1990–91 Philadelphia 76ers season

The 1990–91 NBA season was the 42nd season for the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association, and their 28th season in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[1] During the off-season, the 76ers acquired 7' 7" center Manute Bol from the Golden State Warriors,^[2][3] and signed free agent Rickey Green.^[4]

1990–91 Philadelphia 76ers season
Head coach	Jim Lynam
General manager	Gene Shue
Arena	The Spectrum
Results
Record	44–38 (.537)
Place	Division: 2nd (Atlantic) Conference: 5th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Conference semifinals (lost to Bulls 1–4)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	WPHL-TV SportsChannel Philadelphia PRISM
Radio	WIP
< 1989–90 1991–92 >

The 76ers got off to a 19–8 start to the regular season, but would lose 10 of their next 16 games. Johnny Dawkins sustained a major knee injury early in the season after only just four games, and was replaced by Green as the team's starting point guard,^[5][6] while Mike Gminski was traded to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Armen Gilliam at mid-season.^[7][8][9] However, the team posted a 7-game winning streak between February and March, held a 25–21 record at the All-Star break,^[10] and finished in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 44–38 record, which was nine wins less than the previous season, and earned the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.^[11]

Charles Barkley averaged 27.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, while Hersey Hawkins averaged 22.1 points and 2.2 steals per game, and sixth man Ron Anderson provided the team with 14.6 points per game off the bench. In addition, Dawkins provided with 15.8 points and 7.0 assists per game during his four-game stint, while Green contributed 10.0 points and 5.2 assists per game, Rick Mahorn averaged 8.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, Andre Turner contributed 5.9 points and 4.4 assists per game, and Bol averaged 1.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, and led the team with 3.0 blocks per game.^[12]

Barkley and Hawkins were both selected for the 1991 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte, North Carolina,^[13][14][15] in which Barkley scored 17 points along with 22 rebounds, and was named the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 116–114.^[16][17][18] Barkley also finished in fourth place in Most Valuable Player voting.^[19][20][21]

In the 1991 NBA playoffs, the 76ers swept the 4th-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, 3–0 in the Eastern Conference First Round,^[22][23][24] but for the second consecutive year, they would be eliminated by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, 4–1 in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals.^[25][26][27] The Bulls would reach the NBA Finals for the first time, and defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in five games, winning their first ever NBA championship.^[28][29][30]

This season would be the last playoff appearance for the 76ers until 1999; the seven consecutive seasons in which they did not make the playoffs during this span were more than the franchise had missed in total since their inaugural season of 1950, five (missed playoffs in 1972–1975, and in 1988).^[31] Following the season, Mahorn left to play overseas in Italy,^[32][33] and Green signed as a free agent with the Boston Celtics.

Draft picks

Main article: 1990 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
2	32	Brian Oliver	SG	United States	Georgia Tech
2	47	Derek Strong	PF	United States	Xavier

Roster

1990–91 Philadelphia 76ers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From F 20 Ron Anderson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1958–10–15 Fresno State F 34 Charles Barkley 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 252 lb (114 kg) 1963–02–20 Auburn C 11 Manute Bol 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1962–10–16 Bridgeport G 12 Johnny Dawkins  6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1963–09–28 Duke F 35 Armen Gilliam 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1964–05–28 UNLV G 9 Rickey Green 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1954–08–18 Michigan G 33 Hersey Hawkins 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1966–09–29 Bradley C 40 Dave Hoppen 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1964–03–13 Nebraska C 44 Rick Mahorn 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1958–09–21 Hampton G 31 Brian Oliver 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1968–06–01 Georgia Tech F 21 Kenny Payne 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1966–11–25 Louisville F 50 Robert Reid 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1955–08–30 Saint Mary's G 4 Andre Turner 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1964–12–13 Memphis F 55 Jayson Williams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1968–02–22 St. John's

Head coach Jim Lynam Assistant(s) Buzz Braman Fred Carter Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Boston Celtics	56	26	.683	—	35–6	21–20	20-6
x-Philadelphia 76ers	44	38	.537	12	29-12	15-26	14-12
x-New York Knicks	39	43	.476	17	21-20	18-23	17–9
Washington Bullets	30	52	.366	26	21-20	9-32	10-16
New Jersey Nets	26	56	.317	30	20-21	6–35	8-18
Miami Heat	24	58	.293	32	18-23	6-35	9-17

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

#	Eastern Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Chicago Bulls	61	21	.744	–
2	y-Boston Celtics	56	26	.683	5
3	x-Detroit Pistons	50	32	.610	11
4	x-Milwaukee Bucks	48	34	.585	13
5	x-Philadelphia 76ers	44	38	.537	17
6	x-Atlanta Hawks	43	39	.524	18
7	x-Indiana Pacers	41	41	.500	20
8	x-New York Knicks	39	43	.476	22
9	Cleveland Cavaliers	33	49	.402	28
10	Washington Bullets	30	52	.366	31
11	New Jersey Nets	26	56	.317	35
12	Charlotte Hornets	26	56	.317	35
13	Miami Heat	24	58	.293	37

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

Playoffs

1991 playoff game log
First Round: 3–0 (home: 1–0; road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 25 @ Milwaukee W 99–90 Hersey Hawkins (25) Barkley, Mahorn (8) Charles Barkley (5) Bradley Center 13,587 1–0 2 April 27 @ Milwaukee W 116–112 (OT) Ron Anderson (24) Charles Barkley (13) Charles Barkley (10) Bradley Center 15,623 2–0 3 April 30 Milwaukee W 121–100 Charles Barkley (30) Charles Barkley (12) Hawkins, Barkley (6) Spectrum 16,239 3–0
Conference semifinals: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 4 @ Chicago L 92–105 Charles Barkley (34) Charles Barkley (11) Hawkins, Anderson (3) Chicago Stadium 18,676 0–1 2 May 6 @ Chicago L 100–112 Hersey Hawkins (30) Charles Barkley (9) Hersey Hawkins (7) Chicago Stadium 18,676 0–2 3 May 10 Chicago W 99–97 Hersey Hawkins (29) Armen Gilliam (11) Barkley, Turner (7) Spectrum 18,168 1–2 4 May 12 Chicago L 85–101 Charles Barkley (25) Charles Barkley (14) Charles Barkley (6) Spectrum 17,514 1–3 5 May 14 @ Chicago L 95–100 Charles Barkley (30) Charles Barkley (8) Charles Barkley (7) Chicago Stadium 18,676 1–4
1991 schedule

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%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Ron Anderson	82	13	28.5	.485	.209	.833	4.5	1.4	.8	.2	14.6
Charles Barkley	67	67	37.3	.570	.284	.722	10.1	4.2	1.6	.5	27.6
Manute Bol	82	6	18.6	.396	.071	.585	4.3	.2	.2	3.0	1.9
Johnny Dawkins	4	4	31.0	.634	.250	.909	4.0	7.0	.8	.0	15.8
Mario Elie†	3	0	6.7	.286	.500	.500	.3	.3	.0	.0	2.0
Jim Farmer†	2	0	6.5	.286	.000	1.000	2.5	.0	.0	.0	3.0
Armen Gilliam†	50	50	33.9	.470	.000	.816	7.3	1.6	.7	.6	15.0
Mike Gminski†	30	29	26.4	.384	.125	.841	6.7	1.1	.5	1.1	9.1
Rickey Green	79	75	28.5	.463	.222	.830	1.7	5.2	.7	.1	10.0
Tony Harris	6	0	6.8	.250	.000	.500	.2	.0	.2	.0	1.7
Hersey Hawkins	80	80	38.9	.472	.400	.871	3.9	3.7	2.2	.5	22.1
Dave Hoppen†	11	0	3.9	.500	.000	.667	.8	.0	.1	.0	1.8
Rick Mahorn	80	74	30.5	.467	.000	.788	7.8	1.5	1.0	.7	8.9
Brian Oliver	73	4	11.0	.408	.278	.732	1.1	1.2	.5	.1	3.8
Kenny Payne	47	6	9.4	.360	.222	.897	1.4	.3	.2	.1	3.5
Robert Reid	3	0	12.3	.143			3.0	1.3	.3	1.0	1.3
Andre Turner	70	1	20.1	.439	.364	.736	2.2	4.4	.9	.0	5.9
Jayson Williams	52	1	9.8	.447	.500	.661	2.1	.3	.2	.1	3.5

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Ron Anderson	8	0	27.9	.398	.200	.895	2.6	2.4	.8	.0	11.0
Charles Barkley	8	8	40.8	.592	.100	.653	10.5	6.0	1.9	.4	24.9
Manute Bol	8	0	13.6	.500		.667	2.4	.1	.1	1.5	3.0
Armen Gilliam	8	8	35.9	.462		.848	6.5	1.3	.6	.8	16.9
Rickey Green	8	8	24.9	.436	.750	.889	1.1	2.8	.9	.0	7.4
Hersey Hawkins	8	8	41.1	.465	.538	.937	5.8	3.4	2.5	1.3	20.9
Dave Hoppen	3	0	3.0	1.000		.000	1.0	.0	.0	.0	2.0
Rick Mahorn	8	8	26.0	.556		.786	5.3	1.8	.3	.5	6.4
Brian Oliver	4	0	3.8	.333		1.000	.0	.3	.3	.0	1.5
Robert Reid	7	0	5.9	.333	.000		1.1	.3	.1	.0	.9
Andre Turner	8	0	23.6	.438	.333	.813	1.6	4.4	1.4	.0	7.3
Jayson Williams	4	0	2.5	.800			1.0	.0	.0	.0	2.0

• ^† Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the 7ers only.

Player Statistics Citation:^[12]

Awards and records

• Charles Barkley, All-NBA First Team

See also

• 1990–91 NBA season