The

2000–01 NBA season The 2000–01 NBA season was the 55th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their second straight championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 1 in the 2001 NBA Finals. Not ...

was the Rockets' 34th season in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

, and 30th season in the city of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. The Rockets had the ninth pick in the 2000 NBA draft, and selected

Joel Przybilla Joel Przybilla (; born October 10, 1979) is an American retired professional basketball player who played the center position for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professiona ...

from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, but soon traded him to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

in exchange for rookie center

Jason Collier Jason Jeffrey Collier (September 8, 1977 – October 15, 2005) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). High school career Collier led Catholic Central High School of his hometown Spring ...

. In an effort to shore up their front line, the Rockets signed free agent

Maurice Taylor Maurice De Shawn Taylor (born October 30, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He played power forward and center positions. Originally from Detroit, Taylor played college basketball at Michigan and was selected by the L ...

during the off-season. After the retirement of

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on TNT. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "Chuck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons in the Natio ...

, the Rockets got off to a 13–9 start to the season, but then went on a six-game losing streak afterwards. The team held a 25–25 record at the All-Star break, and then played above .500 for the remainder of the season. However, the Rockets missed the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

despite finishing fifth in the Midwest Division with a winning record of 45–37, which was two games behind the 8th-seeded

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

. Second-year star

Steve Francis Steven D'Shawn Francis (born February 21, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected with the second overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft and was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year (along with Elton Brand) in his fi ...

continued to emerge as the new star of the Rockets, averaging 19.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game, while

Cuttino Mobley Cuttino Rashawn Mobley (born September 1, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association from 1998 to 2008. He played college basketball for the Rhode Island Rams, earning conference p ...

averaged 19.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, and Taylor provided the team with 13.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. In addition,

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian Americans, Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Ass ...

contributed 11.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, but only played 58 games due to a blood condition in his left leg, while

Shandon Anderson Shandon Rodriguez Anderson (born December 31, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1996 to 2006. Growing up in Atlanta, Anderson attended the University of Georgi ...

provided with 8.7 points per game,

Walt Williams Walter Ander "The Wizard" Williams (born April 16, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. A sharpshooting 6'8" forward/guard, Williams attended school at the University of Maryland from 1988 to 1992, and is credited by many ...

contributed 8.3 points per game, and second-year forward Kenny Thomas averaged 7.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. This season also marked an end of an era as Olajuwon was traded to the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

following the season, after seventeen seasons with the Rockets. Also following the season, Anderson was traded to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

, while Carlos Rogers signed as a free agent with the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

, and three-point specialist

Matt Bullard Matthew Gordon Bullard (born June 5, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player in the NBA and former color analyst for the Houston Rockets on AT&T SportsNet Southwest. Bullard played 12 years professionally and 11 years in the NBA ...

signed with the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:z – clinched division title :y – clinched division title :x – clinched playoff spot

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Season

Transactions

References

See also