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. No ...

was the 40th season for the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

in the

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

, and their 28th season in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

. The city of Washington, D.C. hosted the 2001 NBA All-Star Game at the

MCI Center Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Chinatown section of the larger Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. The arena was opened on D ...

this season. During the off-season, the Wizards acquired Felipe López and Cherokee Parks from the

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. The Grizzlies competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Midwest Division (NBA), Midwest Division of the Western Conference ( ...

, and acquired Popeye Jones from the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

. Under new head coach

Leonard Hamilton James Leonard Hamilton (born August 4, 1948) is an American former basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with ...

, and later on trading Parks to the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

in exchange for

Tyrone Nesby Tyrone Lamont Nesby (born January 31, 1976) is an American retired professional basketball player and coach. During his pro club career, he spent four seasons playing in the NBA. He also played professionally in Europe. High school career Nesby ...

, the Wizards continued to struggle posting a nine-game losing streak between November and December. The team lost nine straight again in January leading to an awful 7–34 start to the regular season, as

Mitch Richmond Mitchell James Richmond III (born June 30, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player. He played collegiately at Moberly Area Community College and Kansas State University. He was a six-time NBA All-Star, a five-time All-NBA Te ...

only played just 37 games due to knee injuries. At mid-season,

Juwan Howard Juwan Antonio Howard ( ; born February7, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously served as the head coach ...

, who grew disgruntled with all the team failures, was traded along with second-year center Calvin Booth to the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

in exchange for

Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball, Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegi ...

Hubert Davis Hubert Ira Davis Jr. (born May 17, 1970) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball, North Carolina Tar Heels men's team. Before his coaching care ...

Loy Vaught Loy Stephen Vaught (born February 27, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who spent ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), primarily with the Los Angeles Clippers. Vaught played at East Kentwood High S ...

and rookies; shooting guard Courtney Alexander and power forward Etan Thomas, who was out for the entire regular season due to a toe injury he sustained with the Mavericks, while Lopez was released to free agency, and later on signed with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

. After the trade deadline,

Rod Strickland Rodney Strickland (born July 11, 1966) is an American basketball coach and former professional basketball player. He is currently the head coach at Long Island University. Prior to LIU, he served as the program manager for the NBA G League's prof ...

, who was also disgruntled playing for the Wizards, was also released and later on re-signed with his former team, the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

. The Wizards lost nine of their final ten games of the season, finishing in last place in the Atlantic Division with a dreadful 19–63 record, their worst to that point over a full 82-game season, although subsequently equalled by the 2008–09 Wizards. Second-year star Richard Hamilton showed improvement and led the team in scoring with 18.1 points per game, while Alexander averaged 17.0 points per game in the second half of the season with the Wizards, and was named to the

NBA All-Rookie Second Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

. Following the season, Richmond signed as a free agent with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, while Vaught and Michael Smith were both released to free agency, and Leonard Hamilton resigned as head coach after only one year with the Wizards.

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Roster Notes

* Rookie power forward Etan Thomas was acquired by the Wizards from the

in a mid-season trade, but was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

due to a toe injury he sustained with the Mavericks, and missed the entire regular season.

Regular season

Season standings

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

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

Player Statistics Citation:

Awards and records

* Courtney Alexander,

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

2nd Team

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Roster Notes

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

Awards and records

Transactions

References

See also