The

2001–02 NBA season The 2001–02 NBA season was the 56th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their third straight championship, beating the New Jersey Nets 4–0 in the 2002 NBA Finals. Notab ...

was the Hawks' 53rd season 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 34th season in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. In the

2001 NBA draft The 2001 NBA draft took place on June 27, 2001, in New York City, New York. Kwame Brown became the first high school player to be drafted with the first overall pick in the history of the NBA. The selection of Kwame Brown by the Washington Wizar ...

, the Hawks selected Spanish basketball star

Pau Gasol Pau Gasol Sáez (, ; born July 6, 1980) is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He was a six-time NBA All-Star Game, NBA All-Star and a four-time All-NBA team selection, twice on the second team and twice on the third team. Gasol ...

with the third overall pick, but soon traded him to the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

in exchange for

Shareef Abdur-Rahim Julius Shareef Abdur-Rahim (born December 11, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who is the president of the NBA G League. Nicknamed Reef, he previously served as the director of player personnel for the Sacramento Kings ...

, and first-round draft pick

Jamaal Tinsley Jamaal Lee Tinsley (born February 28, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Tinsley played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball, Iowa State Cyclones. F ...

out of

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

; however, Tinsley was soon traded to 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. During the off-season, the team signed free agents Ira Newble, Jacque Vaughn and Emanual Davis; although Newble was released to free agency before the regular season began, he would later on be re-signed by the Hawks in January. The Hawks struggled losing six of their first seven games, and later on posted a 3–12 record in January, while posting two six-game losing streaks between January and February;

Theo Ratliff Theophalus Curtis Ratliff (born April 17, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in Alabama, Ratliff played for and graduated from the University of Wyo ...

only played just three games due to a right hip injury, and was replaced with

Nazr Mohammed Nazr Tahiru Mohammed ( ; born September 5, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who had a journeyman career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for eight different teams over 18 seasons. He is the current ...

as the team's starting center. The team dealt with injuries all season long, as

Toni Kukoč Toni Kukoč (; born September 18, 1968) is a Croatian former professional basketball player who serves as Special Advisor to Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls. After a highly successful period in European basketball, he was one of ...

only played 59 games due to a broken right wrist, while Davis was out for the remainder of the season after 28 games due to a broken left wrist, Dion Glover only appeared in 55 games due to a broken right foot,

Alan Henderson Alan Lybrooks Henderson (born December 2, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He stands tall. Born in Morgantown, West Virginia, Henderson attended Brebeuf Jesuit Preparator ...

only played just 26 games due to a right knee injury, and Chris Crawford only appeared in just seven games due to a left knee injury. However, after holding a 16–33 record at the All-Star break, the Hawks played above .500 posting a 17–16 record for the remainder of the season, which included a 93–90 road win over the 2-time defending champion

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 ...

at the

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...

on February 15, 2002, and posting a 9–7 record in March. The Hawks showed slight improvement avoiding 50 losses, finishing in sixth place in the Central Division with a 33–49 record. Abdur-Rahim averaged 21.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, and was selected for the

2002 NBA All-Star Game The 2002 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game which was played on February 10, 2002, at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, home of the Philadelphia 76ers. This game was the 51st edition of the North American NBA All-Star Ga ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, while

Jason Terry Jason Eugene Terry (born September 15, 1977) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 19 seasons in the NBA as a combo guar ...

averaged 19.3 points, 5.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game, and led the Hawks with 172 three-point field goals, and Mohammed provided the team with 9.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. In addition, Kukoč averaged 9.9 points per game off the bench, while Glover provided with 8.9 points per game, second-year forward

DerMarr Johnson DerMarr Miles Johnson (born May 5, 1980) is a retired American basketball player and current assistant coach who played seven seasons in the NBA. College career Johnson was a consensus McDonald's, Parade Magazine and USA Today high school All-A ...

contributed 8.4 points per game, Newble averaged 8.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, and Vaughn contributed 6.6 points and 4.3 assists per game. Terry also finished tied in 16th place in Most Improved Player voting, while Vaughn finished tied in eighth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting. The Hawks finished 27th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 506,110 at the

Philips Arena State Farm Arena is a Multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose arena located in Atlanta, Georgia. The arena serves as the home venue for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It also served as home to the Atlanta Thrasher ...

, which was the third-lowest during the regular season. Following the season, Kukoč was traded 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, and Vaughn signed as a free agent with the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

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

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Season

Awards and records

Transactions

References

See also