2000–01 Atlanta Hawks season

The 2000–01 Atlanta Hawks season was the 52nd season for the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association, and their 33rd season in Atlanta, Georgia.^[1] The Hawks received the sixth overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft, and selected small forward DerMarr Johnson from the University of Cincinnati.^[2][3][4] During the off-season, the team signed free agent Matt Maloney, re-signed former Hawks guard Anthony Johnson after a brief stint with the Orlando Magic,^[5] and hired Lon Kruger as their new head coach.^[6][7][8]

Under Kruger and with the addition of DerMarr Johnson, the Hawks got off to a bad start as the team lost their first seven games of the regular season, losing 13 of their first 16 games in November, but then played around .500 in winning percentage by posting a 7–7 record in December. In January, the team traded Anthony Johnson and Jim Jackson to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Brevin Knight;^[9][10][11] before the trade, Jackson averaged 14.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in 17 games, but struggled shooting .355 in field-goal percentage.^[12] The Hawks posted another seven-game losing streak in February, and held a 16–33 record at the All-Star break.^[13]

At mid-season, the Hawks traded All-Star center Dikembe Mutombo, and Roshown McLeod to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Theo Ratliff, Toni Kukoč and Nazr Mohammed;^[14][15][16] before the trade, Mutombo averaged 9.1 points, 14.1 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game in 49 games, while McLeod contributed 9.9 points per game in 34 games.^[12] However, Ratliff injured his wrist prior to the trade, and was out for the remainder of the season.^[17][18][19] Mutombo would later on be named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year with the 76ers,^[20][21][22] who went on to lose in five games to the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in the 2001 NBA Finals.^[23][24][25] The Hawks continued to struggle posting a 10-game losing streak between February and March, and finished in seventh place in the Central Division with a 25–57 record.^[26]

Second-year star Jason Terry showed improvement averaging 19.7 points, 4.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and also leading the Hawks with 124 three-point field goals, while Kukoc averaged 19.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game in 17 games after the trade, and Lorenzen Wright provided the team with 12.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. In addition, Mohammed contributed 12.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in 28 games, while Alan Henderson provided with 10.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, and Knight contributed 6.9 points, 6.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game in 47 games. Meanwhile, Chris Crawford averaged 6.8 points per game, Maloney provided with 6.7 points and 2.8 assists per game, second-year guard Dion Glover contributed 5.9 points per game, DerMarr Johnson contributed 5.1 points per game, and rookie forward, and second-round draft pick Hanno Möttölä averaged 4.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.^[12]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., and before the mid-season trade, Mutombo was selected for the 2001 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Mutombo scored 6 points along with 22 rebounds and 3 blocks, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 111–110.^[27][28][29] Meanwhile, Terry was selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as a member of the Sophomores team.^[30][31] Terry also finished tied in seventh place in Most Improved Player voting,^[32] while Ratliff finished in seventh place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.^[33][32]

The Hawks finished 27th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 560,330 at the Philips Arena during the regular season, which was the third-lowest in the league.^[12][34] Following the season, Wright and Knight were both traded to the Memphis Grizzlies,^[35][36][37] and Maloney was released to free agency.