The 1990–91 NBA season was the 23rd season for the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association. Head coach Bernie Bickerstaff was replaced by his former assistant K. C. Jones, and went on to occupy the desk of vice-president of Basketball Operations for Seattle, resigning months later to accept a job as General Manager of the Denver Nuggets. The Draft Lottery gave the SuperSonics the No. 2 pick, which was used to select future All-Star point guard Gary Payton out of Oregon State in the 1990 NBA draft. Substantial changes were made on the roster, first by trading Sonics referent Xavier McDaniel to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Eddie Johnson during the first months of competition. Following the All-Star break, the team traded Dale Ellis, whose off-the-court problems were the focus of much unwanted attention, to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Ricky Pierce, and sent center Olden Polynice to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Benoit Benjamin. The Sonics held a 22–23 record at the All-Star break, and would finish with a 41–41 record like the previous season, this time being able to reach the playoffs as the #8 seed in the Western Conference, where they lost in the Western Conference First Round to the top-seeded Portland Trail Blazers in five games. Johnson averaged 17.4 points per game with the team after the trade, while Derrick McKey averaged 15.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, and second-year forward Shawn Kemp showed improvement, averaging 15.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. In addition, Sedale Threatt contributed 12.7 points and 1.4 steals per game, while Payton provided with 7.2 points, 6.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and Michael Cage averaged 6.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Following the season, Threatt was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Offseason

Draft picks

Of the 3 players Seattle picked in the draft only Gary Payton would stay with the team, since Jud Buechler was traded to the New Jersey Nets and Abdul Shamsid-Deen went to Europe to play for the French team Paris Basket Racing.

Pre-season

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

S. Threatt (7) 13,922 13,078 10,571 D. McKey (9) 13,130 12,352 14,692 10,980 10,466 12,616 13,293 14,487 14,674 14,890 7,029 15,008 15,077 D. McKey (10) G. Payton (6) 14,327 D. McKey (18) 10,729 D. Ellis (4) 15,025 10,009 1,568 17,014 10,315 14,839 2,413 18,676 19,006 13,048 12,074 12,884 14,441 O. Polynice (12) 10,813 17,014 D. Ellis (22) 9,618 17,505 13,369 9,469 14,487 G. Payton (9) 12,792 15,908 15,820 D. McKey (6) 14,659 13,064 23,901 12,021 14,594 O. Polynice (9) 15,077 15,924 21,454 15,248 G. Payton, S. Threatt (5) 12,515 14,692 12,080 11,305 13,320 G. Payton (8) 12,182 15,025 S. Kemp (13) G. Payton (7) 10,623 19,006 15,908 15,508 15,813 11,497 15,535 14,392 G. Payton (8) 14,487 M. Cage (7) 17,505 S. Threatt (4) 12,884 18,167 R. Pierce (24) 12,968 S. Threatt (4) 11,756 S. Kemp (20) S. Threatt (6) 11,987 12,932 13,779 E. Johnson, R. Pierce (19) S. Kemp (10) G. Payton (8) 12,811 5,714 S. Kemp (8) 13,340 13,073 13,760 12,616 12,591 17,505

Playoffs

Player statistics

Season

• Statistics with the Seattle SuperSonics.

Playoffs

Awards and records

Awards

Records

Transactions

Overview

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

Player Transactions Citation: