1998–99 Golden State Warriors season

The 1998–99 Golden State Warriors season was the 53rd season for the Golden State Warriors in the National Basketball Association, and their 37th season in the San Francisco Bay Area.^[1] Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50.^[2] The Warriors received the fifth overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Vince Carter from the University of North Carolina, but soon traded him to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for his "UNC" college teammate, small forward and top draft pick Antawn Jamison.^[3][4][5] The team also acquired John Starks, Chris Mills and Terry Cummings from the New York Knicks during the off-season; Starks previously played for the Warriors during the 1988–89 season.^[6][7][8]

With the addition of Jamison, Starks, Mills and Cummings, the Warriors lost their first five games of the regular season, but then won six of their next seven games, which led to a 6–6 start to the season. However, the team played below .500 in winning percentage for the remainder of the season, but won two more games than the previous year, finishing in sixth place in the Pacific Division with a 21–29 record, but missed the NBA playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.^[9]

Starks led the Warriors in scoring with a low team-high average of 13.8 points, 4.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and also led them with 78 three-point field goals, while Donyell Marshall averaged 11.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, and Mills provided the team with 10.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. In addition, Jamison provided with 9.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, while Bimbo Coles contributed 9.5 points and 4.6 assists per game, Cummings averaged 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, and Erick Dampier provided with 8.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Jason Caffey averaged 8.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, but only played 35 games due to an Achilles injury,^[10][11] Tony Delk contributed 6.8 points and 2.6 assists per game, Muggsy Bogues contributed 5.1 points, 3.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game, and second-year center Adonal Foyle provided with 2.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.^[12]

The Warriors finished 26th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 335,837 at The Arena in Oakland during the regular season, which was the fourth-lowest in the league.^[12][13] Following the season, Coles and Duane Ferrell were both traded to the Atlanta Hawks,^[14][15][16] while Bogues signed as a free agent with the Toronto Raptors,^[17][18][19] Delk signed with the Sacramento Kings,^[20][21] and Felton Spencer signed with the San Antonio Spurs.^[22]