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 56th season for 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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

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 ...

. During the off-season, the Knicks acquired

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 Georg ...

from the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

, and

Howard Eisley Howard Jonathan Eisley (born December 4, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player and current coach. Born in Detroit, Eisley played college basketball for the Boston College Eagles and was drafted in 1994 by the Minnesota Timbe ...

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 ...

in a three-team trade, and signed free agent

Clarence Weatherspoon Clarence Weatherspoon Sr. (born September 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) born in Crawford, Mississippi. He is currently the head coach for Meridian Community College. ...

. Entering the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, the Knicks were without Larry Johnson, who retired during training camp due to lingering injuries, ending his 10-year career in the NBA. After a 10–9 start to the regular season, head coach

Jeff Van Gundy Jeffrey William Van Gundy (born January 19, 1962) is an American basketball coach and former commentator who is currently the lead assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. Van Gundy previously served as head coach of the New York Knicks and ...

unexpectedly resigned in December, explaining he had "diminished focus" (though he would return to coach the

in the 2003–04 season); assistant

Don Chaney Donald Ray Chaney (born March 22, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, most notable for winning two championships as a player on the Boston Celtics, and winning NBA Coach of the Year while leading the Houston Ro ...

took over for Van Gundy as the Knicks' head coach. Under Chaney, the Knicks suffered an 8-game losing streak in January, and went 20–43 for the remainder of the season, as

Marcus Camby Marcus Dion Camby (born March 22, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player who played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 2006–07 NBA season, leading ...

missed the final 39 games due to a hip injury. The Knicks lost six of their final seven games, and finished in last place in the Atlantic Division with a 30–52 record, missing 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 first time since the 1986–87 season, and ending a 14-year playoff streak.

Allan Houston Allan Wade Houston Jr. (born April 20, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1993 to 2005. A shooting guard, Houston played nine seasons for the New York Knicks; h ...

led the team in scoring, averaging 20.4 points per game, while

Latrell Sprewell Latrell Fontaine Sprewell (born September 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Golden State Warriors, the New York Knicks, and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Du ...

finished second on the team in scoring with 19.4 points per game, and Kurt Thomas provided the Knicks with 13.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. In addition, Camby averaged 11.1 points and rebounds per game each in only 29 games, while Weatherspoon provided the Knicks with 8.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and

Mark Jackson Mark A. Jackson (born April 1, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who was a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the St. John's Red Storm and was selected by the New ...

contributed 8.4 points and 7.4 assists per game. The Knicks finished fourth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 810,283 at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

during the regular season. Following the season, Camby and Jackson were both traded to 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 ...

; however, Jackson was released to free agency and signed with the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

. For the season, the Knicks slightly redesigned their uniforms by removing the side panels from the bottom of their shorts, and taking players' jersey numbers off of the left side, and the team's primary logo off of the right side of their shorts, and moving the primary logo on the left leg of their shorts. After the 2001–02 season, the Knicks' jersey was altered to incorporate the "NYK" subway token logo on the back.

NBA draft

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Player statistics

Regular season

Player Statistics Citation:

Awards & records

Transactions

References

External links

2001–02 New York Knickerbockers Statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:2001-02 New York Knicks season New York Knicks seasons

New York Knick 2000s in Manhattan