1995–96 Golden State Warriors season

The 1995–96 NBA 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.

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 regular season. At mid-season, Hardaway was traded along with Chris Gatling to the Miami Heat in exchange for Kevin Willis, and Bimbo Coles. The Warriors held a 21–26 record at the All-Star break, and 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. The team posted a 10–win improvement, finishing in sixth place in the Pacific Division with a 36–46 record, missing the NBA playoffs by finishing three games behind the 8th–seeded Sacramento Kings.

Latrell Sprewell led the team with 18.9 points 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. In addition, Mullin provided the team with 13.3 points and 1.4 steals per game, but only played 55 games due to a finger injury, while Armstrong contributed 12.3 points and 4.9 assists per game, Rony Seikaly provided with 12.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, Kersey contributed 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 off the bench. Sprewell also finished tied in eighth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and Smith finished in third place in Rookie of the Year voting.

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.