1988–89 Golden State Warriors season

The 1988–89 Golden State Warriors season was the 43rd season for the Golden State Warriors in the National Basketball Association, and their 26th season in the San Francisco Bay Area. General Manager Don Nelson became the Warriors' new head coach this season. The Warriors received the fifth overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Mitch Richmond out of Kansas State University. During the off-season, the team acquired 7' 7" center Manute Bol from the Washington Bullets.

Under Nelson, and with the addition of Richmond and Bol, the Warriors got off to a 12–16 start to the regular season. However, the team posted an eight-game winning streak in January afterwards, and later on held a 25–20 record at the All-Star break. Despite losing their final six games of the season, the Warriors finished in fourth place in the Pacific Division with a 43–39 record, and earned the seventh seed in the Western Conference; it was a 20-game improvement over the previous season.

Chris Mullin averaged 26.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.1 steals per game, while Richmond averaged 22.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year, and was also named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. In addition, Terry Teagle provided the team with 15.2 points per game, and second-year guard Winston Garland contributed 14.5 points, 6.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game, while off the bench, sixth man Rod Higgins provided with 10.6 points and 4.6 rebounds, and Otis Smith contributed 10.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. On the defensive side, Ralph Sampson averaged 6.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, while Larry Smith provided with 5.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and Bol contributed 3.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game, but struggled only shooting .369 in field-goal percentage.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas, Mullin was selected for the 1989 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was his first ever All-Star appearance. Mullin finished in third place in Most Improved Player voting, and also finished tied in 13th place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Bol finished in fourth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and Nelson finished in second place in Coach of the Year voting, behind Cotton Fitzsimmons of the Phoenix Suns.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1989 NBA playoffs, the Warriors faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Midwest Division champion Utah Jazz, who were led by the All-Star trio of Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Defensive Player of the Year, Mark Eaton. The Warriors managed to win the first two games over the Jazz on the road at the Salt Palace, before winning Game 3 at home, 120–106 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena to win the series in a three-game sweep.

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 3rd–seeded Suns, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward Tom Chambers, Sixth Man of the Year, Eddie Johnson, and second-year star, and Most Improved Player of the Year, Kevin Johnson. With the series tied at 1–1, the Warriors lost the next two games at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, before losing Game 5 to the Suns on the road, 116–104 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, thus losing the series in five games.

The Warriors finished 14th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 587,820 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena during the regular season. Following the season, Otis Smith was left unprotected in the 1989 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Orlando Magic expansion team, while Larry Smith signed as a free agent with the Houston Rockets, and Sampson was traded to the Sacramento Kings.

For the season, the Warriors slightly changed their primary logo, which would remain in use until 1997.