The 2000–01 Los Angeles Clippers season was the 31st season for the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association, and their 17th season in Los Angeles, California.
Season summary
Off-season After finishing with a league-worst 15–67 record the previous season, the Clippers received the third overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft, and selected small forward, and high school basketball star Darius Miles; the team also selected shooting guard Quentin Richardson out of DePaul University with the 18th overall pick. During the off-season, the team acquired second-year guard Corey Maggette, Derek Strong, and rookie point guard, and first-round draft pick Keyon Dooling out of the University of Missouri from the Orlando Magic on draft day, acquired Sean Rooks from the Dallas Mavericks, and hired Alvin Gentry as their new head coach. However, center Keith Closs was suspended for the entire regular season due to lack of physical conditioning.
For the season, the Clippers redesigned their home and road uniforms, adding blue side panels to their jerseys and shorts; the new uniforms would remain in use until 2010.
Regular season Under Gentry and with the addition of Miles, Maggette and Richardson, the Clippers struggled losing 14 of their first 19 games of the regular season. After 14 games, the team traded Tyrone Nesby to the Washington Wizards. As the season progressed, the Clippers posted a nine-game losing streak in January, and held a 16–34 record at the All-Star break. However, the team played around .500 in winning percentage in the final three months of the season, as they doubled their previous season's win total by finishing in sixth place in the Pacific Division with a 31–51 record.
Second-year star Lamar Odom averaged 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.6 blocks per game, while Jeff McInnis averaged 12.9 points and 5.5 assists per game, and Miles provided the team with 9.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. In addition, three-point specialist Eric Piatkowski provided with 10.6 points per game, and led the Clippers with 120 three-point field goals, while Maggette contributed 10.0 points per game, and Michael Olowokandi averaged 8.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Richardson contributed 8.1 points per game, Dooling provided with 5.9 points and 2.3 assists per game, and Rooks averaged 5.4 points and 3.7 rebounds.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., Odom, Miles and Richardson were all selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as Odom was a member of the Sophomores team, while Miles and Richardson were both members of the Rookies team. Meanwhile, Maggette participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Miles also finished tied in fourth place in Rookie of the Year voting, while Gentry finished tied in fifth place in Coach of the Year voting.
The Clippers finished 24th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 601,587 at the Staples Center during the regular season.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College / Club Team 1 3 Darius Miles SF 1 18 Quentin Richardson SG/SF DePaul 2 30 Marko Jaric G Paf Bologna (Italy)
Roster
Roster Notes Center Sean Rooks and power forward Derek Strong both became the 8th, and 9th former Lakers to play for the crosstown rival Clippers. Center Keith Closs was suspended indefinitely due to lack of physical conditioning.
Regular season
Season standings
Game log
Player statistics
PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG Lamar Odom 76 74 37.3 46.0 31.6 67.9 7.8 5.2 1.0 1.617.2 Jeff McInnis 81 81 35.0 46.3 36.1 80.7 2.7 5.5 0.9 0.112.9 Eric Piatkowski 81 40 26.5 43.3 40.4 87.3 3.0 1.2 0.6 0.210.6 69 9 19.7 46.2 30.4 77.4 4.2 1.2 0.5 0.110.0 Darius Miles 81 21 26.3 50.5 5.3 52.1 5.9 1.2 0.6 1.59.4 Michael Olowokandi 82 82 25.9 43.5 0.0 54.5 6.4 0.6 0.4 1.38.5 Quentin Richardson 76 28 17.9 44.2 33.1 62.7 3.4 0.8 0.6 0.18.1 Tyrone Nesby 14 12 23.8 32.5 21.7 78.3 3.0 0.8 0.7 0.37.7 Earl Boykins 10 0 14.9 39.7 12.5 82.4 1.1 3.2 0.5 0.06.5 Keyon Dooling 76 1 16.3 40.9 35.0 69.8 1.2 2.3 0.5 0.15.9 Sean Rooks 82 0 18.9 42.8 50.0 74.8 3.7 0.9 0.4 0.85.4 Cherokee Parks 52 31 16.8 49.2 0.0 70.4 3.6 0.8 0.4 0.54.8 Derek Strong 28 8 17.5 38.5 0.0 75.7 3.9 0.3 0.5 0.04.2 39 23 15.0 39.8 0.0 54.2 4.3 0.5 0.4 0.34.1 Zendon Hamilton 3 0 6.3 22.2 0.0 62.5 2.7 0.0 0.0 0.03.0
Player statistics citation:
Awards, records and milestones
Awards
Week/Month
All-Star Corey Maggette participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest during NBA All Star Weekend. This makes him only the second Clipper player to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest.
Season
Records
Milestones
Transactions The Clippers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2000–01 season.
Trades June 28, 2000 To Los Angeles Clippers Corey Maggette, Derek Strong, draft rights to Keyon Dooling & 2000 2nd-round draft pick To Orlando Magic 2006 1st-round draft pick June 28, 2000 To Los Angeles Clippers Sean Rooks To Dallas Mavericks Eric Murdock & 2000 2nd-round draft pick November 28, 2000 To Los Angeles Clippers Obinna Ekezie & Cherokee Parks To Washington Wizards Tyrone Nesby
Free agents
Additions
Player Signed Former team Zendon Hamilton September 29 Dafni Athens (Greek A2 League) Earl Boykins September 29 Orlando Magic
Subtractions Player Left New team Anthony Avent free agency, July 1 PAOK Thessaloniki BC (GBL) Charles R. Jones waived, July 7 Libertad de Sunchales (LNB) Derek Anderson free agency, August 4 San Antonio Spurs Maurice Taylor free agency, August 25 Houston Rockets Pete Chilcutt free agency, October 4 Atlanta Hawks Etdrick Bohannon waived, October 25 New York Knicks Obinna Ekezie waived, December 1 Washington Wizards
Player Transactions Citation:
See also 2000-01 NBA season
References