2000–01 Los Angeles Clippers season

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.^[1] After finishing with the worst 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, and also selected shooting guard Quentin Richardson out of DePaul University with the 18th overall pick.^[2][3][4] 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,^[5][2][6] acquired Sean Rooks from the Dallas Mavericks,^[7][8] and also hired Alvin Gentry as their new head coach.^[9] However, center Keith Closs was suspended for the entire regular season due to lack of physical conditioning.^[10]

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.^[11][12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14]

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.^[15]

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.^[16][17] Meanwhile, Maggette participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.^[18][19] Miles also finished tied in fourth place in Rookie of the Year voting,^[20][21] while Gentry finished tied in fifth place in Coach of the Year voting.^[22][21]

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.^[15][23] For the season, the team changed their uniforms by adding side panels to their jerseys and shorts, which would remain in use until 2010.^[24][25]