1995–96 Boston Celtics season

The 1995–96 Boston Celtics season was the 50th season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association.^[1] A new era began for the Celtics as the team moved into a new arena known as the FleetCenter.^[2][3][4] In addition, this also ended their practice of playing occasional home games at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut.^[5][6]

The Celtics had the 14th overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft, and selected small forward Eric Williams out of Providence College.^[7][8][9] There was much speculation during the previous off-season over who would coach the team after the firing of Chris Ford, with candidates that included former Celtics coaches Dave Cowens and K. C. Jones, and even former Celtic player Paul Silas.^[10][11] Ultimately, General Manager M. L. Carr decided to hire himself as the team's new head coach.^[12][13] The Celtics also signed free agent All-Star guard, and former Boston College star Dana Barros, who won the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year award the previous season with the Philadelphia 76ers.^[14][15][16]

Under Carr, and with the addition of Barros and Williams, the Celtics started the regular season losing their first game at the Fleet Center, 101–100 to the Milwaukee Bucks on November 3, 1995.^[17][18] Near the end of the month, the team traded Sherman Douglas to the Bucks in exchange for Todd Day and Alton Lister.^[19][20][21] The Celtics played around .500 in winning percentage with a 12–12 start to the season, but then struggled losing 15 of their next 18 games, and later on holding a 17–30 record at the All-Star break.^[22] The Celtics finished in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with a 33–49 record, and failed to qualify for the NBA playoffs.^[23][24]

Dino Radja averaged 19.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, but only played 53 games due to a season-ending ankle injury,^[25][26][27] while Rick Fox averaged 14.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and Barros provided the team with 13.0 points and 3.8 assists per game, and also led them with 150 three-point field goals. In addition, David Wesley contributed 12.3 points and 4.8 assists per game, along with 116 three-point field goals, while Day contributed 12.0 points per game in 71 games after the trade, Dee Brown provided with 10.7 points and 1.2 steals per game, Williams averaged 10.7 points per game, and second-year guard Greg Minor contributed 9.6 points per game. On the defensive side, second-year center Eric Montross averaged 7.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, but only played 61 games due to a sprained ankle,^[27][28] and Pervis Ellison provided with 5.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.^[29]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Barros participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout for the fourth consecutive year,^[30][31] while Williams was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference Rookie team,^[30][32] and Minor participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.^[30][31] Wesley finished tied in eighth place in Most Improved Player voting.^[33]

The Celtics finished ninth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 730,842 at the FleetCenter during the regular season.^[29][34] Following the season, Montross was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the sixth overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft.^[35][36][37]