2015–16 NBA season

All Star NBA Toronto

The 2015–16 NBA season is the 70th season of the National Basketball Association. The regular season began on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls, with their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 2016 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on February 14, 2016. The regular season will end on April 13, 2016. The playoffs will begin on April 16, 2016.

Transactions

Retirement

• On June 18, 2015, Shawn Marion officially announced his retirement after playing 16 seasons with one NBA championship with Dallas Mavericks in 2011.^[1]
• On June 23, 2015, Andrei Kirilenko officially announced his retirement after playing 13 seasons in the NBA.^[2]
• On July 2, 2015, Kenyon Martin officially announced his retirement after playing 15 seasons in the NBA.^[3]
• On July 22, 2015, Stephen Jackson officially announced his retirement after playing 14 seasons with one NBA championship with San Antonio Spurs in 2003.^[4]
• On August 11, 2015, Elton Brand officially announced his retirement after playing 16 seasons in the NBA.^[5] On January 4, 2016 he returned to play for Philadelphia 76ers.^[6]
• On September 23, 2015, Jason Richardson officially announced his retirement after playing 14 seasons in the NBA.^[7]
• On November 13, 2015, Hedo Türkoğlu officially announced his retirement after playing 15 seasons in the NBA.^[8]
• On November 29, 2015, Kobe Bryant officially announced that the 2015–16 season will be his last after playing 20 seasons in the NBA.^[9]

Free Agency

Free agency negotiations began on Wednesday, July 1, 2015 when players began to sign starting on July 9, after the July moratorium ended.

Coaching changes

Off-season

• On April 22, 2015, the Oklahoma City Thunder fired head coach Scott Brooks after seven years with the team.^[10]
• On April 30, 2015, the Oklahoma City Thunder hired Billy Donovan as head coach.^[11]
• On May 12, 2015, the New Orleans Pelicans fired head coach Monty Williams after five years with the team.^[12]
• On May 28, 2015, the Chicago Bulls fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after five years with the team.^[13]
• On May 29, 2015, the Orlando Magic hired Scott Skiles as head coach.^[14]
• On May 30, 2015, the New Orleans Pelicans hired Alvin Gentry as head coach.^[15]
• On June 2, 2015, the Chicago Bulls hired Fred Hoiberg as head coach.^[16]
• On June 15, 2015, the Denver Nuggets hired Michael Malone as head coach.^[17]
• On September 10, 2015, the Minnesota Timberwolves announced that assistant coach Sam Mitchell would take on the interim head coach role while Flip Saunders battled Hodgkin's lymphoma.^[18] Saunders died on October 25, thus making Mitchell the new, full-term head coach for the season afterwards.^[19]
• On October 1, 2015, the Golden State Warriors announced that assistant coach Luke Walton would take on the interim head coach role while Steve Kerr recovers from back pain issues that he had throughout the summer.^[20]

In-season

• On November 18, 2015, the Houston Rockets fired head coach Kevin McHale after five years with the team. Their assistant coach J. B. Bickerstaff would take on the interim head coach.^[21]
• On December 20, 2015, the Milwaukee Bucks announced that assistant coach Joe Prunty would take on the interim head coach role while Jason Kidd recovers after taking an indefinite leave to have hip surgery.^[22]
• On January 10, 2016, the Brooklyn Nets fired head coach Lionel Hollins after two years with the team. Assistant coach Tony Brown was named as interim head coach.^[23]
• On January 22, 2016, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr returned after complications following back surgery taking over from Luke Walton who led the Warriors to a 39–4 record. Walton returns as an assistant coach for Kerr.^[24]
• On January 22, 2016, the Cleveland Cavaliers fired head coach David Blatt after 1 1/2 seasons with the team. Assistant coach Tyronn Lue was named the new head coach after signing a three-year deal with the Cavaliers.^[25]
• On January 26, 2016, Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd returned after complications following right hip surgery taking over from Joe Prunty who led the Bucks to a 8–9 record.^[26]
• On February 1, 2016, the Phoenix Suns fired head coach Jeff Hornacek after two and a half seasons with the team. Suns' assistant coach Earl Watson was named as interim head coach.^[27][28]
• On February 8, 2016, the New York Knicks fired head coach Derek Fisher after 1 1/2 seasons with the team. Knicks' assistant coach Kurt Rambis was named interim head coach for the rest of the season.^[29]

Preseason

The preseason began on Friday, October 2, 2015 and ended on Friday, October 23, 2015.

Regular season

The regular season began on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls, who hosted a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at 8:00 p.m. EDT, then the 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors hosted the New Orleans Pelicans at 10:30 p.m. EDT at the Oracle Arena. Christmas Day games were played on Friday, December 25, 2015. The regular season ends on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. The schedule was released at 6:00 p.m. EDT on August 12, 2015.^[30]

Standings

By division

By conference

Statistics

Individual statistic leaders

Individual game highs

Team statistic leaders

Awards

Players of the Week

The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week.

Players of the Month

The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month.

Rookies of the Month

The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month.

Coaches of the Month

The following coaches were named the Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month.

Media

This will be the eighth and final year of the current TV contracts with ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV before the new nine-year contracts begin in 2016.

ABC announced that they would be adding a game on Saturday nights followed by NBA Sunday Showcase as well as continuing their marquee game on Sunday afternoons. The first Saturday night game was Saturday, January 23, 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers hosting the Chicago Bulls.^[55]

Arenas

• This season will be the Sacramento Kings' final season at Sleep Train Arena before moving into the new Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento. The Kings will play their final regular-season game there on April 9, 2016 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
• On October 26, Utah Jazz owner group Larry Miller Sports & Entertainment announced a new 10-year naming rights deal for the team's arena with home security provider Vivint, renaming the arena to Vivint Smart Home Arena.^[56]
• The Philadelphia 76ers began to refer to their home arena, the Wells Fargo Center, solely as "The Center" in team correspondence, due to Wells Fargo not being a corporate partner in the team. The team's redesigned floor at first de-emphasized the sponsor of the team's arena, with the text of the Wells Fargo Center logo rendered in white that blended in with the floor in a minimal font. However, television and radio broadcasts still use the full arena name.^[57] Eventually the logo text was restored to a normal-sized black font by the start of January after input from arena owner Comcast Spectacor,^[58] with the 76ers signing a non-signage 'official bank' deal with Firstrust Bank.^[59]

Uniforms

• On June 6, 2015, the Milwaukee Bucks unveiled new uniforms.^[60]
• On June 18, 2015, the Los Angeles Clippers unveiled new uniforms.^[61]
• On June 18, 2015, the Philadelphia 76ers unveiled new uniforms.^[62]
• On June 24, 2015, the Atlanta Hawks unveiled new uniforms.^[63]
• On August 3, 2015, the Toronto Raptors unveiled new uniforms.^[64][65]

On-court sponsors

The following teams placed on-court advertisements for this season:

• Atlanta Hawks – FanDuel
• Boston Celtics – Putnam Investments
• Brooklyn Nets – FanDuel
• Charlotte Hornets – Novant Health
• Cleveland Cavaliers – FanDuel
• Dallas Mavericks – FanDuel
• Denver Nuggets – UCHealth (since January 10, 2016)
• Houston Rockets – ZTE Axon Inc.
• Indiana Pacers – Indiana Economic Development Corporation (AStateThatWorks.com)
• Los Angeles Clippers – American Airlines
• Los Angeles Lakers – FanDuel
• Miami Heat – FanDuel
• Minnesota Timberwolves – U.S. Bank
• New Orleans Pelicans – Ochsner Health System
• New York Knicks – DraftKings
• Orlando Magic – FanDuel
• Phoenix Suns – Annexus
• San Antonio Spurs – FanDuel (since December 21, 2015)
• Toronto Raptors – Bank of Montreal
• Utah Jazz – United Fuel Supply
• Washington Wizards – GEICO

Playoffs

The 2016 NBA playoffs will begin on Saturday, April 16, 2016 and will conclude with the 2016 NBA Finals which will begin on Thursday, June 2, 2016 on ABC. ESPN will broadcast the Eastern Conference Finals and TNT will broadcast the Western Conference Finals. ABC will broadcast The Finals.

Notable occurrences

• For the first time in franchise history, the Minnesota Timberwolves entered an NBA draft with the first overall draft pick. The Timberwolves selected Karl-Anthony Towns, who is the first #1 selection to come out of the Dominican Republic. The team also had three straight #1 draft selections on the same team, joining alongside Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins at one point. However, Bennett agreed to a buyout with the Timberwolves before the season began, on September 23, 2015.
• The Houston Rockets became the first team in league history to start off a season with three straight losses of 20 (or more) points.
• On November 1, 2015, the San Antonio Spurs' trio (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili) achieved their 541st regular season win, surpassing the all-time mark attained by Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale with the Boston Celtics between 1981 and 1992. Coincidentally, the Spurs' trio milestone was accomplished in a game against the Celtics played at the TD Garden.
• On November 1, 2015, Tim Duncan scored his 26,000th career point in a win against the Celtics.
• On November 2, 2015, LeBron James surpassed Kobe Bryant to become the youngest player to score 25,000 career points at 30 years, 307 days during the fourth quarter in a road victory against the Philadelphia 76ers. He also became the 20th player in league history to reach the 25,000 point moniker that day.
• On November 2, 2015, Tim Duncan achieved his 954th victory with the San Antonio Spurs in a 94–84 win against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, thus becoming the player with the most wins with a single team.
• On November 7, 2015, Tim Duncan played in his 1,336th career game, moving him into 10th place on the all-time career games played list, surpassing Gary Payton.
• On November 11, 2015, Tim Duncan moved to 7th on the all-time career rebounding list, surpassing Boston Celtics member Robert Parish.
• On November 14, 2015, Tim Duncan moved to 5th on the all-time career blocks list, surpassing former teammate and Hall of Famer David Robinson. Coincidentally, his teammate Tony Parker also became the 34th player to hit the 6,000 career assist mark.
• On November 15, 2015, Kevin Garnett became the fifth player in league history to play over 50,000 minutes throughout his tenure, as well as surpassed Elvin Hayes as the fourth-most played player in league history. He would achieve that mark by playing 23 minutes in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
• On November 17, 2015, LeBron James surpassed Jerry West during the first quarter of a loss to the Detroit Pistons as the league's 19th highest scorer of all-time.
• On November 21, 2015, Dwyane Wade surpassed Dale Ellis and Reggie Theus as the league's 49th highest scorer of all-time. He overtook Ellis's spot by making a free-throw late in the second quarter in a home victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, while he soon surpassed Theus's spot by making two free-throws in the middle of the fourth quarter in the same game.
• On November 23, 2015, LeBron James moved to 25th on the all-time career assists list, joining Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to be in the top-25 in both career points and assists.
• On November 24, 2015, the Golden State Warriors set the NBA record for the longest winning streak to start out the regular season with a 16–0 record following a win against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Warriors would eventually start the season with a 24–1 record after getting their first loss on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 12, 2015, ending their longest winning streak ever at 28 games between two seasons of regular season play.
• On November 29, 2015, Kobe Bryant announced he would retire after the end of the season. During twenty seasons, Bryant won five NBA championships, one season MVP award, and was selected to the All-Star Game seventeen times.
• The Philadelphia 76ers became the first team in league history to start out multiple seasons in a row with 0–17 records. They also ended up breaking the NBA record for longest losing streak with their 28 straight loss and tied the New Jersey Nets in the 2009-10 season for the worst start to a season in league history before getting their first victory of the season on December 1, 2015 at home against the Los Angeles Lakers.
• On November 30, 2015, Dirk Nowitzki made his 10,000th career field goal in a loss to the Kings, becoming just the 13th player in NBA history to achieve that milestone.
• On December 1, 2015, Kevin Garnett would overtake point guard and current Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd as the third-most played player in league history by playing for 20 minutes in a close loss to the Orlando Magic.
• The Boston Celtics played against the Sacramento Kings on December 3, 2015 at the Mexico City Arena, with the Celtics winning 114–97.
• On December 5, 2015, Kevin Garnett scored his 26,000th career point in a loss to the Trail Blazers.
• On December 5, 2015, Rajon Rondo recorded his 5,000th career assist in a loss to the Rockets.
• On December 5, 2015, Pau Gasol played in his 1,000th career game in a loss to the Hornets.
• The Milwaukee Bucks became the first team to play on an alternative court design on December 9, 2015 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
• On December 9, 2015, Chris Paul recorded 18 assists in a road win against the Bucks, surpassing Tim Hardaway, Sr. for 14th on the all-time assists list.
• On December 11, 2015, Kevin Garnett became the league's all-time leader in defensive rebounds, surpassing Karl Malone.
• On December 16, 2015, Paul Pierce scored his 26,000th career point in a win over the Bucks .
• On December 21, 2015, Chris Paul recorded 10 assists in a 100-99 home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, surpassing Terry Porter for 13th on the all-time assists list.
• On December 23, 2015, Dirk Nowitzki surpasses Shaquille O'Neal to become the 6th best all-time scorer. He scored 22 points in the Dallas Mavericks' 119-118 overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets, including the game-winning lay-up.
• On December 26, 2015, Dwight Howard scored his 15,000th career point in a loss against the Pelicans, becoming the 4th-youngest player ever to amass 15,000 points and 10,000 rebounds (Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Pettit, and Moses Malone).
• On December 28, 2015, LeBron James passed Alex English for 17th on the all-time scoring list in the first quarter against the Phoenix Suns.
• On December 31, 2015, Chris Paul recorded 12 assists in a 95-89 road win against his former team New Orleans Pelicans, surpassing Lenny Wilkens for 12th on the all-time assists list.
• On January 7, 2016, Kobe Bryant scored his 33,000th career point in a loss to the Kings. He joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone (who, coincidentally enough, both played for the Lakers at one point) as the only NBA players to have 33,000 (or more) career points.
• On January 13, 2016, James Harden scored his 10,000th career point in a win against the Timberwolves.
• The Orlando Magic played against the Toronto Raptors on January 14, 2016 at The O2 Arena in London, with the Raptors winning 106–103 in overtime.
• On January 23, 2016, Carmelo Anthony overtook Gary Payton as the league's 30th highest scorer of all-time in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
• On January 25, 2016, Stephen Curry scored his 10,000th career point in a win against the Spurs, which also marked the highest combined winning percentage between two teams, Spurs (.864) & Warriors (.909), this late in the season in NBA history.
• On January 29, 2016, LeBron James became the youngest (17th overall) player to ever score 26,000 points in a win against the Detroit Pistons.
• On February 3, 2016, LeBron James passed Kevin Garnett for 16th on the all-time scoring list in a loss against the Hornets.
• On February 10, 2016, before the All-Star Weekend commenced, LeBron James surpassed Paul Pierce to become the 15th highest scoring player of all-time in a victory against the Los Angeles Lakers.
• The NBA confirms that as of this season, the format for allowing playoff teams to enter will change to allow solely the best eight teams in the Western and Eastern Conferences to enter based on records alone, regardless of who wins their divisions in their conferences. As a result, the tiebreaker stages will end up changing to accommodate those changes as well.

See also

• National Basketball Association portal

References

External links

Media related to 2015–16 NBA season at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website