1995–96 Los Angeles Clippers season

The 1995–96 Los Angeles Clippers season was the 26th season for the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association, their twelfth season in Los Angeles, California, and their second season in which they played occasional home games in Anaheim, California.^[1] After finishing the previous season with the league's worst record, the Clippers received the second overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft,^[2][3] and selected power forward Antonio McDyess from the University of Alabama, but soon traded him to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Brian Williams, Rodney Rogers, and rookie shooting guard, and top draft pick Brent Barry out of Oregon State University.^[4][5][6]

With the addition of Rogers, Williams and Barry, the Clippers lost three of their first four games of the regular season, but then posted a five-game winning streak afterwards, and got off to a 7–5 start to the season. However, the team soon struggled and fell below .500 in winning percentage, posting a nine-game losing streak between November and December afterwards, and later on holding a 16–32 record at the All-Star break.^[7] The team posted another nine-game losing streak between January and February,^[8] as players such as Williams (strained left arch), Rogers (sprained ankle), Pooh Richardson (calf injury), Malik Sealy (knee and thumb injuries), and Stanley Roberts (ankle), were all out for long stretches during the season due to injuries.^[9][10][11] The Clippers lost eight of their final ten games of the season, and finished in last place in the Pacific Division with a 29–53 record.^[12]

Loy Vaught averaged 16.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, while Williams showed improvement, averaging 15.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, and sixth man Terry Dehere provided the team with 12.4 points and 4.3 assists per game, and also led them with 139 three-point field goals off the bench. In addition, Richardson contributed 11.7 points and 5.4 assists per game, while Rogers provided with 11.6 points per game, Sealy contributed 11.5 points and 1.4 steals per game, and Barry averaged 10.1 points per game and 123 three-point field goals, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Off the bench, second-year forward Lamond Murray contributed 8.4 points per game, while Roberts averaged 7.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, and Bo Outlaw provided with 3.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and led the team with 1.1 blocks per game.^[13]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Barry won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest,^[14][15][16] and was also selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Western Conference Rookie team.^[17][18] Williams finished tied in fifth place in Most Improved Player voting, while Outlaw finished tied in eighth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.^[19] The Clippers finished last in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 405,495 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena during the regular season, which was 29th in the league.^[13][20]

Following the season, Williams was released to free agency after only one season with the Clippers, due to the team not being able to agree to his high demanded asking price of a $101 million seven-year contract from the team, who offered him $12 million for three years.^[21][22][23] Williams spent most of the following season as a free agent before signing with the Chicago Bulls in next April, during the final month of the regular season.^[24][25][26]