The
1998–99 NBA season
The 1998–99 NBA season was the 53rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Due to a lockout, the season did not start until February 5, 1999, after a new six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached between the NBA and the ...
was the Pistons' 51st season in the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
, and 42nd season in the city of
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
. On March 23, 1998, the owners of all 29 NBA teams voted 27–2 to reopen the league's
collective bargaining agreement
A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
, seeking changes to the
league's salary cap system, and a ceiling on individual player salaries. The
National Basketball Players Association
The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) is a labor union that represents National Basketball Association (NBA) players. It was founded in 1954, making it the oldest trade union of the four major professional sports leagues in the Unit ...
(NBPA) opposed to the owners' plan, and wanted raises for players who earned the league's minimum salary. After both sides failed to reached an agreement, the owners called for a
lockout, which began on July 1, 1998, putting a hold on all team trades, free agent signings and training camp workouts, and cancelling many NBA regular season and preseason games. Due to the lockout, the
NBA All-Star Game
The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's star players. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend, ...
, which was scheduled to be played in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
on February 14, 1999, was also cancelled. However, on January 6, 1999, NBA commissioner
David Stern
David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of t ...
, and NBPA director
Billy Hunter finally reached an agreement to end the lockout. The deal was approved by both the players and owners, and was signed on January 20, ending the lockout after 204 days. The regular season began on February 5, and was cut short to just 50 games instead of the regular 82-game schedule.
In the off-season, the Pistons acquired
Christian Laettner
Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) hi ...
from the
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...
, and signed free agents
Loy Vaught
Loy Stephen Vaught (born February 27, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who spent ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), primarily with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Vaught played at East Kentwood High Sc ...
, and
Jud Buechler. Laettner would reunite with former
Duke University teammate
Grant Hill, but only played just 16 games due to an Achilles injury and a broken rib. After a solid year the previous season,
Brian Williams changed his named to
Bison Dele
Bison Dele ( ; born Brian Carson Williams; April 6, 1969 – July 7, 2002) was an American professional basketball player who played center for the NBA's Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons. D ...
to honor his Cherokee heritage.
The Pistons won their first three games, but then lost five straight. However, they would play above .500 for the rest of the season, and bounce back from their disappointing season to finish third in the Central Division with a 29–21 record, and return to the playoffs after a one-year absence.
Hill averaged 21.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game, was named to the All-NBA Second Team, and finished in eighth place in
Most Valuable Player voting, while sixth man
Jerry Stackhouse
Jerry Darnell Stackhouse (born November 5, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores men's team. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and ...
continued to provide scoring off the bench averaging 14.5 points per game. In addition,
Lindsey Hunter
Lindsey Benson Hunter Jr. (born December 3, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1993 to 2010, spending most of his career with the Detroit Pistons. He ...
provided the team with 11.9 points and 1.8 steals per game, while
Joe Dumars contributed 11.3 points per game, and Dele averaged 10.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Off the bench, Laettner averaged 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, while
Jerome Williams provided the team with 7.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, and starting power forward
Don Reid contributed 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
However, in the Eastern Conference First Round of the
playoffs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...
, the Pistons would lose to the
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...
in five games. This season also marked an end of an era as Dumars retired after a solid fourteen-year career with the Pistons. This was also Dele's final season of his career as he retired before the following season, turning down a $36 million contract.
Draft picks
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
:c - clinched homecourt advantage
:y - clinched division title
:x - clinched playoff spot
Record vs. opponents
Game log
Playoffs
, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
, 1
, May 8
, @
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
L 70–90,
Grant Hill (26)
,
Bison Dele
Bison Dele ( ; born Brian Carson Williams; April 6, 1969 – July 7, 2002) was an American professional basketball player who played center for the NBA's Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons. D ...
(9)
,
Grant Hill (8)
,
Georgia Dome
The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center ...
20,884
, 0–1
, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
, 2
, May 10
, @
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
L 69–89,
Grant Hill (15)
,
Grant Hill (10)
,
Joe Dumars (5)
,
Georgia Dome
The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center ...
16,377
, 0–2
, - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
, 3
, May 12
,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
W 79–63,
Christian Laettner
Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) hi ...
(15)
,
Jerome Williams (10)
,
Grant Hill (5)
,
The Palace of Auburn Hills
The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly referred to as the Palace, was a multi-purpose arena built in 1988 and located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shoc ...
14,812
, 1–2
, - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
, 4
, May 14
,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
W 103–82,
Grant Hill (23)
,
Jerome Williams (8)
,
Grant Hill (9)
,
The Palace of Auburn Hills
The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly referred to as the Palace, was a multi-purpose arena built in 1988 and located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shoc ...
16,216
, 2–2
, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
, 5
, May 16
, @
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
L 75–87,
Grant Hill (21)
,
Dele
The ''Diplomas de Español como Lengua Extranjera'' ( en, Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language), or DELE, are official diplomas issued by the Spanish Instituto Cervantes on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science to participa ...
,
Hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit.
Terminology
The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...
(7)
,
Grant Hill (11)
,
Alexander Memorial Coliseum
Hank McCamish Pavilion, nicknamed The Thrillerdome and originally known as Alexander Memorial Coliseum, is an indoor arena located on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the home of the Georgia Tech Yellow ...
8,460
, 2–3
, -
Player statistics
Regular season
Playoffs
Player Statistics Citation:
Awards and records
*
Grant Hill,
All-NBA Second Team
The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sele ...
Transactions
References
See also
*
1998-99 NBA season
{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-99 Detroit Pistons Season
Detroit Pistons seasons
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...