2001–02 New York Knicks season

The 2001–02 New York Knicks season was the 56th season for the Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[1] During the off-season, the Knicks acquired Shandon Anderson from the Houston Rockets, and Howard Eisley from the Dallas Mavericks in a three-team trade,^[2][3] and signed free agent Clarence Weatherspoon.^[4][5] Entering the season, the Knicks were without Larry Johnson, who retired during training camp due to lingering injuries, ending his 10-year career in the NBA.^[6][7]

After a 10–9 start to the regular season, head coach Jeff Van Gundy unexpectedly resigned in December, explaining he had "diminished focus", and was replaced with assistant coach Don Chaney as the Knicks' head coach; Van Gundy would later on return to coach the Houston Rockets in the 2003–04 season.^[8][9] Under Chaney, the Knicks fell below .500 in winning percentage, suffering an eight-game losing streak in January, and later on holding a 19–28 record at the All-Star break,^[10][11] as Marcus Camby missed the final 39 games due to a hip injury.^[12][13] The Knicks lost six of their final seven games of the season, and finished in last place in the Atlantic Division with a 30–52 record,^[10][14][15] missing the NBA playoffs for the first time since the 1986–87 season, and ending a 14-year playoff streak.^[1]

Allan Houston led the team in scoring, averaging 20.4 points per game, while Latrell Sprewell averaged 19.4 points and 3.9 assists per game, and led the Knicks with 145 three-point field goals, and Kurt Thomas provided the Knicks with 13.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. In addition, Camby averaged 11.1 points and rebounds per game each, and 1.7 blocks per game in only 29 games, while Weatherspoon provided the Knicks with 8.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and Mark Jackson contributed 8.4 points and 7.4 assists per game. Meanwhile, Othella Harrington averaged 7.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, Charlie Ward provided the Knicks with 5.2 points and 3.2 assists, and Anderson contributed 5.0 points per game.^[14]

The Knicks finished fourth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 810,283 at Madison Square Garden during the regular season.^[14][15] Following the season, Camby and Jackson were both traded to the Denver Nuggets;^[16][17] however, Jackson was released to free agency and signed with the Utah Jazz.^[18][19]

For the season, the Knicks slightly redesigned their uniforms by removing the side panels from the bottom of their shorts, and taking players' jersey numbers off of the left side, and the team's primary logo off of the right side of their shorts, and moving the primary logo on the left leg of their shorts.^[20][21] After the 2001–02 season, the Knicks' jersey was altered to incorporate the "NYK" subway token logo on the back.^[22]