From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
1996–97 San Antonio Spurs season
- Bob Hill (fired)
- Gregg Popovich KRRT Fox Sports Southwest The 1996–97 San Antonio Spurs season was the 21st season for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association, and their 30th season as a franchise. During the off-season, the Spurs signed free agent and former All-Star forward Dominique Wilkins, who previously played overseas in Greece last season, while re-signing former Spurs guard Vernon Maxwell.
However, without All-Star center David Robinson, who only played just six games due to back and foot injuries, and three-point specialist Chuck Person, who was out for the entire regular season due to an off-season back injury, the Spurs struggled losing 13 of their first 15 games of the season in November, which included an 8-game losing streak. After 18 games, head coach Bob Hill was fired and replaced with General Manager Gregg Popovich; Popovich would remain as head coach of the Spurs until 2025.
The team dealt with additional injuries as Sean Elliott only played just 39 games due to a knee injury, and Charles D. Smith only appeared in just 19 games also with a knee injury. The Spurs held a 11–34 record at the All-Star break, then later on lost their final six games of the season, finishing in sixth place in the Midwest Division with an awful 20–62 record. The Spurs had the worst team defensive rating in the NBA.
Wilkins appeared in 63 games with the Spurs, averaging 18.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, while Robinson averaged 17.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game during his short six-game stint, and Elliott averaged 14.9 points per game. In addition, Maxwell provided the team with 12.9 points per game and led them with 115 three-point field goals, while Vinny Del Negro contributed 12.3 points per game, and Avery Johnson provided with 10.5 points, 6.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Meanwhile, Monty Williams showed improvement averaging 9.0 points per game, while Will Perdue provided with 8.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, Carl Herrera contributed 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and Greg Anderson averaged 3.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
Wilkins also finished tied in seventh place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, while Williams finished tied in twelfth place in Most Improved Player voting. The Spurs finished eleventh in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 706,641 at the Alamodome during the regular season.
Since the Spurs joined the NBA in 1976, this was only the fourth time they missed the NBA playoffs. Until 2020, this was the Spurs' last season in which they failed to make the playoffs, due in large part to turning the lottery pick they earned in 1997 into perennial All-Star Tim Duncan, who would create a dynasty that won them their first championship 2 years later, then four more championships in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014.
Following the season, Wilkins left to play overseas in Italy, while Maxwell was released to free agency, Anderson re-signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks, and Smith retired.
Draft picks
Main article: 1996 NBA draft
The Spurs did not have any draft picks in 1996.
Roster
- Gregg Popovich
- Mike Budenholzer
- Hank Egan
- Paul Pressey
Roster notes
- Small forward Chuck Person was on the injured reserve list due to a back injury, and missed the entire regular season.
Regular season
The Spurs were trying to continue the success of the last two seasons which had records of 59-23 and 62-20 respectively. However they would finish a dismal 20–62, Scoring leader David Robinson was injured, and was only able to play just six games due to back and foot injuries. Also injured was forward and three-point specialist Chuck Person, who missed the entire season with an off-season back injury. Head coach Bob Hill was fired midway through the season after starting 3–15, being replaced by Gregg Popovich, who would finish 17–47. He would later be appointed head coach after the season's end. This would be the only losing season for Gregg Popovich and the first losing season for the Spurs since the 1988-89 NBA season. However the lone silver lining in this season would be winning the number one pick for the 1997 NBA draft.
Season standings
:z - clinched division title :y - clinched division title :x - clinched playoff spot
Player statistics
Ragular season
| Player | POS | GP | GS | MP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS | MPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | **82** | 48 | 1,659 | 448 | 34 | 63 | 67 | 322 | 20.2 | 5.5 | .4 | .8 | .8 | 3.9 | |
| PG | 80 | 6 | 1,454 | 123 | 254 | 82 | 16 | 577 | 18.2 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 1.0 | .2 | 7.2 | |
| PG | 76 | **76** | **2,472** | 147 | **513** | **96** | 15 | 800 | 32.5 | 1.9 | **6.8** | **1.3** | .2 | 10.5 | |
| PF | 75 | 58 | 1,837 | 340 | 50 | 62 | 53 | 597 | 24.5 | 4.5 | .7 | .8 | .7 | 8.0 | |
| SG | 72 | 53 | 2,243 | 210 | 231 | 59 | 7 | 886 | 31.2 | 2.9 | 3.2 | .8 | .1 | 12.3 | |
| SG | 72 | 31 | 2,068 | 159 | 153 | 87 | 19 | 929 | 28.7 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 1.2 | .3 | 12.9 | |
| C | 65 | 34 | 1,918 | **638** | 38 | 32 | **102** | 565 | 29.5 | **9.8** | .6 | .5 | **1.6** | 8.7 | |
| SF | 65 | 26 | 1,345 | 206 | 91 | 55 | 52 | 588 | 20.7 | 3.2 | 1.4 | .8 | .8 | 9.0 | |
| SF | 63 | 26 | 1,945 | 402 | 119 | 39 | 31 | **1,145** | 30.9 | 6.4 | 1.9 | .6 | .5 | **18.2** | |
| SF | 39 | 39 | 1,393 | 190 | 124 | 24 | 24 | 582 | **35.7** | 4.9 | 3.2 | .6 | .6 | 14.9 | |
| † | PF | 38 | 0 | 614 | 211 | 26 | 16 | 13 | 146 | 16.2 | 5.6 | .7 | .4 | .3 | 3.8 |
| PF | 19 | 7 | 329 | 65 | 14 | 13 | 22 | 88 | 17.3 | 3.4 | .7 | .7 | 1.2 | 4.6 | |
| PF | 10 | 0 | 59 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5.9 | .8 | .2 | .1 | .1 | .4 | |
| † | SF | 7 | 0 | 69 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 26 | 9.9 | 1.3 | .1 | 1.1 | .3 | 3.7 |
| C | 6 | 6 | 147 | 51 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 106 | 24.5 | 8.5 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 17.7 | |
| † | SF | 6 | 0 | 62 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 10.3 | 1.2 | .2 | .3 | .0 | 2.8 |
| † | PF | 5 | 0 | 48 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 9.6 | 1.4 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 2.6 |
| † | SG | 3 | 0 | 36 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 12.0 | 1.3 | .3 | .0 | .3 | 4.3 |
| † | PF | 3 | 0 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 8.0 | 1.7 | .0 | .3 | .0 | 3.3 |
| † | SF | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8.0 | .0 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | 4.0 |
- † Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Spurs only.
References
References
- [https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SAS/1997.html 1996-97 San Antonio Spurs]
- (October 4, 1996). "Dominique Wilkins Joins the Spurs". The New York Times.
- (October 4, 1996). "Furthermore". The Washington Post.
- (October 18, 1996). "Wilkins Lost to the Spurs in Dispute". Los Angeles Times.
- (August 30, 1996). "Spurs Add a Dose of Vernon Maxwell". Tampa Bay Times.
- (August 30, 1996). "Spurs Add Some Grit with Maxwell". SFGate.
- (August 30, 1996). "Unseld Testifies in Name Change". The Spokesman-Review.
- (October 22, 1996). "Spurs' Robinson Out 2-4 Weeks". United Press International.
- (December 24, 1996). "Spurs' Robinson Breaks His Foot". The New York Times.
- (December 24, 1996). "Robinson Breaks Bone in Left Foot, Will Miss About Six Weeks". Los Angeles Times.
- (October 31, 1996). "Spurs' Robinson, Person on Injured List". United Press International.
- (December 11, 1996). "Star Center, New Coach Cannot Help the Spurs". The New York Times.
- (December 11, 1996). "Robinson, New Coach No Help for Spurs". Los Angeles Times.
- Greenberg, Alan. (December 15, 1996). "Popovich Shows Poor Timing in Spurs Takeover". Hartford Courant.
- (February 13, 1997). "Spurs' Elliott to Undergo Knee Surgery". United Press International.
- (February 13, 1997). "Reeves, Grizzlies Top Spurs". The Oklahoman.
- Howard-Cooper, Scott. (April 4, 1997). "Lakers Tonight". Los Angeles Times.
- "NBA Games Played on February 6, 1997". Basketball-Reference.
- "1996–97 San Antonio Spurs Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference.
- "Teams Defense". [[NBA.com]].
- "1996–97 San Antonio Spurs Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.
- "1996–97 NBA Awards Voting". Basketball-Reference.
- "1996–97 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference.
- El-Bashir, Tarik. (May 19, 1997). "Spurs Win the Tim Duncan Sweepstakes". The New York Times.
- (May 19, 1997). "Spurs Win Big with Top Pick". Los Angeles Times.
- Thomsen, Ian. (June 20, 1997). "Vantage Point: With an Offer in Bologna, Will Wilkins Come Back?". The New York Times.
- (July 16, 1997). "Bulls Give Jackson an "Insulting" Offer". Tampa Bay Times.
- Thomsen, Ian. (November 25, 1997). "Vantage Point: Hard Times for Bologna "Americans"". The New York Times.
- (May 1, 1997). "Spurs' Maxwell a Free Agent". The New York Times.
- (June 15, 1999). "Ex NBA-er Greg Anderson Sentenced". Associated Press.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about 1996–97 San Antonio Spurs season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report