The 1988–89 NBA season was the Warriors' 43rd season in the NBA and 26th in the San Francisco Bay Area.^[1] General Manager Don Nelson became the Warriors' new head coach this season.^[2][3][4] In the 1988 NBA draft, the Warriors selected Mitch Richmond out of Kansas State University with the fifth overall pick.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} During the off-season, the team acquired 7' 7" center Manute Bol from the Washington Bullets.^[10][11][12] The Warriors went on an 8-game winning streak in January, and held a 25–20 record at the All-Star break.^[13] Despite losing their final six games, the team showed a lot of improvement over the previous season, finishing fourth in the Pacific Division with a 43–39 record.^[14]

Chris Mullin averaged 26.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.1 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, and selected for the 1989 NBA All-Star Game,^{[15][16][17][18][19]} while Richmond averaged 22.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, and was named Rookie of the Year, and selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.^{[20][21][22][23]} In addition, Terry Teagle provided the team with 15.2 points per game, while second-year guard Winston Garland contributed 14.5 points, 6.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game, sixth man Rod Higgins provided with 10.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game off the bench, and Otis Smith contributed 10.0 points per game also off the bench. On the defensive side, Larry Smith led the team with 8.2 rebounds per game, and Bol led them with 4.3 blocks per game.^[24] Mullin also finished in third place in Most Improved Player voting,^[25][26] while Bol finished in fourth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting,^[27] and Nelson finished in second place in Coach of the Year voting.^{[28][29][30][31]}

In the playoffs, the Warriors swept the 2nd-seeded Utah Jazz in three straight games in the Western Conference First Round,^{[32][33][34][35]} before losing to the Phoenix Suns in five games in the Western Conference Semi-finals.^{[36][37][38][39]} Following the season, Otis Smith was left unprotected in the 1989 NBA Expansion Draft, where he was selected by the newly expansion Orlando Magic,^{[40][41][42][43][44]} while Larry Smith signed as a free agent with the Houston Rockets,^[45][46] and Ralph Sampson was traded to the Sacramento Kings.^[47][48]

For the season, the Warriors slightly changed their primary logo, which remained in use until 1997.^[49]

• Chris Mullin, NBA All-Star Game
• Mitch Richmond, NBA Rookie of the Year Award
• Chris Mullin, All-NBA Second Team
• Mitch Richmond, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team