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 Fina ...

was the 35th season for 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 Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

in the

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

, and their 23rd season in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

. The Bullets received the fourth overall 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 that were added for 1995–96 ...

, and selected power forward

Rasheed Wallace Rasheed Abdul Wallace (born September 17, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. A native of Philadelphia, Wallace played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels before declaring for the draft in 1995. ...

from the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

. During the off-season, the team acquired All-Star guard

Mark Price William Mark Price (born February 15, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. The last coaching job he held was as head coach of the Charlotte 49ers men's basketball, Charlotte 49ers. As a four-time NBA All-Star and ...

from the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

, acquired Robert Pack from 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 Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

, and signed free agents

Tim Legler Timothy Eugene Legler (born December 26, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently an ESPN basketball analyst and co-host/analyst on SiriusXM NBA Radio. C ...

, Chris Whitney and former Bullets guard Ledell Eackles. However, injuries would be an issue all season long, as

Chris Webber Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III (born March 1, 1973), nicknamed "C-Webb", is an American former professional basketball player. Webber played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), with the largest portion of his career sp ...

only played just 15 games following the lingering effect to his injured left shoulder, averaging 23.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Meanwhile, Price only appeared in just seven games due to a foot injury, and Pack, who only played just 31 games, was out with nerve damage in his right leg, averaging 18.1 points, 7.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game. The Bullets played around .500 basketball for the first half of the regular season, but struggled losing 11 of their 14 games in February, and held a 22–24 record at the All-Star break. After a 7-game winning streak, the Bullets lost their final four games of the season, and finished in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with a 39–43 record, which was an impressive 18-game improvement over their previous season; however, they missed the

NBA playoffs The NBA playoffs is the annual Playoffs, postseason Tournament#Knockout tournaments, tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA) held to determine the league champion. Since 1949, the four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held afte ...

for the eighth consecutive year. Second-year star

Juwan Howard Juwan Antonio Howard ( ; born February7, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously served as the head coach ...

averaged 22.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, and was named to the

All-NBA Third Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sel ...

, while

Calbert Cheaney Calbert Nathaniel Cheaney (born July 17, 1971) is an American basketball coach and former player who serves as Director of player development for the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball of the Big Ten. He starred as a player for the Indiana Hoosie ...

averaged 15.1 points per game, and 7' 7" center

Gheorghe Mureșan Gheorghe Dumitru Mureșan (; born 14 February 1971), known as ''the Giant'' () is a Romanian-American former professional basketball player. At , he is one of the two tallest players to have played in the NBA. Early life Mureșan was born in T ...

provided the team with 14.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and was named the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year. In addition, Wallace provided with 10.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, and was named to the

NBA All-Rookie Second Team 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 play ...

, while Price's younger brother, Brent Price, contributed 10.0 points and 5.1 assists per game, and led the Bullets with 139 three-point field goals, Legler contributed 9.4 points per game and 128 three-point field goals off the bench, and also led the league with .522 in three-point field goal percentage, Eackles provided with 8.6 points per game, and second-year center

Jim McIlvaine James Michael McIlvaine (born July 30, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player who spent seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Washington Bullets, Seattle SuperSonics, and New Jersey Nets. The ...

contributed 2.1 blocks per game off the bench. During the NBA All-Star weekend in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, Howard was 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 ...

, and Legler won the NBA Three-Point Shootout. Howard also finished tied in fourteenth place in Most Improved Player voting. Following the season, Wallace and Mitchell Butler were both traded 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 Northwest Division (N ...

, while Pack signed as a free agent with the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, Mark Price signed with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

, while Brent Price signed with the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

, McIlvaine signed with the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

, and Eackles was released to free agency.

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

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

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , 61 , , 3 , , 14.1 , , .384 , , .217 , , .578 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .2 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 70 , , 70 , , 33.2 , , .471 , , .338 , , .706 , , 3.4 , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 15.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", ^† , 5 , , 0 , , 6.8 , , .300 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .2 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 55 , , 26 , , 22.5 , , .427 , , .422 , , .831 , , 2.7 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , .1 , , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", ^† , 10 , , 0 , , 13.8 , , .393 , , .200 , , , , .6 , , 2.3 , , .8 , , .0 , , 2.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 81 , , 81 , , 40.7 , , .489 , , .308 , , .749 , , 8.1 , , 4.4 , , .8 , , .5 , , 22.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 77 , , 0 , , 23.1 , , .507 , , .522 , , .863 , , 1.8 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , .2 , , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 3 , , 0 , , 1.3 , , .667 , , , , , , .7 , , .0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 62 , , 0 , , 10.5 , , .497 , , .500 , , .473 , , 2.3 , , .4 , , .3 , , .2 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 80 , , 6 , , 14.9 , , .428 , , , , .552 , , 2.9 , , .1 , , .3 , , 2.1 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 76 , , 76 , , 29.5 , , .584 , , .000 , , .619 , , 9.6 , , .7 , , .7 , , 2.3 , , 14.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 31 , , 31 , , 35.0 , , .428 , , .265 , , .846 , , 4.3 , , 7.8 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , 18.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", ^† , 2 , , 0 , , 2.5 , , , , , , , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 81 , , 50 , , 25.2 , , .472 , , .462 , , .874 , , 2.8 , , 5.1 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 10.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 7 , , 1 , , 18.1 , , .300 , , .333 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , 2.6 , , .9 , , .0 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 2 , , 0 , , 11.0 , , .667 , , 1.000 , , .667 , , 1.0 , , 3.5 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 3.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 7 , , 0 , , 4.4 , , .167 , , , , .500 , , 1.7 , , .0 , , .1 , , .0 , , .4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 65 , , 51 , , 27.5 , , .487 , , .329 , , .650 , , 4.7 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .8 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 15 , , 15 , , 37.2 , , .543 , , .441 , , .594 , , 7.6 , , 5.0 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , 23.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 11 , , 0 , , 5.3 , , .348 , , .333 , , , , .6 , , .3 , , .4 , , .0 , , 1.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 21 , , 0 , , 16.0 , , .455 , , .432 , , .932 , , 1.6 , , 2.4 , , .9 , , .0 , , 7.1 Player Statistics Citation:

Awards and records

* Gheorge Muresan,

NBA Most Improved Player Award The NBA's Most Improved Player (MIP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the player who has shown the most progress during the regular season compared to previous seasons. The winner is selected by a panel of sportsw ...

NBA All-Rookie Team 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 play ...

2nd Team

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

Awards and records

Transactions

References

See also