The 1999–2000 Vancouver Grizzlies season was the fifth season for the Vancouver Grizzlies in the National Basketball Association.
Season summary
Off-season After finishing the lockout season with the worst record, the Grizzlies received the second overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, and selected point guard Steve Francis from the University of Maryland. However, Francis refused to play for the Canadian team, and was later on traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for second-year guard Michael Dickerson, Othella Harrington, Brent Price and Antoine Carr; Dickerson would reunite with his former University of Arizona teammate, second-year star Mike Bibby. During the off-season, the Grizzlies signed free agents Grant Long, and three-point specialist Dennis Scott.
Regular season With the addition of Dickerson, Harrington, Long and Scott, the Grizzlies got off to a 3–3 start to the regular season, but continued to struggle posting an 11-game losing streak between November and December afterwards. Head coach Brian Hill was fired after a 4–18 start to the season, and was replaced with assistant coach Lionel Hollins as an interim coach. Under Hollins, the Grizzlies posted a six-game losing streak in January, and later on held a 14–34 record at the All-Star break. The team suffered a 12-game losing streak between February and March, losing 14 of their 15 games in March, and posted a seven-game losing streak in April. The Grizzlies finished in last place in the Midwest Division with a 22–60 record; it was the first time that the franchise had won 20 or more games during the regular season, as the team missed the NBA playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim averaged 20.3 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, while Dickerson averaged 18.2 points and 1.4 steals per game, and also led the Grizzlies with 119 three-point field goals, and Bibby provided the team with 14.5 points, 8.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game. In addition, Harrington contributed 13.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, and Bryant Reeves provided with 8.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Off the bench, Scott contributed 5.6 points per game, while Long provided with 4.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, but only played just 42 games due to a hand injury.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at The Arena in Oakland in Oakland, California, Dickerson and Bibby were both selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as members of the Sophomores team, while Bibby also participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout. Dickerson also finished tied in eighth place in Most Improved Player voting. Francis, now with the Rockets, was named the co-NBA Rookie of the Year along with Elton Brand of the Chicago Bulls.
The Grizzlies finished 27th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 569,864 at General Motors Place during the regular season, which was the third-lowest in the league.
Aftermath Following the season, Scott was traded along with second-year guard Felipe López, and Cherokee Parks to the Washington Wizards, but was released to free agency, while Carr retired, and Hollins was fired as head coach.
Offseason
Draft
The Grizzlies originally had three picks entering the Draft. Steve Francis was the 2nd overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft from the University of Maryland. Francis most notably cried after being chosen by Vancouver, swearing the Chicago Bulls would regret selecting Elton Brand first overall instead.
Following Vancouver's draft, Francis publicly announced that he did not want to play for the Grizzlies, citing the distance from his Maryland home, taxes, endorsements, and God's will. Francis was heavily criticized for his antics, especially in Vancouver. Following his public outburst, Francis was traded to the Houston Rockets that summer in a three-team, 11-player deal that brought Michael Dickerson, Othella Harrington, Antoine Carr, Brent Price, plus first- and second-round picks to the Grizzlies. He and Brand shared Rookie of the Year honors.
Obinna Ekezie from the University of Maryland was their second pick. Their final pick in the draft was Antwain Smith from the Saint Paul's College.
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 2 Steve Francis PG Maryland 2 37 Obinna Ekezie C/PF Maryland 2 51 Antwain Smith SF Saint Paul's College
Roster
Roster notes Rookie point guard Milt Palacio also holds American citizenship.
Regular season
Season standings
Game log # Date Opponent Score Record Attendance 1 November 2 Portland Trail Blazers 86–106 0–1 18,218 2 November 3 @ Los Angeles Lakers 88–103 0–2 18,997 3 November 6 Denver Nuggets 109–94 1–2 12,159 4 November 10 Atlanta Hawks 102–97 (OT) 2–2 11,453 5 November 12 Golden State Warriors 93–103 2–3 12,792 6 November 14 Los Angeles Clippers 109–89 3–3 12,774 7 November 16 @ Sacramento Kings 77–81 3–4 14,169 8 November 18 Seattle SuperSonics 108–110 3–5 12,275 9 November 21 Minnesota Timberwolves 81–105 3–6 12,493 10 November 23 @ Washington Wizards 87–89 3–7 11,219 11 November 24 @ Charlotte Hornets 73–89 3–8 16,003 12 November 26 @ Indiana Pacers 86–105 3–9 18,345 13 November 27 @ Minnesota Timberwolves 82–113 3–10 16,881 14 November 29 Houston Rockets 110–118 (OT) 3–11 15,086 15 December 1 Indiana Pacers 89–96 3–12 11,683 16 December 3 Charlotte Hornets 94–113 3–13 12,107 17 December 6 @ Houston Rockets 99–102 3–14 14,458 18 December 7 @ Dallas Mavericks 104–95 4–14 11,552 19 December 9 @ San Antonio Spurs 91–99 4–15 14,778 20 December 11 Los Angeles Lakers 94–106 4–16 14,059 21 December 13 @ Los Angeles Clippers 90–102 4–17 9,303 22 December 15 Sacramento Kings 106–109 4–18 12,490 23 December 18 @ Seattle SuperSonics 89–112 4–19 14,094 24 December 19 Los Angeles Clippers 85–84 5–19 12,584 25 December 23 Denver Nuggets 93–91 6–19 11,792 26 December 26 @ Denver Nuggets 86–109 6–20 17,074 27 December 27 Philadelphia 76ers 93–100 6–21 13,269 28 December 29 @ Utah Jazz 90–101 6–22 19,911 29 December 30 San Antonio Spurs 88–98 6–23 14,403 30 January 4 @ Miami Heat 91–87 7–23 19,035 31 January 5 @ Orlando Magic 96–116 7–24 12,904 32 January 7 @ New Jersey Nets 101–91 8–24 14,246 33 January 9 @ Toronto Raptors 107–97 9–24 19,188 34 January 10 @ Boston Celtics 112–103 10–24 14,876 35 January 12 Phoenix Suns 92–95 10–25 14,404 36 January 14 Cleveland Cavaliers 80–82 10–26 13,161 37 January 16 Miami Heat 83–94 10–27 15,456 38 January 20 Utah Jazz 89–94 10–28 12,909 39 January 22 Orlando Magic 82–85 10–29 11,817 40 January 24 @ Denver Nuggets 98–110 10–30 10,884 41 January 26 @ Utah Jazz 116–99 11–30 19,080 42 January 27 New Jersey Nets 108–106 12–30 11,934 43 January 31 Milwaukee Bucks 87–92 12–31 12,398 44 February 2 @ Golden State Warriors 95–101 12–32 10,019 45 February 4 Chicago Bulls 101–76 13–32 15,357 46 February 6 Dallas Mavericks 99–103 (OT) 13–33 14,861 47 February 8 @ Phoenix Suns 76–94 13–34 18,385 48 February 10 @ Los Angeles Clippers 112–90 14–34 9,895 49 February 16 Washington Wizards 92–87 15–34 12,894 50 February 18 @ Minnesota Timberwolves 91–103 15–35 17,101 51 February 19 @ Milwaukee Bucks 111–100 16–35 17,109 52 February 21 @ Cleveland Cavaliers 108–109 (OT) 16–36 12,140 53 February 22 @ Chicago Bulls 85–81 17–36 21,874 54 February 24 Boston Celtics 77–111 17–37 13,001 55 February 26 Sacramento Kings 102–90 18–37 17,856 56 February 29 @ Sacramento Kings 87–112 18–38 17,317 57 March 1 @ Los Angeles Lakers 91–103 18–39 18,912 58 March 3 @ Portland Trail Blazers 91–101 18–40 20,367 59 March 5 Toronto Raptors 92–94 18–41 19,193 60 March 7 @ New York Knicks 86–111 18–42 19,763 61 March 8 @ Philadelphia 76ers 90–107 18–43 20,086 62 March 10 @ Detroit Pistons 97–111 18–44 22,076 63 March 11 @ Atlanta Hawks 86–91 18–45 13,344 64 March 13 Seattle SuperSonics 103–113 18–46 14,510 65 March 16 @ Seattle SuperSonics 103–117 18–47 13,070 66 March 17 Phoenix Suns 86–101 18–48 14,255 67 March 19 Detroit Pistons 99–101 18–49 15,240 68 March 21 Golden State Warriors 98–82 19–49 13,555 69 March 25 Utah Jazz 75–84 19–50 14,143 70 March 29 Los Angeles Lakers 99–108 19–51 16,780 71 March 31 New York Knicks 83–89 19–52 16,632 72 April 2 Dallas Mavericks 86–100 19–53 12,941 73 April 4 Houston Rockets 102–100 20–53 12,742 74 April 6 Portland Trail Blazers 89–87 21–53 12,234 75 April 8 @ Portland Trail Blazers 85–98 21–54 20,415 76 April 9 San Antonio Spurs 99–107 21–55 14,206 77 April 11 @ Golden State Warriors 97–109 21–56 10,127 78 April 12 @ Phoenix Suns 116–122 (OT) 21–57 18,463 79 April 14 Minnesota Timberwolves 94–104 (2OT) 21–58 17,748 80 April 16 @ Dallas Mavericks 106–114 21–59 13,947 81 April 18 @ San Antonio Spurs 93–100 21–60 19,913 82 April 19 @ Houston Rockets 96–92 22–60 16,285
Player statistics
Ragular season PlayerSF82 82 3,223 825 271 89 87 1,663 39.3 10.1 3.3 1.1 1.1 20.3PG82 82 3,155 306 665 132 15 1,190 38.5 3.7 8.1 1.6 .2 14.5SG82 82 3,103 279 208 116 45 1,496 37.8 3.4 2.5 1.4 .5 18.2PF82 82 2,677 563 97 36 58 1,076 32.6 6.9 1.2 .4 .7 13.1C 69 67 1,773 390 82 33 38 611 25.7 5.7 1.2 .5 .6 8.9SF 66 0 1,263 106 69 28 9 369 19.1 1.6 1.0 .4 .1 5.6SG 65 0 781 124 44 32 17 292 12.0 1.9 .7 .5 .3 4.5C 56 14 808 183 35 29 45 168 14.4 3.3 .6 .5 .8 3.0PG 53 0 394 51 48 20 0 108 7.4 1.0 .9 .4 .0 2.0PF 42 1 920 234 43 45 10 203 21.9 5.6 1.0 1.1 .2 4.8PG 41 0 424 37 69 17 1 141 10.3 .9 1.7 .4 .0 3.4PF 39 0 351 92 8 9 4 125 9.0 2.4 .2 .2 .1 3.2SG 38 0 581 71 43 12 8 152 15.3 1.9 1.1 .3 .2 4.0SF 21 0 221 32 7 3 6 67 10.5 1.5 .3 .1 .3 3.2SF 13 0 181 36 11 7 3 41 13.9 2.8 .8 .5 .2 3.2 References
Grizzlies on Basketball Reference