The1998–99 Vancouver Grizzlies season was the fourth season for theVancouver Grizzlies in theNational Basketball Association.^[1] Due to alockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50.^[2]

The Grizzlies received the second overall pick in the1998 NBA draft, and selected point guardMike Bibby from theUniversity of Arizona, acquired shooting guard, and first-round draft pickFelipe López from theSan Antonio Spurs,^[3][4][5] and signed free agentCherokee Parks during the off-season.^[6][7] The Grizzlies had a 4–6 record in their first ten games of the regular season, but then struggled posting a 13-game losing streak between February and March, asBryant Reeves only played just 25 games due to weight problems and a knee injury.^[8][9] At mid-season, three-point specialistSam Mack was traded back to his former team, theHouston Rockets in exchange for second-year guardRodrick Rhodes.^[10][11][12]

The Grizzlies lost their final seven games of the season, returning to last place in theMidwest Division with a league-worst 8–42 record.^[13] The Grizzlies' 8 wins marked the lowest amount of victories by a team in a season since the league's inception as the NBA; the 6 wins by theProvidence Steamrollers in the1947–48 season occurred back when the league was named theBasketball Association of America. The2011–12 Charlotte Bobcats later on broke the Grizzlies' record by posting 7 wins in its own lockout-shortened season (66 games), and subsequently held the worst record in NBA history ever since.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim averaged 23.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, while Bibby averaged 13.2 points, 6.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and was named to theNBA All-Rookie First Team. In addition,Tony Massenburg provided the team with 11.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while Reeves provided with 10.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, Lopez contributed 9.3 points per game, Parks averaged 5.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, andMichael Smith contributed 7.3 rebounds per game off the bench.^[14]

Following the season, Massenburg was traded to theHouston Rockets,^[15][16][17] and Smith, Rhodes, andLee Mayberry were all traded to theOrlando Magic, who then released all three players to free agency, as Smith signed as a free agent with theWashington Wizards.^[18]

The Grizzlies' firstdraft pick wasMike Bibby, which was the second overall pick in the draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	2	Mike Bibby	Guard	United States	University of Arizona
2	56	J.R. Henderson	Forward	United States	UCLA

1998–99 Vancouver Grizzlies roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From F 3 Shareef Abdur-Rahim 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) –– California G 10 Mike Bibby 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) –– Arizona F/C 32 Pete Chilcutt 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) –– North Carolina G 24 Terry Dehere 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) –– Seton Hall F 52 J.R. Henderson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 226 lb (103 kg) –– UCLA G 13 Felipe López 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) –– St. John's F/C 44 Tony Massenburg 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) –– Maryland G 11 Lee Mayberry  6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 172 lb (78 kg) –– Arkansas F 40 Makhtar N'Diaye 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 245 lb (111 kg) –– North Carolina F/C 1 Cherokee Parks 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) –– Duke C 50 Bryant Reeves 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 290 lb (132 kg) –– Oklahoma State G/F 12 Rodrick Rhodes 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) –– USC F 34 Michael Smith 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) –– Providence G 2 Doug West  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) –– Villanova G 6 DeJuan Wheat 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) –– Louisville

Head coach Brian Hill Assistant(s) Jim Boylan Lionel Hollins Jack Nolan Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

• Rookie power forwardJ. R. Henderson holds Japanese and American dual citizenship; he was born in the United States, but played for the Japan national team.

Due to the1998–99 NBA lockout, the NBA would see a shortened schedule for the 1998–99 season, as every team would play 50 games, compared to 82 in a normal season. The Grizzlies began the season with their best start in franchise history, as they had a 3–3 record in their first six games, the latest in a season that the club had a .500 record. Vancouver would fall into a bad streak soon afterward, though, losing sixteen of their next seventeen games, which included a thirteen-game losing streak, to fall out of the playoff picture entirely in a fast pace. Wins would be few and far between for the remainder of the season, as the Grizzlies ended the year with a record of 8–42, which represented a .160 winning percentage, their lowest in team history. Vancouver finished with the worst record in the league for the third time in four seasons.

At the time, the Grizzlies finished with the second-lowest win total for a season in NBA history behind theProvidence Steamrollerswinning only six games during the1947–48 BAA season. Since then, only the2011–12 Charlotte Bobcats have provided a worst win total (and worst overall record in NBA history) for a season (which coincidentally also occurred during alockout-shortened season) than this season's Vancouver Grizzlies team.

• On February 16, 1999, Vancouver defeated theLos Angeles Clippers 93–89 in double overtime, to even their record to 3-3, the latest they had ever been .500 in a season. This subsequently became their only road win of the season.
• On February 23, 1999,Shareef Abdur-Rahim led the Grizzlies with 28 points, stunning theLos Angeles Lakers with a 93–83 victory, recording their first ever victory against the Lakers.
• Notably, the Grizzlies secured victories over the Los Angeles Clippers on February 10, 1999, the aforementioned February 16, 1999 double-overtime game, and on April 21, 1999. This marked the only head-to-head series of the season where the Grizzlies won that season, let alone had more than one win in, which prevented them from attaining the dubious distinction of the lowest win total in a season.

• On February 21, 1999, the Grizzlies lost to their expansion cousins, theToronto Raptors, 102–87 in the first game played at the Raptors' new arena, theAir Canada Centre.
• On March 16, 1999, Vancouver lost 87–85 to theSeattle SuperSonics, extending their losing streak to a season-high thirteen games.
• On May 5, 1999, the Grizzlies lost to theSacramento Kings 99–95, cementing their status as one of the worst teams in NBA history by only winning 8 games in a single season.

Schedule and Results Citation:^[13]

• Mike Bibby,NBA All-Rookie Team First Team

The Grizzlies signed free agentCherokee Parks, who spent the 1997–98 season with theMinnesota Timberwolves. Parks averaged 7.1 points in 79 games with Minnesota last season.

TheSan Antonio Spurs and Grizzlies made a trade, with Vancouver sendingAntonio Daniels to the Spurs forFelipe López andCarl Herrera. Lopez was the Spurs' first round draft pick in the1998 NBA draft.

• Grizzlies on Database Basketball
• Grizzlies on Basketball Reference

• 1998–99 in Canadian basketball by team
• Vancouver Grizzlies seasons

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• Short description matches Wikidata
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