The 2000–01 Vancouver Grizzlies season was the sixth season for the Vancouver Grizzlies in the National Basketball Association; it would also be the team's final season in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Season summary
Off-season The Grizzlies received the second overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft, and selected power forward Stromile Swift out of Louisiana State University. During the off-season, the team acquired Isaac Austin from the Washington Wizards, re-acquired former Grizzlies forward Tony Massenburg after one season with the Houston Rockets, and signed free agents Damon Jones and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. The Grizzlies also hired Sidney Lowe as their new head coach.
Regular season Entering their sixth season as an NBA franchise, the rumors of a move became a reality. Club owner Michael Heisley decided that it was time for the Grizzlies to move on; after five losing seasons had given the team low morale and decreasing support in the community, the team found itself in debt. Despite winning four of their first five games of the regular season, the Grizzlies posted a seven-game losing streak, losing 21 of their next 25 games, and holding a 13–36 record at the All-Star break.
On February 19, 2001, the Grizzlies were in last place in the Midwest Division with a 17–36 record, and Heisley traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to discuss a deal between the city and the team; other city candidates for the team's relocation included Louisville, Kentucky, Anaheim, California and New Orleans, Louisiana. The NBA would grant the team permission to move to Memphis, as the league determined that its time in Vancouver was a failure. At mid-season, the team traded Othella Harrington to the New York Knicks in exchange for Erick Strickland.
Despite a five-game winning streak in mid-February, the Grizzlies posted another seven-game losing streak, and then posted a nine-game losing streak in March, finishing in last place in the Midwest Division again with a 23–59 record; it was the team's best record in Vancouver, and the first time they avoided 60 losses in a full 82-game season, but still missed the NBA playoffs for the sixth consecutive year. The Grizzlies lost their final two games against the Toronto Raptors, finishing with a 4–7 record in regular season games against their Canadian rival.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim averaged 20.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, while Michael Dickerson finished second on the team in scoring averaging 16.3 points per game, and Mike Bibby provided the team with 15.9 points, 8.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and also led them with 108 three-point field goals. In addition, Bryant Reeves averaged 8.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while Jones contributed 6.5 points and 3.2 assists per game, Strickland provided with 6.4 points and 3.0 assists per game in 22 games after the trade, and Grant Long averaged 6.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Abdul-Rauf contributed 6.5 points per game, Swift averaged 4.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game, Massenburg averaged 4.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, and Austin provided with 4.3 points and rebounds per game each.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., Swift participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. The Grizzlies' home-game attendance continued to decrease, as the team finished 26th in the NBA with an attendance of 563,218 at General Motors Place during the regular season, which was the fourth-lowest in the league.
On April 14, the Grizzlies played their final home game at General Motors Place in Vancouver, losing to the Houston Rockets by a score of 100–95; second-year star Steve Francis, who had been drafted by the Grizzlies, but refused to play for them, was booed by the Grizzlies fans throughout the game. In their final game on April 18 as the "Vancouver Grizzlies", the team played against the Golden State Warriors on the road at The Arena in Oakland; the Grizzlies defeated the Warriors by a score of 95–81 to avoid another 60-loss season, as Abdur-Rahim posted a double-double of 26 points and 22 rebounds.
Aftermath The franchise moved to Memphis, and became known as the Memphis Grizzlies the following season. On draft day, Abdur-Rahim was traded to the Atlanta Hawks after five seasons with the Grizzlies, while Bibby was traded to the Sacramento Kings. Meanwhile, Jones signed as a free agent with the Detroit Pistons, Strickland signed with the Boston Celtics, and Abdul-Rauf and Doug West both retired.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 2 Stromile Swift PF/C LSU Fr.
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
Game log # Date Opponent Score Record Attendance 1 October 31 Seattle SuperSonics 94–88 1–0 15,779 2 November 2 @ Los Angeles Clippers 99–91 2–0 15,546 3 November 4 Los Angeles Lakers 89–98 2–1 18,183 4 November 6 Atlanta Hawks 97–87 3–1 11,639 5 November 8 @ Dallas Mavericks 101–74 4–1 11,500 6 November 9 @ Houston Rockets 78–85 4–2 10,906 7 November 11 @ San Antonio Spurs 78–91 4–3 18,556 8 November 16 Los Angeles Clippers 72–76 4–4 12,210 9 November 18 Dallas Mavericks 88–91 4–5 13,301 10 November 20 Denver Nuggets 92–95 4–6 11,809 11 November 22 @ Minnesota Timberwolves 100–101 4–7 16,783 12 November 24 @ Detroit Pistons 96–118 4–8 14,709 13 November 26 @ Boston Celtics 98–87 5–8 11,551 14 November 27 @ New York Knicks 72–97 5–9 19,763 15 November 29 Phoenix Suns 109–106 (2OT) 6–9 12,314 16 December 1 Indiana Pacers 76–86 (OT) 6–10 11,758 17 December 3 San Antonio Spurs 79–97 6–11 11,655 18 December 5 Detroit Pistons 91–83 7–11 12,578 19 December 7 @ Utah Jazz 87–98 7–12 17,958 20 December 9 Philadelphia 76ers 79–83 7–13 15,671 21 December 11 Houston Rockets 75–82 7–14 12,145 22 December 13 Seattle SuperSonics 93–94 7–15 15,102 23 December 15 @ Los Angeles Lakers 76–98 7–16 18,211 24 December 17 Orlando Magic 91–101 7–17 13,729 25 December 20 Washington Wizards 118–104 8–17 11,510 26 December 22 Sacramento Kings 93–95 8–18 14,656 27 December 23 @ Los Angeles Clippers 90–92 8–19 12,001 28 December 26 Phoenix Suns 95–97 8–20 16,110 29 December 29 @ Portland Trail Blazers 81–104 8–21 20,309 30 December 30 Golden State Warriors 101–102 8–22 14,485 31 January 3 Charlotte Hornets 99–89 9–22 11,873 32 January 5 @ Phoenix Suns 76–108 9–23 18,359 33 January 7 Milwaukee Bucks 120–117 10–23 11,771 34 January 9 Denver Nuggets 105–112 10–24 12,417 35 January 12 @ Seattle SuperSonics 102–115 10–25 13,196 36 January 13 Cleveland Cavaliers 119–107 11–25 12,540 37 January 15 @ Los Angeles Lakers 112–113 (OT) 11–26 18,318 38 January 17 @ Denver Nuggets 97–121 11–27 12,117 39 January 19 Miami Heat 86–97 11–28 14,281 40 January 21 Minnesota Timberwolves 94–96 11–29 13,108 41 January 23 @ San Antonio Spurs 77–110 11–30 14,764 42 January 25 @ Dallas Mavericks 83–120 11–31 12,690 43 January 26 @ Houston Rockets 89–106 11–32 12,316 44 January 29 New Jersey Nets 97–86 12–32 15,475 45 January 31 @ Phoenix Suns 92–101 12–33 16,502 46 February 2 @ Sacramento Kings 95–105 12–34 17,317 47 February 3 Chicago Bulls 91–84 13–34 16,845 48 February 5 @ Seattle SuperSonics 82–95 13–35 15,082 49 February 7 Utah Jazz 82–92 13–36 13,240 50 February 13 Boston Celtics 99–98 14–36 11,735 51 February 15 Golden State Warriors 99–89 15–36 10,612 52 February 16 @ Golden State Warriors 92–79 16–36 13,173 53 February 18 @ Minnesota Timberwolves 110–102 17–36 18,693 54 February 20 @ Washington Wizards 116–104 18–36 12,240 55 February 21 @ Philadelphia 76ers 91–107 18–37 17,944 56 February 23 @ Milwaukee Bucks 81–93 18–38 17,682 57 February 24 @ Chicago Bulls 75–90 18–39 21,496 58 February 27 Dallas Mavericks 112–116 18–40 12,977 59 February 28 @ Utah Jazz 83–101 18–41 19,452 60 March 3 Los Angeles Lakers 88–98 18–42 19,193 61 March 5 San Antonio Spurs 77–91 18–43 10,798 62 March 6 @ Portland Trail Blazers 105–97 19–43 20,580 63 March 9 Portland Trail Blazers 95–85 20–43 15,512 64 March 11 Toronto Raptors 84–101 20–44 19,193 65 March 13 @ Atlanta Hawks 99–109 20–45 9,664 66 March 14 @ Charlotte Hornets 95–100 20–46 16,018 67 March 16 @ Orlando Magic 99–103 20–47 15,278 68 March 17 @ Miami Heat 81–95 20–48 16,500 69 March 20 @ New Jersey Nets 90–104 20–49 14,531 70 March 22 @ Cleveland Cavaliers 95-109 20–50 12,168 71 March 23 @ Indiana Pacers 75–95 20–51 18,345 72 March 25 @ Toronto Raptors 92–102 20–52 19,800 73 March 29 New York Knicks 89–68 21–52 15,949 74 April 1 Utah Jazz 73–92 21–53 13,093 75 April 4 Los Angeles Clippers 86–78 22–53 11,312 76 April 6 Sacramento Kings 90–118 22–54 14,863 77 April 7 @ Denver Nuggets 97-98 22–55 14,934 78 April 10 Minnesota Timberwolves 91–104 22–56 10,430 79 April 12 Portland Trail Blazers 87–100 22–57 12,796 80 April 14 Houston Rockets 95–110 22–58 18,571 81 April 16 @ Sacramento Kings 100–110 22–59 17,317 82 April 18 @ Golden State Warriors 95–81 23–59 14,437
Player statistics
Ragular season PlayerPG82 82 3,190 304 685 107 12 1,301 38.9 3.7 8.4 1.3 .1 15.9SF 81 81 3,241 735 250 90 77 1,663 40.0 9.1 3.1 1.1 1.0 20.5PF 80 6 1,312 284 28 62 82 391 16.4 3.6 .4 .8 1.0 4.9C 75 48 1,832 452 80 43 54 622 24.4 6.0 1.1 .6 .7 8.3PG 71 10 1,415 124 224 36 1 461 19.9 1.7 3.2 .5 .0 6.5SG 70 69 2,618 229 233 62 27 1,142 37.4 3.3 3.3 .9 .4 16.3PF 66 27 1,507 274 83 72 15 396 22.8 4.2 1.3 1.1 .2 6.0PF 52 20 823 210 9 10 28 233 15.8 4.0 .2 .2 .5 4.5C 52 16 845 222 58 20 23 226 16.3 4.3 1.1 .4 .4 4.3SG 46 5 634 82 52 29 8 160 13.8 1.8 1.1 .6 .2 3.5†C 44 40 1,267 289 36 19 26 480 28.8 6.6 .8 .4 .6 10.9PG 41 0 486 25 76 9 1 266 11.9 .6 1.9 .2 .0 6.5†PG 22 0 409 76 66 22 1 140 18.6 3.5 3.0 1.0 .0 6.4SG 15 6 171 15 14 3 4 28 11.4 1.0 .9 .2 .3 1.9PG 6 0 30 4 5 2 0 13 5.0 .7 .8 .3 .0 2.2
References
Grizzlies on Basketball Reference