1999–2000 Boston Celtics season

The 1999–2000 Boston Celtics season was the 54th season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association.^[1] During the off-season, the team acquired Danny Fortson, and former Celtics forward Eric Williams from the Denver Nuggets,^[2][3][4] and signed free agents Calbert Cheaney,^[5][6][7] and undrafted rookie shooting guard Adrian Griffin.^[8][9]

In their third season under head coach Rick Pitino, and with the addition of Williams and Griffin, the Celtics got off to a 10–8 start to the regular season, but then posted a six-game losing streak in December afterwards. The team continued to play below .500 in winning percentage, holding a 21–28 record at the All-Star break.^[10] At mid-season, the team traded Fortson to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Alvin Williams, but the trade was voided due to Williams failing his physical exam; Fortson only played 55 games this season due to a stress fracture in his right foot.^[11][12][13] The Celtics struggled posting a ten-game losing streak between March and April, but managed to win five of their final six games of the season, finishing in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with a 35–47 record, and missing the NBA playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.^[14][1]

Antoine Walker averaged 20.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game, while second-year star Paul Pierce had a stellar season, averaging 19.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, and Kenny Anderson provided the team with 14.0 points, 5.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game. In addition, Vitaly Potapenko provided with 9.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while Griffin contributed 6.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. Off the bench, Fortson averaged 7.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, while Williams and Dana Barros both contributed 7.2 points per game each, Tony Battie provided with 6.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, and Cheaney contributed 4.0 points per game.^[15]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at The Arena in Oakland in Oakland, California, Pierce and Griffin were both selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as Pierce was a member of the Sophomores team, while Griffin was a member of the Rookies team.^[16][17] Pierce scored 18 points, and made 5 out of 11 three-point field-goal attempts, despite the Sophomores losing to the Rookies in overtime, 92–83.^[17]

This season also reached a breaking point for the Celtics, after a 96–94 home loss to the Raptors on March 1, 2000, in which All-Star guard Vince Carter hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, which even drew cheers from the Celtics fans at the FleetCenter. Pitino went on a legendary rant in his post-game interview, wherein he blamed fans and the media for being negative towards the Celtics, and demanded them to stop reliving past glories; best remembered by the phrase "walking through that door", as he referred to retired Celtics legends Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, who all won three NBA championships with the team in the 1980s.^[18][19][20] This would not leave Celtics fans nor the Boston media any more satiated, and contributed to his eventual downfall.

The Celtics finished 15th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 683,608 at the FleetCenter during the regular season.^[15][21] Following the season, the Celtics were involved in a four-team trade, as Barros was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, while Fortson was dealt to the Golden State Warriors;^[22][23][24] however, Barros never played for the Mavericks, as he was traded to the Detroit Pistons two months later.^[25][26][27] Meanwhile, Cheaney was traded to the Denver Nuggets,^[28][29][30] and Pervis Ellison signed as a free agent with the Seattle SuperSonics.^[31][32]

For the season, the Celtics slightly updated their home and road uniforms; the white home uniforms featured a white version of the team's alternate logo of a cloverleaf on their waistband, while the green road uniforms featured a green cloverleaf.^[33][34] The slightly updated uniforms would remain in use until 2006.