2002–03 Golden State Warriors season

The 2002–03 Golden State Warriors season was the 57th season for the Golden State Warriors in the National Basketball Association, and their 41st season in the San Francisco Bay Area.^[1] The Warriors received the third overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, and selected small forward Mike Dunleavy Jr. out of Duke University.^[2][3][4] During the off-season, the team hired Eric Musselman as their new head coach, and later on signed free agent Earl Boykins in November.

Under Musselman, the Warriors got off to a slow start by losing six of their first seven games of the regular season, and held a 4–11 record at the end of November. However, the team later on posted an 8–7 record in January, then won 8 of their 13 games in February, and held a 21–27 record at the All-Star break.^[5] The Warriors posted a six-game winning streak between February and March, and reached .500 in winning percentage with a 30–30 record as of March 4, 2003. However, the team fell below .500 by losing 14 of their final 22 games of the season, finishing in sixth place in the Pacific Division with a 38–44 record, which was a 17-game improvement over the previous season;^[6] however, the team missed the NBA playoffs for the ninth consecutive year.^[1]

Antawn Jamison averaged 22.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, while second-year star Gilbert Arenas averaged 18.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game, contributed 109 three-point field goals, and was named the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year,^[7] and second-year star Jason Richardson provided the team with 15.6 points per game, and also led them with 123 three-point field goals. In addition, second-year forward Troy Murphy provided with 11.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, while Boykins contributed 8.8 points and 3.3 assists per game, and Erick Dampier averaged 8.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Bob Sura provided with 7.3 points and 3.2 assists, Dunleavy contributed 5.7 points per game, and Adonal Foyle averaged 5.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.^[8]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Arenas, Richardson and Murphy were all selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as members of the Sophomores team. Arenas scored 30 points and made 6 out of 12 three-point field-goal attempts, and was named the Rookie Challenge Game's Most Valuable Player, as the Sophomores defeated the Rookies team, 132–112.^[9][10] In addition, Richardson participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, in which he won for the second consecutive year.^[9][11][12] Murphy finished in third place in Most Improved Player voting, while Boykins finished in 25th place, and Jamison finished tied in 26th place;^[13] Boykins also finished in seventh place in Sixth Man of the Year voting,^[13] while Foyle finished tied in 13th place in Defensive Player of the Year voting,^[13] and Musselman finished in second place in Coach of the Year voting, behind Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs.^[13]

The Warriors finished 21st in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 634,935 at The Arena in Oakland during the regular season.^[8][14] Following the season, Arenas signed as a free agent with the Washington Wizards after two seasons with the Warriors,^[15][16][17] while Jamison and Danny Fortson were both traded to the Dallas Mavericks, after Jamison spent five seasons with the Warriors,^[18][19] Sura was traded to the Detroit Pistons,^[20][21] Boykins signed as a free agent with the Denver Nuggets, and Chris Mills retired.

For the season, the Warriors redesigned their uniforms by adding side panels to their jerseys and shorts; these uniforms would remain in use until 2010.^[22][23]