The 2001–02 Memphis Grizzlies season was the seventh season for the Memphis Grizzlies in the National Basketball Association, and their first season in Memphis, Tennessee. After six seasons of struggling in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Grizzlies moved to the United States of America, relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, and became the "Memphis Grizzlies". Although it was the first NBA team for the city, Memphis played home to an American Basketball Association team known as the Memphis Sounds from 1970 to 1975. The Grizzlies also moved into a new arena known as the Pyramid Arena.

Season summary

Off-season The Grizzlies received the sixth overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft, and selected small forward Shane Battier from Duke University. The Grizzlies also made two separate trades on draft day. The team acquired rookie power forward, first-round draft pick and Spanish basketball star Pau Gasol, Brevin Knight, and former University of Memphis star Lorenzen Wright from the Atlanta Hawks; Gasol was drafted by the Hawks as the third overall pick. The Grizzlies also acquired Jason Williams and Nick Anderson from the Sacramento Kings. During the off-season, the team signed free agent Rodney Buford. Prior to the regular season, Bryant Reeves suffered a preseason back injury and would miss the entire season.

For the season, the Grizzlies slightly updated their primary logo, replacing the city name "Vancouver" with "Memphis" above the team name "Grizzlies", and above their original logo of a grizzly bear holding a basketball. The team also slightly updated their home and road uniforms, replacing "Vancouver" with "Memphis" on the front of their jerseys. The team's updated primary logo and uniforms would both remain in use until 2004, although the uniforms were slightly changed next season, where they replaced the team's alternate logo with their primary logo on their shorts.

Regular season The Grizzlies made their NBA regular season debut at the Pyramid Arena on November 1, 2001, in which the team lost to the Detroit Pistons by a score of 90–80. Despite the addition of Gasol, Battier, Williams and Wright, the team lost their first eight games of the season, as Michael Dickerson suffered a groin injury after only just four games, and was out for the remainder of the season. On November 17, the Grizzlies won their first game by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers, 98–93 at the Pyramid Arena for the franchise's first win in Memphis.

After a three-game winning streak, the team posted a seven-game losing streak in January, and later on held a 14–35 record at the All-Star break. The Grizzlies posted an eight-game losing streak between February and March, while losing 10 of their 12 games in February, and then later on posted a six-game losing streak in March. At mid-season, the team released Isaac Austin to free agency after 21 games. The Grizzlies finished in last place in the Midwest Division with a 23–59 record, which was the same record as their previous season in Vancouver;Memphis Grizzlies (2001-Present) the team missed the NBA playoffs for the seventh consecutive year.

Gasol averaged 17.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game, and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year, while Battier averaged 14.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, and contributed 103 three-point field goals; Gasol and Battier were both named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. In addition, Williams contributed 14.8 points, 8.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and led the Grizzlies with 127 three-point field goals, but only shot .295 in three-point field-goal percentage, while Wright provided the team with 12.0 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, but only played just 43 games due to a knee injury, and second-year forward Stromile Swift provided with 11.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game off the bench. Meanwhile, Dickerson contributed 10.8 points per game during his short four-game stint, Buford averaged 9.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, Knight contributed 7.0 points, 5.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game, Grant Long averaged 6.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, and Tony Massenburg provided with 5.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gasol and Battier were both selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as members of the Rookies team; Swift was also selected for the Rookie Challenge Game, as a member of the Sophomores team, but did not participate due to injury. The Grizzlies finished 25th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 591,030 at the Pyramid Arena during the regular season, which was the fifth-lowest in the league.

Notable highlights One notable highlight of the inaugural season occurred on December 21, 2001, in which the Grizzlies defeated the 2-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers at home, 114–108 at the Pyramid Arena. Williams led the Grizzlies with 26 points, while Knight scored 20 points and made 9 out of 10 field-goal attempts off the bench, and Battier contributed 19 points.

Aftermath Following the season, Reeves retired after six seasons in the NBA, all of which he spent playing for the Grizzlies while the team was located in Vancouver. Meanwhile, Anderson was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers on draft day, but was released to free agency, and Buford, Long and Massenburg were all released.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 6 Shane Battier SF/SG Duke 1 27 Jamaal Tinsley PG Iowa State 2 32 Will Solomon PG Clemson 2 48 Antonis Fotsis (from New York) SF Panathinaikos (Greece)

The 2001 NBA Draft was the final time that the Vancouver Grizzlies made an NBA Draft appearance, as the team would relocate to Memphis in July 2001. The team entered the draft with four selections: two first-round and two second-round picks. It consisted of their original picks and one acquired through previous trades in each round.

Roster

Roster notes Center Bryant Reeves was on the injured reserve list due to a preseason back injury, and missed the entire regular season.

Regular season

Season standings

Game log Game Date Opponent Result Grizzlies score Opponent score Record OT

Player statistics

Regular season PlayerPF82 79 3,007 730 223 41 169 1,441 36.7 8.9 2.7 .5 2.1 17.6SF 78 78 3,097 418 216 121 81 1,125 39.7 5.4 2.8 1.6 1.0 14.4PF 73 31 1,247 324 26 30 31 403 17.1 4.4 .4 .4 .4 5.5PF 68 14 1,805 430 50 53 113 803 26.5 6.3 .7 .8 1.7 11.8PF 66 56 1,868 231 136 63 12 417 28.3 3.5 2.1 1.0 .2 6.3PG 65 65 2,236 195 519 111 7 959 34.4 3.0 8.0 1.7 .1 14.8SG 63 21 1,769 272 71 42 12 591 28.1 4.3 1.1 .7 .2 9.4SG 62 4 872 68 92 35 7 321 14.1 1.1 1.5 .6 .1 5.2PG 53 11 1,151 109 302 79 7 371 21.7 2.1 5.7 1.5 .1 7.0C 43 33 1,251 405 44 30 23 516 29.1 9.4 1.0 .7 .5 12.0PF 28 1 320 62 10 9 11 108 11.4 2.2 .4 .3 .4 3.9PG 23 5 384 28 49 11 3 116 16.7 1.2 2.1 .5 .1 5.0C 21 8 307 71 13 9 5 76 14.6 3.4 .6 .4 .2 3.6SG 15 0 219 33 14 6 6 60 14.6 2.2 .9 .4 .4 4.0SG 6 0 75 5 4 0 0 11 12.5 .8 .7 .0 .0 1.8SG 4 4 124 12 9 3 1 43 31.0 3.0 2.3 .8 .3 10.8PG 2 0 48 4 7 3 0 11 24.0 2.0 3.5 1.5 .0 5.5

Awards and records

Awards Pau Gasol 2001–2002 NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

Pau Gasol 2001–2002 NBA All-Rookie TeamRealGM, Historical Memphis Grizzlies Awards, Sept 20 2011

Shane Battier 2001–2002 NBA All-Rookie Team

See also 2001–02 NBA season

References