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 Kings' 47th 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 ...

, and 11th season in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. 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 ...

, the Kings selected Corliss Williamson from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

with the thirteenth overall pick, and selected Tyus Edney 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 St ...

with the 47th overall pick. During the off-season, the team acquired Šarūnas Marčiulionis from the Seattle SuperSonics, and acquired

Tyrone Corbin Tyrone Kennedy Corbin (born December 31, 1962) is an American former basketball player and assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets. He was first appointed the assistant coach of the Phoenix Suns, then was named the Utah Jazz’s head coach, on Fe ...

from the Atlanta Hawks. The Kings would play their best basketball winning their first five games of the season. However, things turned ugly as a brawl occurred in a 119–95 road win over the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

on November 10, 1995, with a total of 16 players, eight from each team suspended. The team played above .500 for the first half of the season, holding a 24–20 record at the All-Star break. However, after a 24–17 start, the Kings struggled losing eleven straight games in February, as they traded Corbin and Walt Williams to the Miami Heat in exchange for

Billy Owens Billy Eugene Owens (born May 1, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Syracuse, where he was an All-American and th ...

and

Kevin Gamble Kevin Douglas Gamble (born November 13, 1965) is a retired American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association and currently a scout with the Toronto Raptors. At 6'5" (1.96 m) he played as both a shooting guard and smal ...

. Despite their struggles, the Kings would finally end their nine-year playoff drought by winning 9 of their final 15 games. They would capture the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 39–43 record, which was the same record as the previous season, and fifth in the Pacific Division. Mitch Richmond averaged 23.1 points and 1.5 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, while being selected for the

1996 NBA All-Star Game The 1996 NBA All-Star Game was the 46th edition of the NBA All-Star Game, an exhibition basketball game played on February 11, 1996. The event was held at the Alamodome in San Antonio and was a part of the 50th season of the NBA. The game was te ...

. In addition, second-year forward Brian Grant averaged 14.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, while

Olden Polynice Olden Polynice (born November 21, 1964) is a Haitian former professional basketball player. He played center for the Seattle SuperSonics, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, Sacramento Kings, and Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association ...

provided the team with 12.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, and Edney provided with 10.8 points and 6.1 assists per game, and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Off the bench, Marčiulionis contributed 10.8 points per game, but only played 53 games due to a knee injury, and second-year forward Michael Smith averaged 5.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. In the Western Conference First Round of 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 ...

, the Kings faced off against the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics. Despite winning Game 2 on the road, 90–81, the Kings would lose the series in four games as Richmond sprained his ankle in Game 4, which the Kings lost at home, 101–87 to the Sonics. It was also their only playoff appearance with Richmond on the team. The Sonics would reach the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

, but would lose in six games to the Chicago Bulls. Following the season, Marčiulionis was traded to the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

after only playing just one season with the Kings.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

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

Record vs. opponents

Playoffs

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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 85–97
, Mitch Richmond (18) ,

(9) , Mitch Richmond (4) , KeyArena
17,072 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , April 28 , @

W 90–81
, Mitch Richmond (37) ,

(16) ,

Owens Owens may refer to: Places in the United States *Owens Station, Delaware * Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota *Owens, Missouri *Owens, Ohio *Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with the name * Owens Br ...

, Marciulionis (5) , KeyArena
17,072 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , April 30 ,

L 89–96
, Mitch Richmond (24) ,

(14) ,

(6) , ARCO Arena
17,317 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , May 2 ,

L 87–101
,

Lionel Simmons Lionel James "L-Train" Simmons (born November 14, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player. High school career Simmons led South Philadelphia High School to a Philadelphia Public League boys' championship in 1986, getting an MVP ...

(24) , Polynice, Smith (9) ,

(3) , ARCO Arena
17,317 , 1–3 , -

Player statistics

NOTE: Please write the players statistics in alphabetical order by last name.

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

* Mitch Richmond, NBA All-Star Game * Mitch Richmond, All-NBA Third Team * Tyus Edney,

NBA All-Rookie The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for player ...

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Playoffs

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Transactions

Trades

References

See also