1997–98 Vancouver Grizzlies season

The 1997–98 Vancouver Grizzlies season was the third season for the Vancouver Grizzlies in the National Basketball Association. After finishing with the worst record in their first two seasons, the Grizzlies received the fourth overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft, and selected point guard Antonio Daniels out of Bowling Green State University. During the off-season, the team hired Brian Hill as their new head coach; Hill previously coached the Orlando Magic, and led them to the 1995 NBA Finals, where they lost in four straight games to the Houston Rockets. The team also acquired Otis Thorpe from the Detroit Pistons, acquired three-point specialist Sam Mack from the Houston Rockets, and acquired Tony Massenburg from the Boston Celtics.

Under Hill, and with the addition of Thorpe, Mack and Daniels, the Grizzlies played around .500 in winning percentage with a 6–7 start to the regular season. However, the team continued to struggle posting a 13-game losing streak between December and January afterwards, and later on held a 13–36 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Thorpe back to his former team, the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Michael Smith and Bobby Hurley, and traded Anthony Peeler to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Doug West. The Grizzlies finally escaped last place by finishing in sixth place in the Midwest Division with a 19–63 record; this was also the first, and only season in which the Grizzlies finished with a better record than their Canadian rival, the Toronto Raptors, who finished with a 16–66 record.

Second-year star Shareef Abdur-Rahim averaged 22.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, while Bryant Reeves averaged 16.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, and Mack provided the team with 10.8 points per game, and led them with 110 three-point field goals. In addition, Blue Edwards contributed 10.8 points per game, while Daniels provided with 7.8 points and 4.5 assists per game, and George Lynch contributed 7.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Massenburg averaged 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, Smith provided with 6.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in 30 games after the trade, Pete Chilcutt averaged 4.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, and Lee Mayberry contributed 4.6 points and 4.4 assists per game, as he replaced Daniels as the team's starting point guard midway through the regular season.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, Mack participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, while Daniels was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Western Conference Rookie team. The Grizzlies finished 19th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 660,457 at General Motors Place during the regular season.

Following the season, Daniels was traded to the San Antonio Spurs after only one season with the Grizzlies, while Edwards signed as a free agent with the Miami Heat during the next season, Lynch signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, and Hurley was released to free agency. For the season, the Grizzlies added new black alternate road uniforms with turquoise side panels, which would later on become their primary road jerseys for the 2000–01 season.