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 32nd season for 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 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 18th season in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The Clippers received the second overall pick 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 ...

, and selected center and high school basketball star

Tyson Chandler Tyson Cleotis Chandler (born October 2, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Chandler was drafted directly out of high school as the second overall pick of the 2001 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, then wa ...

, but soon traded him to the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

in exchange for

Elton Brand Elton Tyron Brand (born March 11, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player and the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball for Duke, he was selecte ...

. With the acquisition of Brand, and the continued improvements of second-year guard

Quentin Richardson Quentin Lamar Richardson (born April 13, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who was formerly the director of player development for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Q-Ball", he p ...

Corey Maggette Corey Antoine Maggette (; born November 12, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He became an analyst for Fox Sports. High school and college career Magget ...

and

Michael Olowokandi Michael Olowokandi (born 3 April 1975) is a Nigerian former professional basketball player. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, and raised in London, he played collegiately for the Pacific Tigers in Stockton, California. Nicknamed "the Kandi Man," Olowokand ...

, the Clippers played their best basketball with a 15–11 start as of December 22, 2001. The team began to slip under .500, but still played competitive basketball through most of the first half of the regular season, holding a 25–26 record at the All-Star break, despite

Lamar Odom Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won NBA Finals, championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named ...

only playing just 29 games due to a wrist injury, and second-year guard Keyon Dooling only playing just 14 games due to an ankle injury. However, after holding a 36–33 record in mid-March, the Clippers struggled and lost 10 of their final 13 games of the season, failing to qualify for the

NBA playoffs The NBA playoffs is the annual Playoffs, postseason Tournament#Knockout tournaments, tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA) held to determine the league champion. Since 1949, the four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held afte ...

for the fifth consecutive year, finishing in fifth place in the Pacific Division with a 39–43 record, which was ninth place in the Western Conference. Brand averaged 18.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks 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

Jeff McInnis Jeff Lemans McInnis (born October 22, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is an assistant coach for the Charleston Cougars men's team. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), in Greece

provided the team with 14.6 points and 6.2 assists per game, and Richardson played an increased role as the team's sixth man, averaging 13.3 points per game off the bench. In addition, Maggette contributed 11.4 points per game, while Odom averaged 13.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game, Olowokandi provided with 11.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, and second-year forward

Darius Miles Darius LaVar Miles (born October 9, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. The , forward was selected directly out of high school by the Los Angeles Clippers with the third overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft. He was a Fi ...

averaged 9.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game off the bench. Richardson also finished in third place in

Sixth Man of the Year The National Basketball Association's Sixth Man of the Year (colloquially known as the 6MOY) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the league's best performing player for his team coming ...

voting. Following the season, Miles was traded to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

, and McInnis signed as a free agent with 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 ...

Draft picks

Roster

Roster Notes

* The Clippers received shooting guard

Vinny Del Negro Vincent Joseph Del Negro (born August 9, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the head coach of the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls from 2008 to 2010, and the Los Angeles Clippers from 2010 to 2013. ...

from the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

in a trade early in the season, but he did not play for the team as he was quickly waived. He did come back and became the team's head coach from 2010 to 2013.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Player Statistics Citation:

Awards, records and milestones

All-Star

selected as a reserve forward for the Western Conference All-Stars. Brand was chosen as a replacement for the injured

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

on the roster. He is the first Clipper All-Star since

Danny Manning Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to and short for the male name Daniel.🖾🖾 People *Danny Altmann, British immunologist * Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer * Danny Baker (born 1957), English j ...

was selected in 1994.

Transactions

The Clippers were involved in the following transactions during the 2001–02 season.

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

Player Transactions Citation:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2001-02 Los Angeles Clippers season Los Angeles Clippers seasons 2001 in Los Angeles 2001 in sports in California

2001–02 NBA season by team