The

1995–96 NBA season The 1995–96 NBA season was the 50th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), though the 50th anniversary was not celebrated until the following season. The Chicago Bulls defeated the Seattle SuperSonics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Final ...

was the Bucks' 28th season in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

. During the off-season, the Bucks re-signed free agent and former Bucks forward

Terry Cummings Robert Terrell "Terry" Cummings (born March 15, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Cummings was voted Rookie of the Year and was a two-time All-Star, a ...

, and acquired former All-Star center

Kevin Duckworth Kevin Jerome Duckworth (April 1, 1964 – August 25, 2008) was an American professional basketball player who played as center in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A native of Illinois, he played college basketball at Eastern Illinois U ...

from the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

. Early into the season, the team traded

Todd Day Todd Fitzgerald Day (born January 7, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player and current head coach at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. Day is the all-time leading scorer at the University of Arkansas, and pla ...

and

Alton Lister Alton Lavelle Lister (born October 1, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player. He is currently serving as an assistant coach for TNT Tropang Giga in Philippine Basketball Association. Lister graduated from Woodrow Wilson High ...

to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

in exchange for

Sherman Douglas Sherman Douglas (born September 15, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player from Syracuse University who played for the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers from 1989 to 200 ...

, and dealt

Eric Murdock Eric Lloyd Murdock (born June 14, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round (21st pick overall) of the 1991 NBA draft. Biography Murdock grew up in Bridgewater Township, New ...

and second-year forward

Eric Mobley Eric Mobley (February 1, 1970 – June 2, 2021) was an American professional basketball player who played three seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round (18th pick overall) o ...

to the expansion

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1995, along w ...

in exchange for

Benoit Benjamin Lenard Benoit Benjamin e-NOYT(; born November 22, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1st round (3rd overall) of the 1985 NBA Draft. A 7'0" center from Creighton Univers ...

. The Bucks, led by developing superstars

Vin Baker Vincent Lamont Baker (born November 23, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He appeared in four consecutive All-Star Games. As of 2018, Baker serves as an assista ...

and second-year forward

Glenn Robinson Glenn Alan Robinson Jr. (born January 10, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Dog" and "The Chosen One", he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1994 to 2005 for the Milwaukee Bucks, Atl ...

, were considered a team with playoff potential. However, the team continued to underachive holding an 18–27 record at the All-Star break. After holding a 21–35 record as of March 2, and with Duckworth only playing just eight games due to a knee injury sustained during the preseason, the team suffered a dreadful 15-game losing streak in March. The Bucks missed the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

for the fifth straight season, finishing seventh in the Central Division with a disappointing 25–57 record. Baker averaged 21.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, and was selected for the 1996 NBA All-Star Game, while Robinson averaged 20.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and Douglas provided the team with 11.5 points and 5.8 assists per game. In addition,

Johnny Newman John Sylvester Newman Jr. (born November 28, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6' 7" and shooting guard/small forward, Newman starred at the University of Richmond, before going on to play in the National Basketball ...

contributed 10.8 points per game, while Cummings provided with 8.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game off the bench, and Benjamin averaged 7.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Following the season, head coach Mike Dunleavy was fired, but he would later on return to coach to the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

after a one-year absence from coaching, while Cummings signed as a free agent with the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

midway through the following season, Duckworth signed with the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

Lee Mayberry Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

signed with the

, Marty Conlon signed with the

, and Benjamin signed with the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

. For the season, the Bucks added new dark green alternate road uniforms, which showed a buck in purple and silver colors on the front of their jerseys. These uniforms remained in use until 1999.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:z - clinched division title :y - clinched division title :x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

, -style="background:#bbffbb;" , 1 , , November 3, 1995 , , @

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

W 101–100
, , , , FleetCenter
16,321 , 1–0 , -style="background:#fcc;" , 2 , , November 4, 1995 , ,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

L 71–84
, , , ,

Bradley Center The Bradley Center (also known as the BMO Harris Bradley Center under sponsorship agreements) was a multi-purpose arena located on the northwest corner of North Vel R. Phillips Ave. and West State Streets in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United ...

18,633 , 1–1 , -style="background:#fcc;" , 3 , , November 7, 1995 , , @

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

L 89–106
,

(21) , , , The Summit
15,095 , 1–2 , -style="background:#fcc;" , 4 , , November 9, 1995 , , @

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

L 94–104
, , , ,

Reunion Arena Reunion Arena was an indoor arena located in the Reunion district of downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena served as the primary home of the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars and the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks. The venu ...

15,095 , 1–3 , -style="background:#bbffbb;" , 6 , , November 14, 1995 , ,

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

W 98–84
, , , ,

13,464 , 2–4 , -style="background:#bbffbb;" , 9 , , November 22, 1995 , ,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

W 96–86
, , , ,

14,959 , 3–6 , -style="background:#fcc;" , 14 , , December 1, 1995 , , @

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

L 99–110
, , , ,

KeyArena Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of Downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was ori ...

17,072 , 4–10 , -style="background:#fcc;" , 17 , , December 9, 1995 , ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

L 106–118
, , , ,

18,633 , 6–11 , -style="background:#bbffbb;" , 24 , , December 23, 1995 , ,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

W 96–86
, , , ,

15,658 , 9–15 , -style="background:#bbffbb;" , 42 , , February 1, 1996 , ,

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

W 108–102
, , , ,

13,389 , 16–26 , -style="background:#fcc;" , 43 , , February 3, 1996 , ,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

L 88–111
, , , ,

17,979 , 16–27 , -style="background:#bbffbb;" , 44 , , February 6, 1996 , ,

W 114–111
, , , ,

13,854 , 17–27 , -style="background:#fcc;" , 79 , , April 16, 1996 , ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Awards and records

Transactions

Overview

Trades

Free agents

References

See also