1988–89 Philadelphia 76ers season

The 1988–89 NBA season was the 76ers 40th season in the NBA and 26th season in Philadelphia.^[1] In the 1988 NBA draft, the 76ers selected power forward Charles D. Smith from the University of Pittsburgh with the third overall pick, but then traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for shooting guard Hersey Hawkins out of Bradley University, as the team needed more backcourt scoring to complement the inside play of All-Star forward Charles Barkley.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The team also acquired Ron Anderson from the Indiana Pacers during the off-season.^[7][8][9] The Sixers would return to the NBA Playoffs after a one-year absence, holding a 26–20 record at the All-Star break,^[10] and finishing second in the Atlantic Division with a 46–36 record.^[11]

Barkley averaged 25.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and selected for the 1989 NBA All-Star Game,^{[12][13][14][15][16]} while Mike Gminski averaged 17.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1 3 blocks per game, and Hawkins provided the team with 15.1 points and 1.5 steals per game, and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. In addition, Anderson played a sixth man role, averaging 16.2 points per game off the bench, while Cliff Robinson provided with 15.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, but only played just 14 games due to a knee injury,^[17][18][19] and Maurice Cheeks contributed 11.6 points, 7.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game.^[20] Barkley also finished in sixth place in Most Valuable Player voting,^[21] and Anderson finished tied in fourth place in Most Improved Player voting.^[22]

In the postseason, the Sixers lost an Eastern Conference First Round series to the New York Knicks in a 3–0 sweep.^{[23][24][25][26]} The second game was notable, because the team blew a 10-point lead with approximately 2 minutes left in the game, as Knicks guard Trent Tucker's three-point shot with less than 10 seconds left gave New York the win at home, 107–106.^{[27][28][29][30]}

Following the season, Cheeks and David Wingate were both traded to the San Antonio Spurs,^{[31][32][33][34][35]} and Robinson was released to free agency.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	3	Charles Smith	PF	United States	Pittsburgh
2	44	Everette Stephens	PG	United States	Purdue
3	57	Hernán Montenegro	C	Argentina	Louisiana State

Roster

1988–89 Philadelphia 76ers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From F 20 Anderson, Ron 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1958–10–15 Fresno State F 34 Barkley, Charles (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 252 lb (114 kg) 1963–02–20 Auburn G 1 Brooks, Scott 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1965–07–31 UC Irvine G 10 Cheeks, Maurice (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1956–09–08 West Texas A&M F 54 Coleman, Ben 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1961–11–14 Maryland C 42 Gminski, Mike 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1959–08–03 Duke G 33 Hawkins, Hersey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1966–09–29 Bradley G 12 Henderson, Gerald 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1956–01–16 VCU F 31 Jones, Shelton 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1966–04–06 St. John's F 4 Robinson, Cliff  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1960–05–13 USC C 41 Rowinski, Jim 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1961–01–04 Purdue G 21 Smith, Derek 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1961–11–01 Louisville F 45 Thornton, Bob 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1962–07–10 UC Irvine C 44 Welp, Chris 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1964–01–02 Washington G 25 Wingate, David 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1963–12–15 Georgetown

Head coach Jim Lynam Assistant coach(es) Buzz Braman Fred Carter Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Last transaction: April 20, 1989

Regular season

Season standings

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Playoffs

Awards and records

• Charles Barkley, All-NBA First Team
• Hersey Hawkins, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

References

See also

• 1988-89 NBA season

This page was last edited on 13 March 2024, at 02:40