1995–96 Golden State Warriors season

The 1995–96 Golden State Warriors season was the 50th season for the Golden State Warriors in the National Basketball Association, and their 34th season in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Warriors won the NBA draft lottery, and selected power forward Joe Smith from the University of Maryland with the first overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft. During the off-season, the team acquired B. J. Armstrong from the expansion Toronto Raptors, signed free agents Jerome Kersey, and Jon Barry, and hired Rick Adelman as their new head coach; Adelman had led the Portland Trail Blazers to two NBA Finals appearances between 1990 and 1992.

Under Adelman, and with the addition of Smith, Armstrong and Kersey, the Warriors struggled losing eight of their first eleven games of the regular season. However, the team later on won 8 of their 13 games in February, and held a 21–26 record at the All-Star break. With Armstrong and Kersey both in the starting lineup at point guard, and small forward respectively, Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin both played off the bench for most of the season. At mid-season, the Warriors traded Hardaway, and Chris Gatling to the Miami Heat in exchange for Kevin Willis, and Bimbo Coles. The Warriors were in playoff connection with a 26–28 record as of February 24, 1996, but then lost 18 of their final 28 games of the season, finishing in sixth place in the Pacific Division with a 36–46 record, which was a 10-game improvement over the previous season; however, the team missed the NBA playoffs by finishing three games behind the 8th–seeded Sacramento Kings.

Latrell Sprewell averaged 18.9 points, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game, while Smith averaged 15.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, and Mullin provided the team with 13.3 points, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game, but only played 55 games due to a finger injury. In addition, Armstrong contributed 12.3 points and 4.9 assists per game, and shot .473 in three-point field-goal percentage, while Rony Seikaly provided with 12.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, and Willis averaged 11.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in 28 games after the trade. Meanwhile, Coles contributed 7.9 points and 4.3 assists per game in 29 games, Kersey provided with 6.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, and second-year forward Donyell Marshall averaged 5.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Smith was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Western Conference Rookie team. Smith scored 20 points along with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks, despite the Western Conference losing to the Eastern Conference, 94–92. Sprewell also finished tied in eighth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, while Smith finished in third place in Rookie of the Year voting.

The Warriors finished 24th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 616,025 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena during the regular season. Following the season, Willis signed as a free agent with the Houston Rockets, while Kersey signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, and Barry signed with the Atlanta Hawks.