1995–96 Philadelphia 76ers season

The 1995–96 Philadelphia 76ers season was the 47th season for the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association, and their 33rd season in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[1] The 76ers received the third overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Jerry Stackhouse from the University of North Carolina.^[2][3][4] During the off-season, the team signed free agents Vernon Maxwell,^[5][6][7] Richard Dumas, then later on in December, signed second-year guard Trevor Ruffin,^[8][9] and veteran point guard Scott Skiles, who then retired in January after only just ten games with the team.^[10] This was also the team's final season in which they played their home games at the CoreStates Spectrum.

With the addition of Stackhouse and Maxwell, the 76ers got off to a 2–2 start to the regular season, but then posted an 11-game losing streak afterwards. Early into the season, the team traded Shawn Bradley, Greg Graham and Tim Perry to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Derrick Coleman, Rex Walters and Sean Higgins; Coleman only played in just eleven games with the 76ers due to an irregular heartbeat.^[11][12][13] At mid-season, the team traded second-year forward Sharone Wright to the expansion Toronto Raptors in exchange for Tony Massenburg, and Ed Pinckney,^[14][15][16] while Jeff Malone was released to free agency, and later on signed as a free agent with the Miami Heat.^[17] The 76ers posted a nine-game losing streak in January, posted a seven-game losing streak in February, and held a 9–36 record at the All-Star break.^[18] The 76ers posted an eight-game losing streak in March, and had their worst season since the infamous 73-loss 1972–73 season, finishing in last place in the Atlantic Division with an 18–64 record.^[19] The team failed to qualify for the NBA playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.^[1]

Stackhouse averaged 19.2 points and 3.9 assists per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, while Clarence Weatherspoon averaged 16.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals and blocks per game each, and Maxwell provided the team with 16.2 points, 4.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and also led them with 146 three-point field goals. In addition, Ruffin contributed 12.8 points and 4.4 assists per game, along with 104 three-point field goals, while Coleman provided with 11.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, and Massenburg averaged 9.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in 30 games after the trade. Meanwhile, Higgins contributed 8.0 points per game, second-year center Derrick Alston averaged 6.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, Dumas provided with 6.2 points per game, but only played just 39 games, Pinckney provided with 5.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in 27 games, and Walters contributed 4.6 points per game in 33 games.^[20]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Stackhouse was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference Rookie team,^[21][22] and also participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.^[21][23] Stackhouse finished tied in fourth place in Rookie of the Year voting.^[24][25] The 76ers finished 28th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 476,016 at the CoreStates Spectrum during the regular season, which was the second-lowest in the league.^[20][26]

Following the season, Maxwell re-signed with his former team, the San Antonio Spurs,^[27][28][29] while Massenburg signed with the New Jersey Nets,^[30] head coach John Lucas II was fired,^[31][32] and Ruffin, Pinckney, Dumas, Higgins and Alston were all released to free agency. In Dumas' case, he would be permanently banned from the NBA due to him violating a clause that forbade him from drinking alcohol, which was his third strike in terms of drug violations in the NBA.