• The NBA confirmed that beginning this season, the format for allowing teams to enter the playoffs would change to allow 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 were adjusted to accommodate those changes as well. Ironically, in 2015–16, the top three teams from both conferences wound up winning their top respective seeds and won their respective divisions for the first year that this new rule took effect. • 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. The team also had three straight #1 draft selections on the same team, with Towns joining both
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 at least 20 points each. • 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 2, 2015,
LeBron James surpassed
Kobe Bryant to become the youngest player to score 30,000 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 milestone. • 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 69th 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. He also 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 fourth-highest scorer of all time. • On November 21, 2015,
Dwyane Wade surpassed both
Dale Ellis and
Reggie Theus to become 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, and later 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 24–0 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 2009–10 New Jersey Nets 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 overtook point guard and
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 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 thirteenth on the all-time assists list. • On December 23, 2015,
Dirk Nowitzki surpassed
Shaquille O'Neal to become the NBA's sixth-highest 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 20–19 road win against his former team, the
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 joined
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. The game 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. • On February 21, 2016,
Dirk Nowitzki became just the 6th player in NBA history to score 29,000 career points. • On February 22, 2016, the
Golden State Warriors defeated the
Atlanta Hawks 102–92 to improve their overall record to 50–5, making them the fastest team to reach 50 wins in a season in NBA history. • On February 24, 2016,
Vince Carter passed
Charles Barkley for 24th on the all-time scoring list in a win against the Lakers. • On February 25, 2016,
Stephen Curry made a
3-pointer in his 128th consecutive game, breaking
Kyle Korver's NBA record of 127 consecutive games with a 3-pointer. • On February 27, 2016, in a win against the Rockets,
Tim Duncan surpassed
Karl Malone for 6th on the all-time
rebounds list, and also became just the fifth player in NBA history to record 3,000 career
blocks. • On February 27, 2016, during the
Golden State Warriors' 121–118 overtime victory over the
Oklahoma City Thunder,
Stephen Curry made his 287th
3-pointer of the season, breaking his own NBA record of most 3-pointers in a single season (286) from the
previous year. Curry made 12 total 3-pointers during the game, tying
Kobe Bryant and
Donyell Marshall for the most 3-pointers made by a single player in a single game in NBA history. This also made Curry the first player in NBA history to make at least ten three-pointers in two consecutive games. • On February 27, 2016, the
Golden State Warriors became the first team of the season to clinch a playoff berth after the
San Antonio Spurs defeated the
Houston Rockets. The Warriors beat out the
1985–86 Boston Celtics for the earliest clinch of a playoff berth by a team in NBA history by one calendar day. This was also the earliest a team had clinched a playoff spot in February since the
1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers. • On March 3, 2016, the
Golden State 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 win at home against the
Oklahoma City Thunder. The Warriors' streak dated back to the
previous year. • On March 3, 2016,
DeMar DeRozan set an NBA record for most consecutive free throws made (24) during the
Toronto Raptors' win against the
Portland Trail Blazers. • On March 5, 2016,
LeBron James surpassed
Tim Duncan for 14th place on the all-time scoring list during the
Cleveland Cavaliers' victory against the
Boston Celtics. • On March 6, 2016, the
Los Angeles Lakers (who were 12–51 with a winning percentage of .190 at the time) recorded the biggest regular season upset in NBA history with a blowout 112–95 victory over the
Golden State Warriors (who were 55–5 with a winning percentage of .917 at the time). It was also the first time in NBA history that a team with a winning percentage below .200 in the regular season had ever defeated a team with a winning percentage above .900 so late in the regular season. • On March 7, 2016,
LeBron James surpassed
John Havlicek for 13th place on the all-time scoring list. • On March 7, 2016,
Stephen Curry became the first player in NBA history to score 300
three-pointers in a single season. • On March 7, 2016, the
Golden State Warriors recorded their 45th straight regular season home victory with a 119–113 home victory against the
Orlando Magic, surpassing the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls for the longest regular-season home winning streak in NBA history. The Warriors' winning streak included their final 18 regular-season home games of the
previous year. • On March 10, 2016,
Tim Duncan became just the sixth player in NBA history to record 15,000 career rebounds. • On March 11, 2016, the
Golden State Warriors and
Portland Trail Blazers scored a combined 37
three-pointers, setting an NBA record for the most combined three-pointers between both teams in a single game. Golden State scored 18 three-pointers while Portland scored 19 three-pointers. • On March 11, 2016,
Klay Thompson became only the second player in NBA history to score at least 200
three-pointers in four straight seasons, joining
Stephen Curry. • On March 14, 2016, the
Golden State Warriors became the fastest team in league history to reach 60 wins in a season. • On March 18, 2016,
Dwight Howard of the Houston Rockets passed 11,000 career rebounds in a 116–111 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves. • On March 19, 2016, the prime time game between the
Golden State Warriors and
San Antonio Spurs set an NBA record for the highest combined winning percentage between two teams through at least 50 regular season games in NBA history (.882 combined winning percentage); the
Golden State Warriors entered the game with a 62–6 win–loss record and a .912 winning percentage, while the
San Antonio Spurs entered the game with a 58–10 win–loss record and a .853 winning percentage. The Spurs won the game by a score of 87–79 to earn their 44th straight regular season home victory, tying them with the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls for the second-longest regular-season home winning streak in NBA history. • On March 19, 2016,
Dwyane Wade became the 41st player in NBA history to reach 20,000 career points, doing so during the
Miami Heat's 122–101 win against the
Cleveland Cavaliers. • On March 23, 2016, the
San Antonio Spurs earned their 45th consecutive regular season home victory by blowing out the
Miami Heat 112–88, surpassing the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls for the 2nd longest regular season home winning streak in NBA history. • With their 63rd loss on March 23, 2016, the Philadelphia 76ers became only the second team to win fewer than twenty games in each of three consecutive seasons, equalling
the Vancouver Grizzlies between
1995–96 and
1998–99. • On March 25, 2016, the
San Antonio Spurs improved their home record for the season to 37–0, tying the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls for the best home start to a season in NBA history. • On March 25, 2016, the
Golden State Warriors and
Dallas Mavericks scored a combined 39
three-pointers, breaking the previous NBA record of most combined three-pointers between both teams in a single game (37) that had been set by the
Golden State Warriors and
Portland Trail Blazers only 14 days earlier; Golden State scored 21 three-pointers while Dallas scored 18 three-pointers. Golden State's 21 three-pointers moved the team's season total to 938, which surpassed the previous year's mark of 933 three-pointers set by the
Houston Rockets for the most 3-pointers made by a team in a single season in NBA history. • On March 25, 2016, with their 128–120 win against the
Dallas Mavericks, the
Golden State Warriors became the second team in NBA history to record at least 65 wins in back-to-back seasons; their
previous year's team had 67 victories. The only other team to record back-to-back seasons with at least 65 wins is the
Chicago Bulls, who followed up their
72–10 campaign of 1995–96 with a
69-win season in 1996–97. • On March 26, 2016,
Kristaps Porziņģis became the first player in NBA history to record more than 1,000 points, record at least 500 rebounds, record at least 75
three-pointers, and block more than 100 shots in his rookie season. • On March 27, 2016,
Klay Thompson and
Stephen Curry became the first set of teammates to combine for 600
three-pointers in a single season in NBA history during the
Golden State Warriors' 117–105 victory against the
Philadelphia 76ers. • On March 30, 2016, the
San Antonio Spurs improved their home record to 38–0 with a victory against the
New Orleans Pelicans, which broke the record for the best home start to a season in NBA history that had previously been held by the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls. • On March 30, 2016,
Draymond Green became the first player in NBA history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists, 100 steals and 100 blocks in a single season. • On March 31, 2016,
LeBron James surpassed
Dominique Wilkins for 12th place on the
NBA's all-time career scoring leaders list. • On April 1, 2016,
LeBron James surpassed
Oscar Robertson for 11th place on the
NBA's all-time career scoring leaders list. • On April 1, 2016, the
Boston Celtics defeated the
Golden State Warriors 109–106 at
Oracle Arena, which ended Golden State's NBA-record regular-season home-game winning streak at 54 games. Golden State's loss left the
San Antonio Spurs as the league's last remaining team with an undefeated regular season home record. • On April 3, 2016, the
Golden State Warriors became the first team in NBA history to score 1,000
three-pointers in a single season during their 136–111 win against the
Portland Trail Blazers. The Warriors' win was their 69th win of the season, making them only the fourth team in NBA history to record at least 69 regular season wins, joining the
1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers and both the
1995–96 and
1996–97 Chicago Bulls. The Warriors also joined the
1991–92 Chicago Bulls as the only teams in NBA history to record at least 40 games with at least 30 assists in a single season. • On April 3, 2016, the
Memphis Grizzlies became the first team in NBA history to have 28 different players record game minutes during a single season, which is the most players a team has ever fielded during a single season. • On April 5, 2016, with a Spurs victory over the Jazz,
Tim Duncan joined
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and
Robert Parish as one of only three players in NBA history to amass at least one thousand career regular season wins. Duncan also became the first (and so far, only) player to record 1,000 regular season victories with a single team. • On April 5, 2016,
Mirza Teletović of the
Phoenix Suns broke the record for most three-pointers made by a reserve player during the regular season, which was originally set by
Chuck Person during the
1994–95 season, by making 165 total three-pointers, including three in a 103–90 loss to the
Atlanta Hawks. • On April 7, 2016, the
San Antonio Spurs–
Golden State Warriors matchup on
TNT marked the first game in NBA history between two teams with at least 65 wins each. The Warriors entered the game with 69 wins while the Spurs entered the game with 65 wins; the 134 combined wins between the two teams set a record for the most combined wins between two teams in a regular season matchup in NBA history. The Warriors won the game by a score of 112–101 to clinch the NBA's best record and home-court advantage throughout the entire playoffs. The win was Golden State's 70th victory of the season, making them only the second team in NBA history to record 70 regular-season wins, joining the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls. • On April 9, 2016, the
Golden State Warriors recorded their 33rd road win of the season with a 100–99 victory over the
Memphis Grizzlies, tying the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls for the NBA record of most road wins by a team in a single season. • On April 10, 2016, the
Golden State Warriors–
San Antonio Spurs matchup on
NBA TV marked only the second game in NBA history between two teams with at least 65 wins each. The Warriors entered the game with 71 wins while the Spurs entered the game with 65 wins; the 136 combined wins between the two teams broke the record of most combined wins between two teams in a regular season matchup in NBA history that had been set (by the same two teams) three days earlier. The Warriors won the game 92–86 to clinch their 72nd win of the season, which tied the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls for the most regular-season wins by a team in NBA history. The win also ended the Warriors' losing streak at AT&T Center, with their last win occurring in 1997. The Warriors also recorded their 34th road win of the season, which surpassed that same 1995–96 Chicago Bulls team for the most road wins by a team in a single season in NBA history. The win also ensured that the Warriors would become both the first team in NBA history to go through a full regular season without ever losing back-to-back games as well as the first team in NBA history to go through a full regular season without ever losing multiple games to a single opponent. • On April 10, 2016, San Antonio's home loss to the
Golden State Warriors snapped their NBA-record streak of 39 consecutive home wins to begin a season and their regular season home game winning streak of 48 games dating back to the
previous year, which was second to only Golden State's record 54 straight regular-season home game winning streak for the longest in NBA history. • On May 25, 2016, the
Cleveland Cavaliers set a conference finals record by taking a 31-point lead at halftime against the
Toronto Raptors. • On May 27, 2016,
LeBron James became the eighth player in NBA history to reach six straight
NBA Finals. James is the first player to not be part of the
Boston Celtics' 1960s dynasty and the first player in 50 years to accomplish the feat. • On May 28, 2016,
New Orleans Pelicans player
Bryce Dejean-Jones died when he was shot after breaking into a
Dallas apartment. He is the first active NBA player to die since 2007 when
Eddie Griffin was killed in a vehicular accident. • On May 28, 2016,
Klay Thompson set an NBA playoff record with 11 three-pointers during the
Golden State Warriors' 108–101 win against the
Oklahoma City Thunder. • On May 30, 2016, the
Golden State Warriors became the 3rd defending champion in NBA history, and the 10th team overall, to come back and win a best-of-seven playoff series after facing a 3–1 series deficit. • On June 5, 2016, the
Golden State Warriors tied the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls for the most combined regular season and postseason wins in a single season (87) in NBA history by defeating the
Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the
NBA Finals. • On June 10, 2016, the
Golden State Warriors earned their 88th win of the season (regular season and playoffs combined) by defeating the
Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 of the
NBA Finals, surpassing the
1995–96 Chicago Bulls' record of most combined regular season and postseason wins in a single season in NBA history. During the game, the Warriors also made 17 three-pointers, setting a record for most made three-pointers by a single team in an NBA Finals game. • On June 13, 2016,
Kyrie Irving and
LeBron James became the first pair of teammates in NBA history to score 40 or more points each in the same NBA Finals game during the
Cleveland Cavaliers' 112–97 victory in Game 5 of the
NBA Finals. • On June 16, 2016, the
Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the
Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the
NBA Finals by a score of 115–101, making them only the third team in NBA Finals history to force a Game 7 after falling behind 1–3. The only other two teams to accomplish this feat are the
1950–51 New York Knicks and the
1965–66 Los Angeles Lakers. • On June 19, 2016, the
Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the
Golden State Warriors 93–89 in Game 7 of the
2016 NBA Finals to claim their first-ever league title. The Warriors became the 11th team overall to lose a seven-game playoff series after leading 3–1, and the first one to do so in the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers became the first NBA team to win a championship by winning a game 7 on the road since the Seattle SuperSonics did so in 1979. • On June 19, 2016,
LeBron James became the first player, in any playoff series, to lead all players in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. ==Notes==