The 2000–01 Washington Wizards season was the 40th season for the Washington Wizards in the National Basketball Association, and their 28th season in Washington, D.C. The city of Washington, D.C. hosted the NBA All-Star weekend at the MCI Center this season, which featured the 2001 NBA All-Star Game.

Season summary

Off-season During the off-season, the Wizards acquired Felipe López and Cherokee Parks from the Vancouver Grizzlies, acquired Popeye Jones from the Denver Nuggets, and hired Leonard Hamilton as their new head coach; Parks was later on traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Tyrone Nesby early into the regular season.

Regular season Under Leonard Hamilton, the Wizards continued to struggle posting a nine-game losing streak between November and December. The team posted another nine-game losing streak in January leading to an awful 7–34 start to the regular season, and later holding a 12–37 record at the All-Star break, as Mitch Richmond only played just 37 games due to knee injuries. At mid-season, Juwan Howard, who grew disgruntled with all the team failures, was traded along with second-year center Calvin Booth to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Christian Laettner, Hubert Davis, Loy Vaught and rookies; shooting guard Courtney Alexander and power forward Etan Thomas, who was out for the entire regular season due to a toe injury he sustained with the Mavericks, while Lopez was released to free agency, and later on signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

After the trade deadline, Rod Strickland, who was also disgruntled playing for the Wizards, was also released and later on re-signed with his former team, the Portland Trail Blazers. The Wizards lost nine of their final ten games of the season, and finished in last place in the Atlantic Division with a dreadful 19–63 record; it was their worst record to that point over a full 82-game season, until it was surpassed by the 2023–24 Wizards, who would finish with a franchise-worst 15–67 record.

Second-year star Richard Hamilton showed improvement and led the team in scoring with 18.1 points per game, while Alexander averaged 17.0 points per game in 27 games after the trade, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and Richmond contributed 16.2 points per game. In addition, Laettner averaged 13.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in 25 games, while Davis provided the team with 10.2 points per game in 15 games, Chris Whitney contributed 9.5 points and 4.2 assists per game, and Jahidi White provided with 8.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. Meanwhile, Nesby averaged 8.4 points per game in 48 games, while undrafted rookie point guard David Vanterpool contributed 5.5 points and 3.0 assists per game, and Michael Smith provided with 3.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., Richard Hamilton was selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as a member of the Sophomores team, and also participated in the NBA 2Ball Competition, along with Nikki McCray of the WNBA's Washington Mystics. The Wizards finished 18th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 638,653 at the MCI Center during the regular season.

Aftermath Following the season, Richmond signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers, while Smith, Vaught and Vanterpool were all released to free agency, and Leonard Hamilton resigned as head coach after only one season with the Wizards.

Offseason

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 2 35 Mike Smith SF Louisiana-Monroe

Roster

Roster Notes Rookie power forward Etan Thomas was acquired by the Wizards from the Dallas Mavericks in a mid-season trade, but was placed on the injured reserve list due to a toe injury he sustained with the Mavericks, and missed the entire regular season.

Regular season

Season standings

z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPGPPG† 27 18 33.7 .448 .389 .857 3.0 1.5 1.1 .1 17.0† 40 22 16.0 .440 .733 4.4 .6 .4 2.0 4.5† 15 11 28.7 .479 .526 .905 2.0 3.3 .4 .0 10.2† 29 0 9.4 .416 .698 2.6 .3 .2 .2 3.5 78 42 32.3 .438 .274 .868 3.1 2.9 1.0 .1 18.1† 54 54 36.7 .474 .770 7.0 2.9 .9 .4 18.2 45 1 14.2 .392 .167 .745 4.9 .7 .4 .2 3.6 45 3 15.7 .511 .800 2.9 .7 .3 .2 4.8† 25 13 29.3 .491 .300 .844 6.1 2.3 1.2 .8 13.2† 47 38 23.6 .436 .207 .732 3.4 1.6 .9 .4 8.1† 48 22 25.5 .366 .291 .807 2.7 1.4 .9 .3 8.4† 13 0 13.7 .474 .706 3.1 .5 .5 .8 3.7 35 12 17.3 .394 .269 .733 1.8 2.5 1.0 .3 4.3 37 30 32.9 .407 .338 .894 2.9 3.0 1.2 .2 16.2 79 29 20.4 .486 .000 .578 7.1 1.3 .7 .5 3.8 17 0 10.6 .322 .167 .625 1.3 .6 .3 .2 3.0† 33 28 30.9 .426 .250 .782 3.2 7.0 1.3 .1 12.2 22 0 18.7 .418 .000 .600 1.7 3.0 1.0 .1 5.5† 14 0 11.2 .521 1.000 3.6 .5 .4 .1 3.9 68 56 23.7 .498 .000 .567 7.7 .3 .5 1.6 8.6 59 31 26.0 .387 .375 .894 1.8 4.2 .9 .1 9.5

Player statistics citation:

Awards and records Courtney Alexander, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team

References

See also 2000-01 NBA season