The

1992–93 NBA season The 1992–93 NBA season was the 47th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Chicago Bulls winning their third straight NBA Championship, beating the Phoenix Suns 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Notable occurr ...

was the 13th season for the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. The Mavericks received the fourth overall pick in the

1992 NBA draft The 1992 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1992, at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The draft is considered to be one of the deepest in NBA history. The top three picks (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner) were conside ...

, and selected shooting guard Jim Jackson out of

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, and also selected center Sean Rooks from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

with the 30th overall pick; however, Jackson held out most of his rookie season due to a contract dispute, and refused to play for the Mavericks. Meanwhile,

Fat Lever Lafayette "Fat" Lever (; born August 18, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. He later served as the director of player development for the Sacramento Kings of the NBA as we ...

missed the entire regular season due to a knee injury. After a 1–3 start to the regular season, the Mavericks went on a 12-game losing streak between November and December, posted a 15-game losing streak between December and January, lost eight consecutive games between January and February, and then suffered a dreadful 19-game losing streak between February and March, which left them with the worst record in NBA history as they stood 4–57 through 61 games. Head coach

Richie Adubato Richard Adam Adubato (born November 23, 1937) is an American former basketball coach in the National Basketball Association. He has served as head coach for three NBA teams, the Detroit Pistons, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Orlando Magic. He ...

was fired after a 2–27 start, and was replaced with assistant

Gar Heard Garfield Heard (born May 3, 1948) is an American retired professional basketball player and coach. He played collegiately at the University of Oklahoma and was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) in the third rou ...

as an interim coach. The team held a 4–45 record at the All-Star break during their 19-game losing streak. However, Jackson finally signed with the Mavericks in early March, and played in the final 28 games of the regular season, averaging 16.3 points, 4.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game, although he was not selected to an

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

at season's end. In the final 21 games, Jackson helped the team to seven wins, including two straight to close out the year. However, the Mavericks still finished in last place in the Midwest Division with the league's worst record at 11–71, .134 in winning percentage and the team's worst record in franchise history.

Derek Harper Derek Ricardo Harper (born October 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A second-team All-American at the University of Illinois, he was the 11th overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft and spent 16 seasons as a point guar ...

led the team with 18.2 points and 5.4 assists per game, and also led them with 101 three-point field goals, while Rooks averaged 13.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and Terry Davis provided the team with 12.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. In addition, second-year forward Doug Smith provided with 10.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while Randy White averaged 9.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, second-year guard Mike Iuzzolino contributed 8.7 points and 4.7 assists per game, and rookie guard Walter Bond contributed 8.0 points per game. The 1992–93 Mavericks also had by far the worst average point differential in the history of the NBA at -15.2 points per game – over three points worse than the 1972–73 76ers who won only nine games, and over five points worse than the 2015–16 76ers who won ten.Wright, Kyle; ''The NBA from Top to Bottom: A History of the NBA from the No. 1 Team to the No. 1,153''; pp. 74, 115-116. For this reason, NBA historian Kyle Wright declared in 2007 that the 1992–93 Mavericks must rank as, at least relative to their opponents, ''the'' worst team in the history of the NBA. Following the season, Heard was fired as head coach, and Iuzzolino signed as a free agent with the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

, but was later on released to free agency. For the season, the Mavericks changed the wordmark of the city and team name on their primary logo, slightly redesigned their home uniforms, and sported new blue road uniforms. The redesigned logo and uniforms both remained in use until 2001.

Draft picks

Roster

Roster Notes

* Shooting guard

was on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

due to a knee injury, and missed the entire regular season.

Regular season

Season standings

:y - clinched division title :x - clinched playoff spot :z - clinched division title :y - clinched division title :x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

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Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, L 106–122 ,

(26) , Mike Iuzzolino (6) ,

(9) ,

Reunion Arena Reunion Arena was an indoor arena located in the Reunion, Dallas, Reunion district of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. The arena served as the primary home of the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars and the National Basketball Ass ...

12,514 , 0–1 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2 , November 10 , @

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, L 104–118 , Walter Bond (25) ,

Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

Moore Moore may refer to: Language * Mooré language, spoken in West Africa People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior ...

, & Hodge (6) , Mike Iuzzolino (6) ,

Target Center Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, h ...

18,202 , 0–2 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 3 , November 11 ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, L 116–124 ,

(21) , Terry Davis (11) , Mike Iuzzolino (5) ,

11,276 , 0–3 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 4 , November 14 ,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Draft picks

Roster

Roster Notes

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Ragular season

Awards and records

Transactions

References

See also