1995–96 Charlotte Hornets season

The 1995–96 NBA season was the eighth season for the Charlotte Hornets in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the team re-acquired former Hornets guard Kendall Gill from the Seattle SuperSonics. On the first day of the regular season, which began on November 3, 1995, the Hornets acquired Glen Rice, Matt Geiger and second-year guard Khalid Reeves from the Miami Heat.

The Hornets got off to a slow start losing eight of their first eleven games, but played around .500 basketball as the regular season progressed. In January, the team traded Gill and Reeves to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Kenny Anderson, who became the team's starting point guard, while Muggsy Bogues sat out with a knee injury that only limited him to just six games. Scott Burrell was also out for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury after only playing just 20 games. The Hornets continued to play around .500 basketball, holding a 22–24 record at the All-Star break, and finishing in sixth place in the Central Division with a 41–41 record, missing the NBA playoffs by finishing just one game behind the 8th-seeded Miami Heat.

The Hornets, along with the Indiana Pacers, were the only two teams in the league to defeat the Chicago Bulls on the road during their historic 72–10 season, as the Hornets defeated the Bulls, 98–97 at the United Center on April 8, 1996.

Rice led the team in scoring averaging 21.6 points per game, led them with 171 three-point field goals, and was selected for the 1996 NBA All-Star Game in San Antonio, Texas. In addition, Larry Johnson averaged 20.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, while sixth man Dell Curry provided the team with 14.5 points per game, and finished second on the team with 164 three-point field goals, Burrell contributed 13.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, and Geiger provided with 11.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Curry finished tied in seventh place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, and Geiger finished tied in fourteenth place in Most Improved Player voting.

The Hornets led the NBA in home-game attendance for the seventh time in their eight-year history, with an attendance of 985,722 at the Charlotte Coliseum during the regular season. Following the season, Johnson was traded to the New York Knicks, while Anderson signed as a free agent with the Portland Trail Blazers, Robert Parish signed with the Chicago Bulls, Michael Adams retired, and head coach Allan Bristow resigned after five seasons with the franchise.