1995 in basketball

The following are the basketball events of the year 1995 throughout the world.

Championships

Professional

• Men
  • 1995 NBA Finals: Houston Rockets over the Orlando Magic 4-0. MVP: Hakeem Olajuwon
    • 1995 NBA Playoffs
    • 1994–95 NBA season
    • 1995 NBA draft
    • 1995 NBA All-Star Game
  • Eurobasket: Yugoslavia 96, Lithuania 90
• Women
  • Eurobasket Women: Ukraine def. Italy

College

• Men
  • NCAA
    • Division I: UCLA 89, Arkansas 79
    • NIT: Virginia Tech def. Marquette University
    • Division II: University of Southern Indiana 71, UC Riverside 63
    • Division III: Wis.-Platteville 69, Manchester 55
  • NAIA
    • Division I Birmingham-Southern College AL 92, Pfeiffer University NC 76
    • Division II Albertson (Idaho) 81, Whitworth (Wash.) 72 OT
  • NJCAA
    • Division I Sullivan College, Louisville, KY 103, Allegany CC, Cumberland, MD 98 O/T
    • Division II Penn Valley CC, Mo. 93, Kishwukee CC, Ill. 88
    • Division III Sullivan County CC 74, Gloucester County College 63
• Women
  • NCAA
    • Division I: University of Tennessee 83, University of Georgia 65
    • Division II: North Dakota State 104, Shippensburg 78
    • Division III: Wis.-Oshkosh 66 Mount Union 50
  • NAIA
    • Division I: Southern Nazarene (Okla.) 80, Southeastern Oklahoma State University 79
    • Division II Western Oregon 80, Huron (S.D.) 77
  • NJCAA
    • Division I Trinity Valley CC 69, Independence CC 55
    • Division II Lansing CC 74, Kankakee CC 68
    • Division III Central Lakes College-Brainerd 71, Monroe CC 57

Awards and honors

Professional

• Men
  • NBA Most Valuable Player Award: David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs
  • NBA Rookie of the Year Award: Grant Hill, Detroit Pistons ; Jason Kidd, Dallas Mavericks (tie)
  • NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award: Dikembe Mutombo, Denver Nuggets
  • NBA Coach of the Year Award: Del Harris, Los Angeles Lakers

Collegiate

• Men
  • John R. Wooden Award: Ed O'Bannon, UCLA
  • Naismith College Coach of the Year: Jim Harrick, UCLA
  • Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award: Tyus Edney, UCLA
  • Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year: Joe Smith, Maryland
  • NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player: Tony Delk, Kentucky
  • Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year: Kelvin Sampson, Oklahoma
  • Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Basketball: Victor Bubas
• Women
  • Naismith College Player of the Year: Rebecca Lobo, Connecticut
  • Naismith College Coach of the Year: Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
  • Wade Trophy: Rebecca Lobo, Connecticut
  • Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award: Amy Dodrill, Johns Hopkins
  • Associated Press Women's College Basketball Player of the Year: Rebecca Lobo, Connecticut
  • NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player: Rebecca Lobo, UConn
  • Basketball Academic All-America Team: Rebecca Lobo, UConn
  • Carol Eckman Award: Ceal Barry, Colorado
  • Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year: Geno Auriemma, Connecticut

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

• Class of 1995:
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  • Anne Donovan
  • John Kundla
  • Vern Mikkelsen
  • Cheryl Miller
  • George Yardley

Movies

• The Basketball Diaries
• Slam Dunk Ernest

Births

• February 25 — Mario Hezonja, Croatian professional basketball player for Orlando Magic

Deaths

• January 7 — Art Stoefen, American NBL player (born 1914)
• January 18 — Cliff Fagan, former president of the Basketball Hall of Fame (born 1911)
• February 12 — Nat Holman, Hall of Fame player for the Original Celtics and coach of the 1950 NCAA and NIT champion CCNY Beavers (born 1896)
• February 20 — Margaret Wade, women's player and coach at Delta State University (born 1912)
• March 16 — Art Mollner, member of 1936 US Olympic championship team (born 1912)
• April 4 — Joe Richey, All-American at BYU (born 1931)
• April 13 — Mal McMullen, American NBA player (Indianapolis Olympians) (born 1927)
• April 17 — Jay McCreary, American college coach (LSU) (born 1918)
• April 28 — Walter Devlin, American NBA player (Fort Wayne Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers) (born 1931)
• May 25 — Krešimir Ćosić, Hall of Fame Croatian player. First foreign player to earn collegiate All-American status while at Brigham Young University (born 1911)
• June 12 — Pierre Russell, American ABA player (Kentucky Colonels) (born 1949)
• July 21 — Tarzan Woltzen, American NBL player (born 1905)
• July 23 — Chuck Hanger, America AAU player (born 1924)
• August 21 — Hal Cihlar, American NBL player (born 1914)
• August 25 — John Mills, American BAA player (Pittsburgh Ironmen) (born 1919)
• November 3 — Cookie Cunningham, American college coach (Washington and Lee, North Dakota) (born 1905)
• December 12 — Jack Friel, American college coach (Washington State) (born 1898)