1990–91 Los Angeles Clippers season

NBA professional basketball team season October 2020 March 2026 Los Angeles Clippers 1991 31 51 Pacific 6 10 Mike Schuler Elgin Baylor Donald Sterling Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena KTLA(Ralph Lawler, Mike Fratello)Prime Ticket(Tom Kelly, Earl Strom) KRLA(Rich Marotta) Did not qualify LAC The 1990–91 Los Angeles Clippers season was the 21st season for the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association, and their seventh season in Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles Clippers Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAC/ August 7, 2026 Season summary Off-season The Clippers received the eighth overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Bo Kimble out of Loyola Marymount, and also selected power forward Loy Vaught from the University of Michigan with the 13th overall pick. Goldaper Sam Nets Make Coleman No. 1 Pick in N.B.A. Draft The New York Times June 28, 1990 https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/28/sports/nets-make-coleman-no-1-pick-in-nba-draft.html July 10, 2025 Associated Press Clippers Go with Kimble: NBA Draft: Derrick Coleman, as Expected, Is No. 1 Overall with Nets. Clippers Also Grab Michigan's Vaught with 13th Pick Los Angeles Times June 28, 1990 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-28-sp-1194-story.html July 10, 2025 1990 NBA Draft Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1990.html July 10, 2025 During the off-season, the team hired Mike Schuler as their new head coach. Associated Press  Schuler "Thrilled" to Join the Clippers: NBA: L.A. Introduces Its New Coach. He Calls the Club "One of the Better Teams in the '90s"  Los Angeles Times  May 25, 1990  https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-25-sp-485-story.html March 7, 2026 Sports People: Pro Basketball: Schuler to Clippers as Head Coach  The New York Times  May 26, 1990  https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/26/sports/sports-people-pro-basketball-schuler-to-clippers-as-head-coach.html March 7, 2026 Regular season Under Schuler, and with the addition of Kimble and Vaught, the Clippers played around .500 in winning percentage with a 10–10 start to the regular season. However, the team continued to struggle losing 12 of their next 13 games, which included a seven-game losing streak between December and January, and later on held a 15–32 record at the All-Star break. NBA Games Played on February 7, 1991 Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/index.fcgi?month=2&day=7&year=1991 February 24, 2026 Ron Harper only played just 39 games due to a knee injury. Howard-Cooper Scott Clippers Give Harper Guaranteed 4-Year Deal Los Angeles Times October 13, 1990 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-13-sp-2112-story.html November 22, 2022 Howard-Cooper Scott Clippers' Harper to Play Tonight: Pro Basketball: For Now, the Team Plans to Limit Him to 15 Minutes a Game Los Angeles Times January 26, 1991 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-01-26-sp-497-story.html November 22, 2022 At mid-season, the team traded Benoit Benjamin to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Olden Polynice. Barnes Mike Clippers Swap Benjamin for Polynice, Picks United Press International February 20, 1991 https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/02/20/Clippers-swap-Benjamin-for-Polynice-picks/2427667026000/ December 31, 2022 Goldaper Sam Pro Basketball: Sonics Trade Polynice to Acquire Benjamin The New York Times February 21, 1991 https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/21/sports/pro-basketball-sonics-trade-polynice-to-acquire-benjamin.html December 15, 2021 Howard-Cooper Scott Clippers Give Up on Benjamin: Pro Basketball: A Day After He Says He Will Become an Unrestricted Free Agent at Season's End, They Trade Him to Seattle for Polynice and Two Draft Choices Los Angeles Times February 21, 1991 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-21-sp-2271-story.html November 22, 2022 The Clippers posted a six-game losing streak between January and February, but posted a five-game winning streak in late March, and then lost six of their final seven games of the season. The Clippers finished in sixth place in the Pacific Division with a 31–51 record; 1990–91 Los Angeles Clippers Schedule and Results Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAC/1991_games.html February 3, 2022 the team reached 50 losses for the tenth consecutive season, and also missed the NBA playoffs for the 15th consecutive year. Associated Press Clippers Finish This Season Thinking About Next One Los Angeles Times April 22, 1991 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-22-sp-312-story.html November 22, 2022 Charles D. Smith averaged 20.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, while Harper averaged 19.6 points, 5.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and Ken Norman provided the team with 17.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. In addition, Danny Manning provided with 15.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, while Gary Grant contributed 8.7 points, 8.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and Winston Garland contributed 8.2 points, 4.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Meanwhile, second-year guard Jeff Martin averaged 7.1 points per game, Kimble contributed 6.9 points per game, Vaught averaged 5.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, and Tom Garrick contributed 3.9 points and 3.3 assists per game. 1990–91 Los Angeles Clippers Roster and Stats Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAC/1991.html February 3, 2022 The Clippers finished 21st in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 522,111 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena during the regular season. 1990–91 NBA Season Summary Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1991.html February 24, 2026 Aftermath Following the season, Garland was traded to the Denver Nuggets on draft day. Howard-Cooper Scott Clippers Make Point in Deal with Hawks: NBA Draft: Team Trades No. 9 Pick and Second-Round Selections in 1993 and 1994 for Guard Doc Rivers. Club Then Takes LeRon Ellis of Syracuse with 22nd Pick Los Angeles Times June 27, 1991 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-06-27-sp-1790-story.html November 22, 2022 Clippers Pull Off Two Trades Tampa Bay Times June 27, 1991 https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1991/06/27/clippers-pull-off-two-trades/ November 22, 2022 Draft picks 1990 NBA draft Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 8 Bo Kimble SG Loyola Marymount 1 13 Loy Vaught PF Michigan Roster Los Angeles Clippers 1990–91 #E30022 #FFFFFF #1A2E8B #FFFFFF 51 Ken Bannister F 6 9 235 1960–04–01 St. Augustine's College (Raleigh) 11 Winston Garland G 6 2 170 1964–12–19 Missouri State 22 Tom Garrick G 6 2 185 1966–07–07 Rhode Island 1 Gary Grant G 6 3 185 1965–04–21 Michigan basketball 4 Ron Harper G 6 6 185 1964–01–20 Miami (Ohio) 30 Bo Kimble G 6 4 190 1966–04–09 Loyola Marymount 5 Danny Manning F 6 10 230 1966–05–17 Kansas 15 Jeff Martin basketball G 6 5 195 1967–01–14 Murray State 3 Ken Norman F 6 8 215 1964–09–05 Illinois 0 Olden Polynice C 6 11 220 1964–11–21 Virginia 54 Charles D. Smith F 6 10 230 1965–07–16 Pittsburgh 52 Mike Smrek C 7 0 250 1962–08–31 Canisius College 35 Loy Vaught F 6 9 230 1968–02–27 Michigan Mike Schuler Mack Calvin Alvin Gentry John Hammond Roster notes Center Mike Smrek became the 4th former Laker to play with the crosstown rival Clippers. Regular season Season standings LAC y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot LAC z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot Game log January 2011 Player statistics PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG Charles Smith 74 74 36.5 46.9 0.0 79.3 8.2 1.8 1.1 2.020.0 Ron Harper 39 34 35.5 39.1 32.4 66.8 4.8 5.4 1.7 0.919.6 Ken Norman 70 45 33.0 50.1 18.8 62.9 7.1 2.3 0.9 0.917.4 Danny Manning 73 47 30.1 51.9 0.0 71.6 5.8 2.7 1.6 0.815.9 Benoit Benjamin 39 38 34.3 49.2 0.0 72.8 12.0 1.9 0.7 2.314.9 Olden Polynice 31 30 36.5 57.9 0.0 57.2 9.1 0.8 0.5 0.412.3 Grant, Gary Gary Grant 68 65 31.0 45.1 23.1 68.9 3.1 8.6 1.5 0.28.7 Winston Garland 69 26 24.7 42.6 15.4 75.2 2.9 4.6 1.4 0.18.2 Jeff Martin 74 26 18.0 42.2 30.7 68.0 1.8 0.9 0.5 0.47.1 Bo Kimble 62 22 16.2 38.0 29.2 77.3 1.9 1.2 0.5 0.16.9 Loy Vaught 73 0 16.1 48.7 0.0 66.2 4.8 0.5 0.3 0.35.5 Tom Garrick 67 0 14.2 42.4 0.0 75.9 1.9 3.3 0.9 0.03.9 Ken Bannister 47 3 7.2 53.1 0.0 38.5 2.0 0.2 0.1 0.12.4 Greg Butler 9 0 4.1 26.3 0.0 66.7 1.8 0.1 0.0 0.01.6 Cedric Ball 7 0 3.7 37.5 0.0 100.0 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.31.1 Mike Smrek 10 0 7.0 18.8 0.0 50.0 1.9 0.3 0.1 0.31.0 Player statistics citation: Transactions The Clippers were involved in the following transactions during the 1990–91 season. Trades February 20, 1991 To Los Angeles Clippers Olden Polynice & 1993 and 1994 first-round draft picks To Seattle SuperSonics Benoit Benjamin Player Transactions Citation:1990–91 Los Angeles Clippers Transactions Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAC/1991_transactions.html February 3, 2022 See also 1990-91 NBA season References Category:Los Angeles Clippers seasons Los Angeles Clippers