The

2002–03 NBA season The 2002–03 NBA season was the 57th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs beating the New Jersey Nets 4–2 in the 2003 NBA Finals. This would be Michael Jordan's last season in the NBA ...

was the Warriors' 57th 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 41st in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. In the 2002 NBA draft, the Warriors had the third overall pick and selected Mike Dunleavy Jr. out of Duke University. In November, the team signed free agent Earl Boykins. Under new head coach

Eric Musselman Eric Musselman (born November 19, 1964) is an American college basketball coach who is the current head men's basketball coach at the University of Arkansas. He is the former head coach of the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors of the ...

, the Warriors got off to a slow start losing six of their first seven games. However, they began to show signs of life by winning six straight games between February and March. For the first time in nearly a decade, the Warriors reached the .500 mark late in the season with a 30–30 record as of March 4. However, they would win just eight of their final 22 games to finish sixth in the Pacific Division with a 38–44 record. Second-year guard

Gilbert Arenas Gilbert Jay Arenas Jr. (; born January 6, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Arenas attended Grant High School in the Valley Glen district of Los Angeles, and accepted a scholarship offer to the University of Arizona lat ...

was named Most Improved Player of the Year, averaging 18.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and also won the MVP award in the Rookie-Sophomore Game during the All-Star Weekend. In addition, Antawn Jamison averaged 22.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, while second-year star

Jason Richardson Jason Anthoney Richardson (born January 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Richardson was taken by the Golden State Warriors as the fifth overall pic ...

averaged 15.6 points per game, and won the Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star Weekend in

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 ...

for the second year in a row, second-year forward

Troy Murphy Troy Brandon Murphy (born May 2, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played twelve seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Murphy was born in Morristown, New Jersey but grew up in Sparta Township. He at ...

provided the team with 11.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, and Boykins contributed 8.8 points and 3.3 assists per game off the bench. On the defensive side,

Erick Dampier Erick Travez Dampier (born July 14, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks. ...

averaged 8.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game, and

Adonal Foyle Adonal David Foyle (born March 9, 1975) is a Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Vincentian-American former professional basketball Center (basketball), center. He was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the eighth overall selection of the 19 ...

contributed 6.0 rebounds and led the team with 2.5 blocks per game. Following the season, Arenas signed as a free agent with the

Washington Wizards 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 ...

, while Jamison and Danny Fortson were both traded to the Dallas Mavericks,

Bob Sura Robert Sura Jr. (born March 25, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who played ten seasons for five different teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). At , , he played as a shooting guard and point guard. Earl ...

was dealt to 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 ...

, Boykins signed as a free agent with the Denver Nuggets, and Chris Mills retired. For the season, the team added side panels to their uniforms, which remained in use until 2010.

Draft

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

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

Draft

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Season

Awards and records

Transactions

References

See also