The 1997–98 Golden State Warriors season was the 52nd season for the Golden State Warriors in the National Basketball Association, and their 36th season in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Season summary

Off-season The Warriors received the eighth overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft, and selected center Adonal Foyle out of Colgate University. After playing their home games at the San Jose Arena the previous season, the team moved back into their renovated arena, which was renamed as The Arena in Oakland. During the off-season, the Warriors acquired second-year center Erick Dampier and Duane Ferrell from the Indiana Pacers, acquired Brian Shaw and David Vaughn from the Orlando Magic, and hired P.J. Carlesimo as their new head coach.

For the season, the Warriors redesigned their primary logo, replacing their traditional golden yellow and blue colors with a different shade of golden yellow, orange, dark navy blue, and light blue to their color scheme of white. The team's primary logo featured a dark navy blue warrior, holding a lightning bolt in front of an orange basketball with dark navy blue seams, and above the team name "Warriors" in golden yellow letters surrounded by orange and dark navy blue outlines. The team also redesigned their home and road uniforms, which featured a dark navy blue, golden yellow and orange trim, and golden yellow lightning streak side panels with dark navy blue and orange outlines on the left side of their jerseys and shorts. The home uniforms remained white, while the road uniforms were changed from royal blue to dark navy blue; both uniforms featured the team's primary logo of a warrior's head on the right leg of their shorts.

The team's new primary logo would remain in use until 2010, while the new uniforms would last until 2002, where they would add orange side panels to their jerseys and shorts.

Regular season Early into the regular season, the Warriors traded B. J. Armstrong to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Muggsy Bogues, and second-year guard Tony Delk. Under Carlesimo and with the addition of Dampier, Bogues, Shaw and Foyle, the team struggled losing their first nine games, and got off to an awful 1–14 start to the season.

This season was also known for an infamous and controversial incident. On December 1, 1997, All-Star guard Latrell Sprewell choked, and assaulted Carlesimo during practice before being restrained by teammates and assistant coaches, and allegedly returning to attack Carlesimo a second time. Sprewell was first suspended for ten games, but was later on suspended for the remainder of the season, which was 68 games left in the Warriors' schedule at the time. Sprewell averaged 21.4 points, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game in only just 14 games.

Without their star guard, the Warriors showed slight improvement before suffering a 14-game losing streak between December and January, and held a miserable 8–37 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Shaw, and Joe Smith to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Jim Jackson and Clarence Weatherspoon, and traded Vaughn to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Jason Caffey. Before the trade, Smith averaged 17.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in 49 games, while Shaw provided with 6.4 points and 4.4 assists per game in 39 games. The Warriors won their final three games of the season, and finished in sixth place in the Pacific Division with an awful 19–63 record.

Jackson averaged 18.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game in 31 games after the trade, while Donyell Marshall showed improvement becoming the team's starting small forward, averaging 15.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, and Dampier provided the team with 11.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. In addition, Caffey contributed 10.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in 29 games, while Weatherspoon averaged 10.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game in 31 games, Delk contributed 10.4 points per game, Bimbo Coles provided with 8.0 points and 4.7 assists per game, but only played 53 games due to hamstring and foot injuries, and Bogues contributed 5.8 points and 5.5 assists per game.

Marshall finished in third place in Most Improved Player voting. The Warriors finished 27th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 444,922 at The Arena in Oakland during the regular season, which was the third-lowest in the league.

Aftermath Following the season, Sprewell was traded to the New York Knicks after six seasons with the Warriors, while Jackson signed as a free agent with the Portland Trail Blazers, and Weatherspoon signed with the Miami Heat.

Offseason

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 8 Adonal Foyle C/PF Colgate 2 37 Marc Jackson C Temple

Roster

Roster Notes Shooting guard Latrell Sprewell was suspended for 68 games for choking, and assaulting head coach P.J. Carlesimo during practice on December 1, 1997.

Regular season

Season standings

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

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 82 82 32.4 .445 .000 .669 8.7 1.1 .5 1.7 11.8† 74 9 22.3 .392 .263 .738 2.3 2.3 1.0 .2 10.4 73 73 35.8 .414 .313 .731 8.6 2.2 1.3 1.0 15.4 68 0 12.0 .457 .557 3.3 .3 .3 .5 2.4† 59 31 26.3 .437 .250 .894 2.2 5.5 1.1 .1 5.8 57 1 10.8 .420 .000 .688 3.4 .2 .1 .3 4.0 55 1 11.9 .406 .000 .435 3.3 .3 .2 .9 3.0 53 44 27.8 .379 .228 .886 2.3 4.7 1.0 .2 8.0 50 5 9.2 .369 .000 .545 .9 .5 .4 .1 1.9† 49 49 33.6 .429 .000 .769 6.9 1.4 .9 .8 17.3† 39 32 26.4 .336 .313 .727 3.9 4.4 .9 .4 6.4† 31 31 40.6 .402 .278 .805 5.6 5.1 1.2 .1 18.9† 31 31 33.4 .458 .748 8.3 1.6 1.4 .7 10.7† 29 6 24.6 .472 .000 .649 5.9 1.1 .4 .1 10.9† 22 0 14.6 .404 .000 .647 4.6 .8 .5 .3 5.2 19 0 12.8 .382 .400 .714 .8 2.4 .7 .1 1.9† 19 0 10.3 .458 .000 .385 2.4 .8 .3 .1 2.8 14 13 39.1 .397 .188 .745 3.6 4.9 1.4 .4 21.4† 10 0 13.9 .385 .238 .700 1.0 .9 .5 .1 6.2 9 2 15.6 .320 .333 .500 1.7 .3 .7 .3 4.1† 4 0 14.8 .316 .000 .714 1.8 1.5 1.0 .0 4.3† 4 0 5.8 .571 .667 1.0 .3 .5 .0 2.5

Player statistics citation:

Awards and records

Transactions

Trades August 12, 1997 To Golden State WarriorsErick DampierDuane Ferrell To Indiana PacersChris Mullin September 22, 1997 To Golden State WarriorsDickey Simpkins To Chicago BullsScott Burrell October 28, 1997 To Golden State WarriorsBrian ShawDavid Vaughn To Orlando MagicMark Price November 7, 1997 To Golden State WarriorsMuggsy BoguesTony Delk To Charlotte HornetsB. J. Armstrong February 17, 1998 To Golden State WarriorsJim JacksonClarence Weatherspoon To Philadelphia 76ersBrian ShawJoe Smith February 19, 1998 To Golden State WarriorsJason Caffey To Chicago BullsDavid Vaughn1998 second-round pick2000 second-round pick June 24, 1998 To Golden State WarriorsAntawn Jamison To Toronto RaptorsVince CarterCash considerations

Free agents AdditionsPlayerDate signedFormer teamCarl ThomasSeptember 26Cleveland CavaliersAntonio LangOctober 7Cleveland CavaliersCarl Thomas (10-day)January 9Orlando MagicBrandon Williams (10-day)February 10noneGerald Madkins (10-day)March 5Rockford Lightning (CBA)Gerald Madkins (rest of season)March 25Golden State WarriorsJeff Grayer (10-day)April 9Charlotte Hornets

SubtractionsPlayerDate signedNew TeamAntonio LangOctober 27Grand Rapids Hoops (CBA)Carl ThomasNovember 7Golden State WarriorsDickey SimpkinsFebruary 17Chicago Bulls

Player transactions citation:

References

See also 1997-98 NBA season