The 2015–16 Golden State Warriors season was the 70th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and its 54th in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Warriors entered the season as the defending NBA champions and set the best ever regular-season record of , breaking the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls record of . Golden State broke their franchise record of 28 road wins in a season which they set in 2014–15; they ended the season with 34, passing the same 1995–96 Bulls team led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for the most road wins in NBA history. Warriors' head coach, Steve Kerr, has a significant connection to that Bulls team, as he previously served as a point guard during that specific season. Throughout the 2015-16 NBA season, Golden State broke over twenty-five NBA records and more than ten franchise records, including most wins ever recorded in an NBA season (regular-season and postseason combined); with 88. However, they lost in the NBA Finals to the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games, despite initially leading the series with a 3–1 advantage.
The Warriors began the 2015–16 season by winning their first 24 games, eclipsing the previous best start in NBA history, set by the 1993–94 Houston Rockets. Their record-setting start ended when they were defeated by the Milwaukee Bucks on December 12, 2015. The Warriors broke a 131-year-old record of set by the 1884 St. Louis Maroons baseball team, to claim the best start to a season in all of the major professional sports in America. They also won 28 consecutive regular-season games dating back to the 2014–15 season, eclipsing the 2012–13 Miami Heat for the second longest winning streak in NBA history. The Warriors also set an NBA record 54-straight regular-season home-game winning streak, which spanned from January 31, 2015, to March 29, 2016. The previous record of 44 was held by the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls. The Warriors also became the first team in NBA history to go the entire regular season without back-to-back losses and without losing to the same team twice.
Steve Kerr was named Coach of the Year, the third coach in Warriors history to win the award. Stephen Curry was named Most Valuable Player for a second successive season and was the first unanimous winner in NBA history. Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson were all named to the All-Star Game, the first time the Warriors have had three All-Stars since 1976. Along with the All-Star selection, Klay Thompson was also named to the All-NBA Third Team. Draymond Green was named to the All-NBA Second Team while also being selected as an All-Star. Green was named to the All-Defensive First Team and he finished in second place in DPOY voting with 44 first-place votes. Andre Iguodala finished in second place in Sixth Man of the Year voting with 33 first-place votes. Curry broke his own NBA record for made three-pointers in a season of 286, finishing with 402. Curry won the scoring title, averaging 30.1 points per game and led the league in steals and had the best free throw percentage. He became the seventh player to enter the 50–40–90 club (he shot 50% for field goals, 45% for three-pointers and 91% for free throws during the entire regular season).
Season synopsis Preseason The 2015 NBA draft took place on June 25 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Golden State chose power forward Kevon Looney with the 30th pick of the first round. On July 27, the Warriors traded David Lee to the Boston Celtics for Gerald Wallace and Chris Babb. Four days later, Wallace was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Jason Thompson.
Regular season
October/November The Warriors opened the regular season on October 27 with assistant coach Luke Walton coaching for the team after it was confirmed that coach Steve Kerr's back would not heal in time for the beginning of the regular season. That was Luke Walton's most successful season coaching in his career. Before the opener, the Golden State Warriors revealed their first title banner in 40 years and received their championship rings during a ceremony acknowledging the 2014–15 champions. Every player on the roster, with the exception of traded player David Lee, was in attendance with also the full coaching staff to celebrate the winningest season for the franchise. Golden State opened the season with a 111–95 win over the visiting New Orleans Pelicans. In that game, Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 40 points. On their third game of the season, they were once again up against the Pelicans, this time, they were on the road. On their first meeting, Curry scored 40 points, this time, Curry scored a season-high 53 points to lead the Warriors towards their third straight win. The Warriors opened their season with four wins and a combined margin-of-victory of 100 points, surpassing the 1961–62 Boston Celtics (99 points) for the largest win-margin over the first four games. On November 4, the Warriors won their fifth straight win after handing their division rival, the LA Clippers, their first loss of the season. Curry led the Warriors with 31 points. Eight days later, the Warriors won their tenth straight game after beating the Timberwolves, recording their first ever 10–0 start in a season in franchise history. On November 17, the Warriors have won their 12th straight game to start a season with 115–110 win over the visiting Toronto Raptors. They became the first defending champions to have won their first 12 games of a season since the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls. Three days later, the Warriors opened up the season with a 14–0 record after beating the visiting Chicago Bulls, 106–94. They also became the first defending champions to start their season with a 14–0 record since the 1957-58 Boston Celtics. On November 24, the Warriors won at home, 111–77, against the visiting Lakers and became the first team in NBA History to start a season with a 16–0 record, besting the 15–0 record set by the 1947-48 Capitols and 1993-94 Rockets. On November 27, the Warriors set new franchise records for longest winning streak (17) and three-point field goals made (22) in a 135–116 victory over the Phoenix Suns. They also extended their streak of scoring at least 100 points in a game for 17 straight games, the first team to do since the 2009-10 Suns.
December On December 5, the Warriors beat the Toronto Raptors 112–109 to improve to 21–0 and set a new record for the best start to a season in all major professional sports in America, eclipsing the 20–0 mark set by the 1884 St. Louis Maroons baseball team of the Union Association. Also, with this 11th straight road victory, the Warriors set a new franchise-record for the longest road winning streak in their history. Golden State's 131–123 win on December 8 over the Pacers in Indianapolis improved their road record to 13–0, the best such start to a season in NBA history. The win improved their overall record to 23–0. On December 11, Golden State defeated the Boston Celtics 124–119 (2OT) to improve to 24–0 and move into second place on the NBA's longest winning streaks list (28), five games behind the Los Angeles Lakers' 33-game win streak. During this game Draymond Green recorded a five-by-five game, with 24 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks. The feat of recording at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, five steals and five blocks has only been achieved seven times by three different players (including five times by Hakeem Olajuwon). Since the 1983–84 NBA season, only 16 players have recorded a 5x5 line. The winning streak to start the season ended at 24 games when they were beaten by the Milwaukee Bucks, 108–95. The loss also ended their 28-game winning streak (dating to the 2014–15 regular season), the second-longest in NBA history. The Warriors finished the 2015 calendar year with a 72–12 (.857) record between two seasons, the second-best winning percentage in NBA history. They went 88–17 (.838) including play-off games.
January/February In a win against the New York Knicks on January 31, Green tied Hall of Famer Tom Gola's franchise record of nine triple-doubles in a season. Golden State reached the NBA All-Star break at 48–4, the best start to an NBA season at this juncture. On February 13, Klay Thompson won the Three-Point Contest at the All-Star weekend, beating Stephen Curry 27–23 in the final round. The 27 points tied Curry's record set the previous year for most points scored in a round. By defeating the Atlanta Hawks on February 22, the Warriors became the fastest team to reach 50 wins in a season, accomplishing this in just 55 games. Golden State also had 30 assists in a game for the 29th time this season, setting a new franchise record. On February 27, the Warriors defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder and won their 29th road game of the season, breaking the franchise record of 28 which they set last season. They also became the fastest team ever in NBA history to clinch a playoff berth, accomplishing it in just 58 games. They bettered the 1985–86 Boston Celtics by just one day. This was also the earliest a team had clinched a playoff spot in February since the 1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers (although the season started almost two weeks earlier than the season did within their respective calendar years). In this game, Stephen Curry also broke the single season three-point record (286), a record that he himself held, by making his 287th and 288th three-pointers of the season as two of his 12 three-pointers of the game, tying the single game NBA three-point record (jointly holding it with Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall).
March On March 3, the Warriors tied the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls for the longest regular-season home-game winning streak in NBA history (44 games), with a 121–106 victory at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Warriors' win streak dated back to the previous year. Entering the game on March 6, the Los Angeles Lakers (.190) and Golden State (.917) had a .727 difference in win percentage, making the Lakers' blowout 112–95 win the biggest upset in NBA history. On March 7, the Warriors won their 45th-straight regular season home game over the Orlando Magic, eclipsing the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls 44 wins in a row, to claim the NBA record. Stephen Curry became the first player in NBA history to score 300 three-pointers in a single season. In a 128–112 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on March 11, both teams combined for 37 made three-pointers (18 by the Warriors, 19 by the Blazers), an all-time NBA record. With a Los Angeles Clippers' loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 13, the Warriors officially clinched the Pacific Division title for second consecutive season and fourth time overall. By defeating the New Orleans Pelicans on March 14, the Warriors became the fastest team to reach 60 wins in a season, accomplishing this in just 66 games. With a road win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 21, Golden State became only the ninth team in NBA history to achieve 31 wins on the road in the regular season. The Warriors finished the Pacific Division with a 15–1 (.938) record, the best intradivisional record in franchise history.