1997–98 Charlotte Hornets season

1997–98 Charlotte Hornets season
Head coach	Dave Cowens
Owner(s)	George Shinn
Arena	Charlotte Coliseum
Results
Record	51–31 (.622)
Place	Division: 3rd (Central) Conference: 4th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	East Conference Semifinals (eliminated 1–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Fox Sports South, WJZY, WFVT
Radio	WBT

The 1997–98 Charlotte Hornets season was Charlotte's tenth season in the National Basketball Association. The Hornets signed free agents David Wesley and Bobby Phills during the offseason, and traded Muggsy Bogues to the Golden State Warriors for B.J. Armstrong, who won three championships with the Chicago Bulls in the early 1990's. The Hornets finished the season with a 51–31 record, and qualified for their fourth Playoff appearance. Glen Rice led them with 22.3 points per game, and made his third and final All-Star appearance in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game. In the playoffs, they defeated the Atlanta Hawks 3-1 in the first round, but were eliminated 4-1 by the Chicago Bulls in the Conference Semifinals. The Hornets finished second the NBA in attendance for the season.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Main article: 1997 NBA Draft

The Hornets had no draft picks in 1997.

Roster

Charlotte Hornets roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From PG 10 Armstrong, B.J. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Iowa PG 15 Beck, Corey 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Arkansas SG 30 Curry, Dell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Virginia Tech C 12 Divac, Vlade 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 243 lb (110 kg) Yugoslavia C 52 Geiger, Matt 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 243 lb (110 kg) Georgia Tech PF 14 Mason, Anthony 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Tennessee State SG 11 Maxwell, Vernon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Florida C 42 McDonald, Michael 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 232 lb (105 kg) New Orleans SG 13 Phills, Bobby 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Southern PF 7 Reid, J.R. 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 247 lb (112 kg) North Carolina SF 41 Rice, Glen 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Michigan SF 5 Royal, Donald 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Notre Dame PG 4 Wesley, David 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Baylor SF 32 Williams, Travis 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) South Carolina State	Head coach Dave Cowens (Florida State) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Chicago Bulls	62	20	.756	–	37–4	25–16	21–7
x-Indiana Pacers	58	24	.707	4	32–9	26–15	19–9
x-Charlotte Hornets	51	31	.622	11	32–9	19–22	16–12
x-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	12	29–12	21–20	19–9
x-Cleveland Cavaliers	47	35	.573	15	27–14	20–21	14–14
Detroit Pistons	37	45	.451	25	25–16	12–29	12–16
Milwaukee Bucks	36	46	.439	26	21–20	15–26	9–19
Toronto Raptors	16	66	.195	46	9–32	7–34	2–26

#	Eastern Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Chicago Bulls	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Miami Heat	55	27	.671	7
3	x-Indiana Pacers	58	24	.707	4
4	x-Charlotte Hornets	51	31	.622	11
5	x-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	12
6	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	47	35	.573	15
7	x-New York Knicks	43	39	.524	19
8	x-New Jersey Nets	43	39	.524	19
9	Washington Wizards	42	40	.512	20
10	Orlando Magic	41	41	.500	21
11	Detroit Pistons	37	45	.451	25
12	Boston Celtics	36	46	.439	26
12	Milwaukee Bucks	36	46	.439	26
14	Philadelphia 76ers	31	51	.378	31
15	Toronto Raptors	16	66	.195	46

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

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
B.J. Armstrong	62	0	12.5	.510	.265	.860	1.1	2.3	0.4	0.0	3.9
Corey Beck	59	14	12.5	.459	.500	.729	1.5	1.7	0.6	0.1	3.2
Muggsy Bogues	2	0	8.0	.400		1.000	0.5	2.0	1.0	0.0	3.0
Dell Curry	52	1	18.7	.447	.421	.788	1.9	1.3	0.6	0.1	9.4
Tony Delk	3	0	11.3	.750	1.000	.500	0.7	1.0	0.0	0.0	2.7
Vlade Divac	64	41	28.2	.498	.214	.691	8.1	2.7	1.3	1.5	10.4
Tony Farmer	27	2	6.3	.321	.222	.795	1.2	0.2	0.4	0.1	2.5
Matt Geiger	78	42	23.6	.505	.091	.712	6.7	1.0	0.9	1.1	11.3
Jeff Grayer	1	0	11.0	.000	.000		0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Anthony Mason	81	80	38.9	.509	.000	.649	10.2	4.2	0.8	0.2	12.8
Vernon Maxwell	31	0	15.1	.428	.360	.735	1.4	1.3	0.5	0.1	6.8
Michael McDonald	1	0	4.0				1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Bobby Phills	62	61	30.4	.446	.386	.757	3.5	3.0	1.3	0.3	10.4
J.R. Reid	79	1	14.0	.459	.375	.730	2.7	0.6	0.4	0.2	4.9
Glen Rice	82	82	40.2	.457	.433	.849	4.3	2.2	0.9	0.3	22.3
Donald Royal	29	5	10.5	.381		.897	1.3	0.6	0.2	0.0	2.6
David Wesley	81	81	35.1	.443	.347	.795	2.6	6.5	1.7	0.4	13.0
Travis Williams	39	0	9.4	.471	.000	.522	2.4	0.5	0.5	0.1	3.5

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
B.J. Armstrong	9	0	16.2	.381	.400	.750	1.1	2.0	0.7	0.0	4.1
Corey Beck	6	0	4.3	.500	.500	1.000	0.2	0.0	0.7	0.0	2.5
Dell Curry	9	0	19.0	.404	.250	.857	2.1	1.1	0.8	0.3	5.8
Vlade Divac	9	9	38.3	.483	.000	.606	10.9	3.4	0.8	1.6	11.6
Matt Geiger	4	0	5.5	.167			1.3	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.5
Anthony Mason	9	9	40.8	.576	.000	.595	7.9	3.4	0.9	0.0	15.4
Bobby Phills	9	9	29.9	.391	.294	.250	2.6	2.7	1.1	0.2	6.3
J.R. Reid	9	0	12.7	.393	.000	.800	2.2	0.2	0.3	0.3	3.3
Glen Rice	9	9	41.0	.474	.306	.833	5.7	1.4	0.6	0.3	22.8
Donald Royal	4	0	7.0	.429		.750	1.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	2.3
David Wesley	9	9	31.7	.398	.429	.714	2.0	6.7	0.8	0.0	10.0
Travis Williams	4	0	4.5	.333		.750	1.3	0.0	0.3	0.3	1.3

Awards and records

• Glen Rice, All-NBA Third Team

Transactions

• July 1, 1997

Released Rafael Addison.

Signed David Wesley as a free agent.

• July 16, 1997

Signed J.R. Reid as a free agent.

• August 19, 1997

Signed Bobby Phills as a free agent.

Released Malik Rose.

Waived Ricky Pierce.

• September 10, 1997

Signed Tony Farmer as a free agent.

Signed Travis Williams as a free agent.

• October 2, 1997

Signed Corey Beck as a free agent.

• November 7, 1997

Traded Muggsy Bogues and Tony Delk to the Golden State Warriors for B.J. Armstrong.

• January 16, 1998

Signed Donald Royal to the first of two 10-day contracts.

• January 22, 1998

Signed Michael McDonald as a free agent.

• February 2, 1998

Signed Jeff Grayer to a 10-day contract.

Signed Vernon Maxwell to a 10-day contract.

• February 4, 1998

Signed Donald Royal to a contract for the rest of the season.

• February 13, 1998

Signed Vernon Maxwell to a contract for the rest of the season.

• March 24, 1998

Waived Tony Farmer.

References

• Hornets on Database Basketball
• Hornets on Basketball Reference