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 53rd season for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

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 ...

, their 60th season as a franchise, and their 44th season in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. The Pistons received the fourteenth overall pick in the

2000 NBA draft The 2000 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2000, at the Target Center in Minneapolis. It was the last draft held at the home arena of an NBA team until 2011; the following and subsequent drafts (through 2010) all took place at The Theater at Madis ...

, and selected point guard

Mateen Cleaves Mateen Ahmad Cleaves (born September 7, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He played parts of six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an All-American college player for Michigan State, where he le ...

out of

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

. During the off-season, retired All-Star guard and Pistons legend

Joe Dumars Joe Dumars III ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is the head of basketball operations for the New Orleans Pelicans. He could play either shooting guard or point guard on offense and was ...

was hired as General Manager, as the team acquired Ben Wallace and second-year guard Chucky Atkins from 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 ...

, acquired

Cedric Ceballos Cedric Zelos Ceballos (born August 2, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. As a small forward, he played mostly for the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers, later finishing his National Basketball Association (NBA) care ...

Dana Barros Dana Bruce Barros (born April 13, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player from the National Basketball Association (NBA). In college, he played at Boston College, finishing as one of the school's all-time leading scorers. He w ...

and John Wallace from 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 ...

, and acquired

Billy Owens Billy Eugene Owens (born May 1, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Syracuse, where he was an All-American and th ...

from 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 ...

. The team later on signed free agent Joe Smith during the first month of the regular season. However, the Pistons traded Ceballos to the

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

in late November after 13 games. At mid-season, the team traded Jerome Williams, and Eric Montross 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 Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

in exchange for

Corliss Williamson Corliss Mondari Williamson (born December 4, 1973) is an American basketball coach who serves as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is also a former player who played for four teams ...

. The Pistons struggled losing four of their first five games of the regular season, then after a 13–15 start, they lost 13 of their next 15 games, finishing in fifth place in the Central Division with a 32–50 record.

Jerry Stackhouse Jerry Darnell Stackhouse (born November 5, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. Stackhouse played college basketball f ...

finished second in the league in scoring, averaging 29.8 points and 5.1 assists per game, and leading the Pistons with 166 three-point field goals, despite shooting .402 in field-goal percentage; he was also selected for the

2001 NBA All-Star Game The 2001 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game which was played on February 11, 2001, at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., home of the Washington Wizards. This game was the 50th edition of the North American National Basketball A ...

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 ...

. In addition, Smith averaged 12.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, while Atkins contributed 12.0 points and 4.1 assists per game, and Ben Wallace provided the team with 6.4 points, 13.2 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 2.3 blocks per game. Off the bench, Barros contributed 8.0 points per game, while John Wallace averaged 5.9 points per game, Cleaves contributed 5.4 points and 2.7 assists per game, and starting small forward Michael Curry provided with 5.2 points per game. Stackhouse finished in 14th place in

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

voting, while Wallace finished tied in fifth place in

Defensive Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY or DPOTY) is the name of an award given in sports for outstanding defensive play by a single player over the course of a season. Many sports leagues award this type of award. League awards for Defensive Player o ...

voting, and also tied in ninth place in Most Improved Player voting. Following the season, Smith re-signed with his former team, 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 ...

, while head coach George Irvine was fired, Cleaves was traded to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

, John Wallace was dealt along with Jud Buechler to 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 ...

, and Owens retired.

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

Awards and records

Transactions

References

See also