• The
Houston Rockets became the lowest seeded team to ever win the NBA Finals, winning as the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The Rockets also became the first team to defeat four opponents who had 50 or more wins en route to a title (Utah, Phoenix, San Antonio and Orlando); the only other team ever to accomplish that feat was the 2000–01 Los Angeles Lakers. • The
1995 NBA All-Star Game was played at
America West Arena in
Phoenix, Arizona, with the West defeating the East 139–112.
Mitch Richmond of the
Sacramento Kings was named the game's MVP (Most Valuable Player). • Late in the season,
Michael Jordan returned to the
Chicago Bulls after an attempt at a minor-league
baseball career. His announcement consisted of a two-word fax: "I'm back." Because the Bulls had already retired his number 23, he returned wearing number 45. However, he changed back to 23 during the playoffs. • An era came to an end as the Boston Celtics played their final season at the historic
Boston Garden. • The Portland Trail Blazers played their final season at
Memorial Coliseum (renamed as the Veterans Memorial Coliseum as of 2012). They would host a preseason game at the Coliseum in 2009. • The Chicago Bulls played their first season at the
United Center. • The Cleveland Cavaliers played their first season at Gund Arena (now known as
Rocket Arena). • Due to extensive renovations to the Seattle Center Coliseum (renamed as
KeyArena following the season), the Seattle SuperSonics played their home games at the
Tacoma Dome, in nearby
Tacoma, Washington. •
Grant Hill became the first rookie in professional sports to lead fan balloting for the
NBA All-Star Game. • The
Orlando Magic became the first of the four late 1980s expansion franchises to reach the NBA Finals. They were swept in four games by the defending champion Houston Rockets. •
Lenny Wilkens passed
Red Auerbach to become the NBA's all-time leader in wins, which stood for 15 years. •
Moses Malone, the only remaining active former
ABA player, announced his retirement after 19 NBA seasons. Malone, who came to the professional level without any
college basketball experience, retired just in time for a new generation of
prep-to-pro stars like
Kevin Garnett and
Kobe Bryant to arrive on the scene. • In an effort to increase scoring, the NBA's competition committee voted to shorten the
three-point field goal line to a uniform 22 feet around the basket beginning this season and lasting through the
1996–97 NBA season.
Orlando Magic forward
Dennis Scott set a then-single season record for most three-pointers made with 267 during the
1995–96 NBA season (Later surpassed by
Stephen Curry, who notched 402 three-pointers in the
2015–16 NBA season). The NBA would revert to its original three-point field goal parameters of 23 feet, 9 inches (22 feet at the corners) at the start of the
1997–98 NBA season. • Starting this season, players fouled while in the act of shooting a three-point attempt would get three free throws instead of two. • Hand-checking was eliminated from the end line in the backcourt to the opposite foul line. ==1994–95 NBA changes==