The 1989–90 NBA season was the 22nd season for the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association. It was Bernie Bickerstaff's last season as head coach of the Sonics, and the first season for rookie and future All-Star forward Shawn Kemp, who was selected with the 17th pick in the 1989 NBA draft. After winning two of their first three games, the Sonics lost in a quintuple-overtime game on November 9 to the Milwaukee Bucks, 155–154 at the Bradley Center. The Sonics played around .500 for the entire season, holding a 22–23 record at the All-Star break, and peaking late in the season at 34–32 before going 7–9 to end their season, as they finished fourth in the Pacific Division with a 41–41 record, losing the #8 seed in the Western Conference to the Houston Rockets, who had the same record but were ahead after tie-breaks, and thus did not reach the playoffs. Dale Ellis led the team in scoring averaging 23.5 points per game, but only played 55 games due to a collapsed lung and broken ribs suffered from a car accident in January, while Xavier McDaniel averaged 21.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, and Derrick McKey provided the team with 15.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. In addition, Sedale Threatt contributed 11.4 points per game, while Michael Cage averaged 9.7 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, top draft pick Dana Barros contributed 9.7 points per game, and Nate McMillan provided with 6.4 points, 7.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game. This was also McDaniel's final full season in Seattle, as he was traded midway through the following season to the Phoenix Suns.

Draft picks

Seattle drafted future All-Stars Dana Barros and Shawn Kemp as their only two picks of the 1989 Draft. Kemp would go on to have a successful 8-year run with the Sonics.

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

(Seattle, Washington) || 1–0 (Sacramento, California) || 1-1 (Seattle, Washington) || 2–1 (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) || 2-2 (Chicago, Illinois) || 2–3 (Minneapolis, Minnesota) || 3-3 (Seattle, Washington) || 3–4 (Seattle, Washington) || 4-4 (Seattle, Washington) || 5–4 (Portland, Oregon) || 5-5 (Seattle, Washington) || 6–5 (Denver, Colorado) || 6-6 (Dallas, Texas) || 7–6 (San Antonio, Texas) || 7-7 (Seattle, Washington) || 8–7 (Seattle, Washington) || 9–7 (Seattle, Washington) || 10–7 (Seattle, Washington) || 11–7 (Boston, Massachusetts) || 11–8 (Richfield, Ohio) || 11–9 (New York City, New York) || 11–10 (Auburn Hills, Michigan) || 11-11 (Seattle, Washington) || 12–11 (Seattle, Washington) || 12-12 (Seattle, Washington) || 13–12 (Seattle, Washington) || 13-13 (Seattle, Washington) || 13–14 (Seattle, Washington) || 14-14 (Seattle, Washington) || 15–14 (Dallas, Texas) || 15-15 (Houston, Texas) || 15–16 (Seattle, Washington) || 16-16 (Seattle, Washington) || 17–16 (Seattle, Washington) || 18–16 (Inglewood, California) || 18–17 (Los Angeles, California) || 18-18 (Phoenix, Arizona) || 18–19 (Seattle, Washington) || 18–20 (Oakland, California) || 18–21 (Seattle, Washington) || 19–21 (Minneapolis, Minnesota) || 19–22 (Indianapolis, Indiana) || 20–22 (Landover, Maryland) || 21–22 (Charlotte, North Carolina) || 22-22 (Seattle, Washington) || 22–23 (Seattle, Washington) || 22–24 (East Rutherford, New Jersey) || 23–24 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) || 23–25 (Charlotte, North Carolina) || 24–25 (Orlando, Florida) || 25-25 (Miami, Florida) || 26–25 (Seattle, Washington) || 27–25 (Seattle, Washington) || 28–25 (Los Angeles, California) || 28–26 (Seattle, Washington) || 28–27 (Seattle, Washington) || 29–27 (Portland, Oregon) || 29–28 (Seattle, Washington) || 30–28 (Houston, Texas) || 30–29 (Atlanta, Georgia) || 30-30 (Seattle, Washington) || 31–30 (Seattle, Washington) || 32–30 (Salt Lake City, Utah) || 32–31 (Oakland, California) || 33–31 (Seattle, Washington) || 33–32 (Seattle, Washington) || 34–32 (Phoenix, Arizona) || 34–33 (Inglewood, California) || 34-34 (San Antonio, Texas) || 34–35 (Seattle, Washington) || 35-35 (Los Angeles, California) || 35–36 (Seattle, Washington) || 36-36 (Seattle, Washington) || 37–36 (Denver, Colorado) || 37-37 (Seattle, Washington) || 37–38 (Salt Lake City, Utah) || 37–39 (Seattle, Washington) || 38–39 (Seattle, Washington) || 39-39 (Seattle, Washington) || 39–40 (Sacramento, California) || 40-40 (Seattle, Washington) || 41–40 (Oakland, California) || 41-41

Player statistics

Legend

• GP: Games played • GS: Games started • MPG: Minutes per game • FG%: Field goal percentage • 3FG%: 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

Awards, records, and honors

The Sonics did not have any awards, records, and honors.

Transactions

Overview

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

Player Transactions Citation: