The 1995–96 New Jersey Nets season was the Nets' 29th 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 St ...

, and 20th season in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Nets received the ninth pick in the

1995 NBA draft The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams, Toronto Raptors and Vancouve ...

, and selected NCAA Final Four

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

Ed O'Bannon Edward Charles O'Bannon Jr. (born August 14, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a power forward for the UCLA Bruins on their 1995 NCAA championship team. He was selecte ...

out of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. In the off-season, the team signed free agent

Vern Fleming Vern Fleming (born February 2, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who played twelve seasons in the NBA from 1984 until 1996. Born in New York City, Fleming grew up in the Queensbridge Housing projects in the Long Island ...

Derrick Coleman Derrick Demetrius Coleman (born June 21, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. Coleman was born in Mobile, Alabama, but grew up and attended high school in Detroit, and attended college at Syracuse University. He was select ...

missed the first month of the season due to an irregular heartbeat. He was soon traded along with Rex Walters, and Sean Higgins to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for

Shawn Bradley Shawn Paul Bradley (born March 22, 1972) is a German-American former professional basketball player who played center for the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, and Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the ...

, Greg Graham and

Tim Perry Timothy D. Perry (born June 4, 1965) is an American former basketball player. Following his college career with Temple he played professionally for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association and Liga ACB. Playing career Perry played colle ...

, as the Nets won four of their next five games after the trade, leading to a 9–9 start. In January, they dealt Kenny Anderson to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for

Kendall Gill Kendall Cedric Gill (born May 25, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who now works as a television basketball analyst. Early life Gill was born in Chicago and attended Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields, Illinoi ...

, and second-year guard Khalid Reeves. However, Gill would be out for the remainder of the season with a hand injury after only playing just eleven games, while

Kevin Edwards Kevin Durell Edwards (born October 30, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who currently serves as DePaul University men's basketball team's director of community, corporate, and professional relations. Edwards was selecte ...

only played just 34 games due to a knee injury. The Nets held an 18–29 record at the All-Star break, and lost 12 of their final 14 games to finish sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 30–52 record. Armen Gilliam averaged 18.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, while Bradley averaged 12.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game with the Nets after being traded, and second-year guard Chris Childs showed improvement, providing the team with 12.8 points and 7.0 assists per game. In addition, P.J. Brown provided with 11.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, while Edwards contributed 11.6 points and 1.6 steals per game. Off the bench,

Jayson Williams Jayson Williams (born February 22, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 11 seasons, primarily with the New Jersey Nets. He played his first three seasons with the ...

had an increased role as the team's sixth man, averaging 9.0 points and leading the Nets with 10.0 rebounds per game, while finishing in third place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, and Fleming contributed 7.7 points and 3.3 assists per game. O'Bannon failed to live up to expectations in his professional career, as he averaged just 6.2 points per game and started in 29 out of 64 games. Following the season, head coach

Butch Beard Alfred "Butch" Beard Jr. (born May 5, 1947) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He was the starting point guard with the 1975 NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Career Early years Beard played high school basketbal ...

was fired after publicly criticizing his players, while Gilliam signed as a free agent with the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

, Childs signed with the New York Knicks, Brown signed with the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

, Rick Mahorn re-signed with his former team, the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

, Graham was traded to 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 ...

, Perry was released to free agency, and Fleming retired.

Draft picks

Roster

;Roster notes * Center

holds American and German dual citizenship. He was born in Germany and raised in the U.S., but represented Germany internationally.

Regular season

Season standings

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

Record vs. opponents

Game log

{, class="toccolours" width=90% style="clear:both; margin:1.5em auto; text-align:center;" , - ! colspan=2 style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" , 1995–96 game log Total: 30–52 (Home: 20–21; Road: 10–31) , - style="background:#fcc;" , 1 , November 3 , @

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 anch ...

L 79–94
,

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...

& Gilliam (13) , Armen Gilliam (16) , Kenny Anderson (8) , SkyDome
33,306 , 0–1 , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2 , November 7 , Portland
W 104–84
, Armen Gilliam (16) ,

(16) , Kenny Anderson (10) ,

Brendan Byrne Arena Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor arena facility located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The arena is located on N ...

16,152 , 1–1 , - style="background:#fcc;" , 3 , November 8 , @

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

L 122–130 (3OT)
, Armen Gilliam (20) , P. J. Brown (12) , Kenny Anderson (7) ,

16,152 , 1–2 , - style="background:#fcc;" , 4 , November 10 , @

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

L 80–106
, Childs & Gilliam (12) , Armen Gilliam (11) , Chris Childs (6) ,

16,152 , 1–2

Player statistics

Regular season

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 90%" , - ! style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" width="10%" , Player ! style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" width="6%" , GP ! style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" width="6%" , GS ! style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" width="6%" , MPG ! style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" width="6%" , FG% ! style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" width="6%" , 3FG% ! style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" width="6%" , FT% ! style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" width="6%" , RPG ! style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" width="6%" , APG ! style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" width="6%" , SPG ! style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" width="6%" , BPG ! style="background:#0C479D; color:#FFFFFF" width="6%" , PPG , - , Armen Gilliam , 78 , 76 , 36.6 , .474 , .000 , .791 , 9.1 , 1.8 , 0.9 , 0.7 , 18.3 , - ,

, 11 , 10 , 38.0 , .441 , .360 , .831 , 3.9 , 3.2 , 2.0 , 0.2 , 17.5 , - , Kenny Anderson , 31 , 28 , 33.6 , .376 , .364 , .803 , 3.3 , 8.0 , 1.7 , 0.3 , 15.3 , - , Chris Childs , 78 , 54 , 30.9 , .416 , .367 , .852 , 3.1 , 7.0 , 1.4 , 0.1 , 12.8 , - ,

, 67 , 57 , 29.8 , .443 , .250 , .679 , 7.9 , 0.8 , 0.6 , 3.7 , 12.5 , - ,

, 34 , 33 , 29.6 , .364 , .404 , .810 , 2.2 , 2.1 , 1.6 , 0.2 , 11.6 , - , P.J. Brown , 81 , 81 , 36.3 , .444 , .200 , .770 , 6.9 , 2.0 , 1.0 , 1.2 , 11.3 , - ,

, 80 , 6 , 23.2 , .423 , .286 , .592 , 10.0 , 0.6 , 0.4 , 0.7 , 9.0 , - ,

, 77 , 3 , 22.7 , .433 , .107 , .751 , 2.2 , 3.3 , 0.5 , 0.1 , 7.7 , - ,

, 64 , 29 , 19.6 , .390 , .179 , .713 , 2.6 , 1.0 , 0.7 , 0.2 , 6.2 , - , Greg Graham , 45 , 2 , 10.8 , .379 , .368 , .725 , 0.9 , 0.9 , 0.4 , 0.0 , 4.1 , - , Khalid Reeves , 31 , 7 , 13.4 , .376 , .309 , .581 , 1.3 , 1.5 , 0.7 , 0.1 , 3.8 , - , Rex Walters , 11 , 0 , 7.9 , .364 , .250 , 1.000 , 0.6 , 1.0 , 0.3 , 0.0 , 3.0 , - , Robert Werdann , 13 , 0 , 7.2 , .500 , , .538 , 1.8 , 0.2 , 0.4 , 0.2 , 3.0 , - , Yinka Dare , 58 , 23 , 10.8 , .438 , , .613 , 3.1 , 0.0 , 0.1 , 0.7 , 2.8 , - , Rick Mahorn , 50 , 0 , 9.0 , .352 , .000 , .723 , 2.2 , 0.3 , 0.3 , 0.3 , 2.4 , - ,

, 22 , 1 , 7.6 , .489 , .429 , .500 , 1.6 , 0.3 , 0.1 , 0.5 , 2.4 , - , Gerald Glass , 10 , 0 , 5.6 , .357 , .200 , , 0.6 , 0.4 , 0.2 , 0.1 , 2.1 Player Statistics Citation:

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

Awards and records

Transactions

References

See also