.3	1.1	4.0	24.3
Willie Anderson	SG	10	10	375	54	52	9	4	205	37.5	5.4	5.2	.9	.4	20.5
Sean Elliott	SF	10	10	291	41	18	9	6	127	29.1	4.1	1.8	.9	.6	12.7
David Wingate	SG	10	0	293	37	38	18	3	91	29.3	3.7	3.8	1.8	.3	9.1
Frank Brickowski	C	10	0	161	44	11	8	1	79	16.1	4.4	1.1	.8	.1	7.9
Johnny Moore	PG	9	0	86	11	21	7	1	16	9.6	1.2	2.3	.8	.1	1.8
Caldwell Jones	PF	9	0	66	13	2	0	3	8	7.3	1.4	.2	.0	.3	.9
Reggie Williams	SF	9	0	49	11	3	2	0	20	5.4	1.2	.3	.2	.0	2.2
Mike Mitchell	F	4	0	15	3	2	0	0	6	3.8	.8	.5	.0	.0	1.5
Uwe Blab	C	2	0	5	2	0	0	0	3	2.5	1.0	.0	.0	.0	1.5

Award winners

• David Robinson, NBA All-Star
• David Robinson, NBA Rookie of the Year
• David Robinson, All-NBA Rookie First Team
• David Robinson, All-NBA Team, Third Team
• David Robinson, All-NBA Defensive Second Team
• Sean Elliott, All-NBA Rookie Second Team
• Bob Bass, NBA Executive of the Year

Transactions

Trades

May 28, 1989	To San Antonio Spurs---- Terry Cummings	To Milwaukee Bucks---- Cadillac Anderson Alvin Robertson 1989 2nd round pick (Frank Kornet)
August 28, 1989	To San Antonio Spurs---- Maurice Cheeks Chris Welp David Wingate	To Philadelphia 76ers---- Johnny Dawkins Jay Vincent
February 21, 1990	To San Antonio Spurs---- Rod Strickland	To New York Knicks---- Maurice Cheeks
February 22, 1990	To San Antonio Spurs---- Uwe Blab	To Golden State Warriors---- Chris Welp

Free agents

Player	Signed	Former team
Caldwell Jones	July 20, 1989	Portland Trail Blazers
Žarko Paspalj	July 28, 1989	KK Partizan
Jeff Lebo	September 29, 1989	North Carolina

Subtractions
Player	Date signed	New team
Scott Roth	Expansion Draft June 15, 1989	Minnesota Timberwolves