The 1990–91 Dallas Mavericks season was the 11th season for the Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association.
Season summary
Off-season During the off-season, the Mavericks signed free agent All-Star forward Alex English, acquired his teammate, All-Star guard Fat Lever from the Denver Nuggets, and acquired Rodney McCray from the Sacramento Kings.
Regular season With the addition of English, Lever and McCray, the Mavericks won four of their first five games of the regular season. However, early into the season, the team lost both Lever, and Roy Tarpley to season-ending knee injuries, as Lever only played just four games, while Tarpley only appeared in just five games. While on the injured reserve list, Tarpley was again suspended by the NBA for substance abuse. Without Lever and Tarpley, the Mavericks struggled losing ten of their next twelve games, and later on held a 17–27 record at the All-Star break. The team posted an eight-game losing streak in April, and finished in sixth place in the Midwest Division with a disappointing 28–54 record.
Tarpley averaged 20.4 points, 11.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game during his short five-game stint, while Rolando Blackman averaged 19.9 points per game, and Derek Harper provided the team with 19.7 points, 7.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game. In addition, Herb Williams contributed 12.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, while McCray provided with 11.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, and James Donaldson averaged 10.0 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, English contributed 9.7 points per game, second-year forward Randy White averaged 8.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, Lever provided with 7.3 points, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game during his short four-game stint, and Brad Davis contributed 5.4 points and 2.9 assists per game.
Harper finished tied in seventh place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and also finished tied in eighth place in Most Improved Player voting. The Mavericks finished sixth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 683,927 at the Reunion Arena during the regular season.
Aftermath Following the season, English retired.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 2 49 Phil Henderson SG Duke
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot
z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot
Game log
Player statistics
Ragular season PlayerC82 82 2,800 727 69 34 93 819 34.1 8.9 .8 .4 1.1 10.0SG 80 80 2,965 256 301 69 19 1,590 37.1 3.2 3.8 .9 .2 19.9PG 80 6 1,426 118 230 45 17 431 17.8 1.5 2.9 .6 .2 5.4PF 79 29 1,901 504 63 81 44 695 24.1 6.4 .8 1.0 .6 8.8SF 79 26 1,748 254 105 40 25 763 22.1 3.2 1.3 .5 .3 9.7PG 77 77 2,879 233 548 147 14 1,519 37.4 3.0 7.1 1.9 .2 19.7PF 74 68 2,561 560 259 70 51 844 34.6 7.6 3.5 .9 .7 11.4C 60 36 1,832 357 95 30 88 747 30.5 6.0 1.6 .5 1.5 12.5C 57 0 510 134 11 14 20 150 8.9 2.4 .2 .2 .4 2.6SG 48 1 514 55 86 28 5 270 10.7 1.1 1.8 .6 .1 5.6PG 34 0 236 24 22 8 1 151 6.9 .7 .6 .2 .0 4.4PF 26 0 168 50 8 2 8 79 6.5 1.9 .3 .1 .3 3.0C 5 5 171 55 12 6 9 102 34.2 11.0 2.4 1.2 1.8 20.4SG 4 0 86 15 12 6 3 29 21.5 3.8 3.0 1.5 .8 7.3†PF 3 0 8 2 0 1 0 6 2.7 .7 .0 .3 .0 2.0
Transactions
Trades June 21, 1990 To Dallas Mavericks---- Fat Lever To Denver Nuggets---- 1990 1st round draft pick 1991 1st round draft pick June 26, 1990 To Dallas Mavericks---- Rodney McCray 1990 2nd round draft pick 1991 2nd round draft pick To Sacramento Kings---- Bill Wennington 1990 1st round draft pick 1990 1st round draft pick
References
See also 1990-91 NBA season