1996–97 Golden State Warriors season

The 1996–97 Golden State Warriors season was the 51st season for the Golden State Warriors in the National Basketball Association, and their 35th season in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Warriors received the eleventh overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft, and selected center Todd Fuller out of North Carolina State University. Due to extensive renovations at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, the team played their home games at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California this season. During the off-season, the Warriors signed free agent All-Star guard Mark Price, then traded Rony Seikaly to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Felton Spencer, Donald Royal and Jon Koncak at the start of the regular season. However, Koncak was out for the entire season due to a knee injury, and never played for the Warriors.

With the addition of Price and Spencer, the Warriors struggled losing 10 of their first 13 games of the regular season, and later on held a 17–29 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Royal to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Scott Burrell. The Warriors posted a seven-game losing streak in March, as B. J. Armstrong only played just 49 games due to a knee injury, and Bimbo Coles only appeared in 51 games due to a hernia injury. The Warriors lost six of their final eight games of the season, and finished in last place in the Pacific Division with a 30–52 record.

Latrell Sprewell averaged 24.2 points, 6.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and led the Warriors with 147 three-point field goals, while second-year star Joe Smith continued to show improvement, averaging 18.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, Chris Mullin provided the team with 14.5 points per game, and Price contributed 11.3 points and 4.9 assists per game, along with 112 three-point field goals. In addition, Armstrong contributed 7.9 points and 2.6 assists per game, while Donyell Marshall provided with 7.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, Coles contributed 6.1 points and 2.9 assists per game, and Spencer averaged 5.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, Sprewell was selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team. Sprewell scored 19 points along with 2 steals off the bench, despite the Western Conference losing to the Eastern Conference, 132–120. The Warriors finished 23rd in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 621,844 at the San Jose Arena during the regular season.

This season marked an end of an era, as Mullin was traded to the Indiana Pacers the following season; although he would later on return to Golden State for the 2000–01 season. Also following the season, Price was dealt to the Orlando Magic, while Burrell was sent to the Chicago Bulls, second-year center Andrew DeClercq signed as a free agent with the Boston Celtics, head coach Rick Adelman was fired, and Koncak retired.