The 1994–95 Golden State Warriors season was the 49th season for the Golden State Warriors in the National Basketball Association, and their 33rd season in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Season summary

Off-season During the off-season, the Warriors acquired Ricky Pierce, and rookie power forward, and first-round draft pick Carlos Rogers out of Tennessee State University from the Seattle SuperSonics. Shortly before the start of the regular season, the team acquired Rony Seikaly from the Miami Heat.

Regular season Second-year star Chris Webber sat out early into the regular season, and exercised his option to become a restricted free agent, claiming irreconcilable differences with head coach and General Manager Don Nelson. Webber and Nelson both feuded with each other during the previous season, and Webber asked to be traded; the Warriors dealt him to the Washington Bullets in exchange for Tom Gugliotta in November.

With the addition of Seikaly, Gugliotta and Pierce, along with the return of All-Star guard Tim Hardaway, who missed all of the previous season due to a knee injury, the Warriors won their first five games of the regular season, and posted an 8–5 record in November. However, the team soon struggled losing 18 of their next 20 games, posting ten and eight-game losing streaks respectively, as Pierce, Seikaly and Chris Mullin all missed large parts of the season due to injuries. All of this led to the resignation of Nelson, after a 14–31 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Gugliotta to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for rookie small forward, and first-round draft pick Donyell Marshall from the University of Connecticut. Under Nelson's replacement, retired All-Star center and Hall of Famer Bob Lanier as an interim coach, the Warriors finished in sixth place in the Pacific Division with a disappointing 26–56 record.

Latrell Sprewell averaged 20.6 points, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game, while Hardaway averaged 20.1 points, 9.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and led the Warriors with 168 three-point field goals, Mullin provided the team with 19.0 points, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game in 25 games, and Marshall contributed 14.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in 32 games after the trade, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. In addition, Seikaly provided with 12.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in 36 games, while Pierce contributed 12.5 points per game off the bench in 27 games, and Chris Gatling provided with 13.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, while shooting .633 in field-goal percentage. Meanwhile, Victor Alexander averaged 10.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, Rogers averaged 8.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in only just 49 games, Keith Jennings contributed 7.4 points and 4.7 assists per game, and top draft pick Clifford Rozier provided with 6.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, Sprewell was selected for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team, while Rozier was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the White team. Before the mid-season trade, Marshall also participated in the Rookie Game as part of the White team, while playing for the Timberwolves. Gatling finished in eighth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, and also finished tied in ninth place in Most Improved Player voting.

The Warriors finished 19th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 616,025 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena during the regular season.

Aftermath Following the season, Pierce signed as a free agent with the Indiana Pacers, while Rogers and Alexander were both traded to the Toronto Raptors expansion team, Jennings was left unprotected in the 1995 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Raptors, and Lanier was fired as head coach.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College / Team 1 16 Clifford Rozier C Louisville 2 39 Anthony Miller PF Michigan State 2 45 Dwayne Morton SG Louisville

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 14 | December 1, 19947:30p.m. PST | Houston | L 109–113 | Sprewell (30) | Gugliotta (13) | Hardaway, Jennings (6) | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena15,025 | 8–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 26 | December 29, 19945:30p.m. PST | @ Houston | L 124–126 | Hardaway (32) | Gugliotta (12) | Hardaway (10) | The Summit16,611 | 10–16

|- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 52 | February 25, 19955:30p.m. PST | @ Houston | L 105–112 | Sprewell (30) | Alexander (9) | Hardaway (8) | The Summit16,611 | 16–36

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 73 | April 6, 19957:30p.m. PDT | Houston | L 102–110 | Legler (24) | Rozier (21) | Jennings (8) | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena15,025 | 23–50

Player statistics

PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 50 29 24.7 .515 .240 .600 5.8 1.2 .6 .6 10.0 5 2 16.2 .600 .600 .000 2.4 .0 .0 1.8 3.0 58 22 25.3 .633 .000 .592 7.6 .9 .7 .9 13.7 40 40 33.1 .443 .311 .567 7.4 3.1 1.3 .6 10.9 62 62 37.4 .427 .378 .760 3.1 9.3 1.4 .2 20.1 5 2 9.2 .250 .167 .750 1.4 .6 .2 .2 2.0 80 24 21.5 .447 .368 .876 1.9 4.7 1.2 .0 7.4 24 0 15.5 .522 .520 .882 1.7 1.1 .5 .0 7.3 37 2 18.2 .475 .214 .648 1.9 2.7 .8 .0 7.4 32 23 32.8 .413 .270 .640 6.5 1.5 .6 1.2 14.8 41 6 9.6 .388 .360 .682 1.4 .4 .3 .4 4.1 25 23 35.6 .489 .452 .879 4.6 5.0 1.5 .8 19.0 27 6 24.9 .437 .329 .877 2.4 1.5 .8 .1 12.5 49 18 20.8 .529 .143 .521 5.7 .8 .4 1.1 8.9 66 34 22.6 .485 .286 .447 7.4 .7 .5 .6 6.8 36 35 28.8 .516 .000 .694 7.4 1.3 .6 1.0 12.1 69 69 40.2 .418 .276 .781 3.7 4.0 1.6 .7 20.6 78 13 17.1 .469 .341 .778 3.1 .8 .4 .2 5.5

1. Statistics with the Warriors. Player statistics citation:

Awards and records

Awards NBA All-Rookie Teams Donyell Marshall – All-Rookie Second Team

1995 NBA All-Star Game Latrell Sprewell (second participation, first as a starter)

Transactions

Trades July 1, 1994 To Golden State Warriors1995 second-round pick To Los Angeles LakersAnthony Miller July 18, 1994 To Golden State WarriorsRicky PierceCarlos Rogers1995 second-round pick1995 second-round pick To Seattle SuperSonicsByron HoustonŠarūnas Marčiulionis November 2, 1994 To Golden State WarriorsRony Seikaly To Miami HeatSasha DanilovićBilly Owens November 17, 1994 To Golden State WarriorsTom Gugliotta1996 first-round pick1998 first-round pick2000 first-round pick To Washington BulletsChris Webber February 18, 1995 To Golden State WarriorsDonyell Marshall To Minnesota TimberwolvesTom Gugliotta

Free agents AdditionsPlayerDate signedFormer teamBob McCannSeptember 28Aresium Milan (Italy)Rod HigginsOctober 6Cleveland CavaliersDavid WoodDetroit PistonsManute BolOctober 18Philadelphia 76ersRyan Lorthridge (10-day)January 12noneRyan Lorthridge (rest of season)January 22Golden State WarriorsTim Legler (10-day)March 7Omaha Racers (CBA)Tim Legler (rest of season)March 27Golden State Warriors

SubtractionsPlayerDate signedNew TeamAvery JohnsonJuly 22San Antonio SpursBob McCannOctober 24Rapid City Thrillers (CBA)Rod HigginsNovember 16noneManute BolFebruary 15Florida Beach Dogs (CBA)

Player Transactions Citation:

References

See also 1994-95 NBA season