2001–02 NBA season explained

2001–02 NBA season
League:	National Basketball Association
Sport:	Basketball
No Of Teams:	29
Tv:	NBC, TNT, TBS
Draft:	Draft
Draft Link:	2001 NBA draft
Top Pick:	Kwame Brown
Top Pick Link:	List of first overall NBA draft picks
Picked By:	Washington Wizards
Season:	Regular season
Top Seed:	Sacramento Kings
Mvp:	Tim Duncan (San Antonio)
Mvp Link:	NBA Most Valuable Player Award
Top Scorer:	Allen Iverson (Philadelphia)
Top Scorer Link:	List of National Basketball Association annual scoring leaders
Playoffs:	Playoffs
Playoffs Link:	2002 NBA playoffs
Conf1:	Eastern
Conf1 Link:	Eastern Conference (NBA)
Conf1 Champ:	New Jersey Nets
Conf1 Runner-Up:	Boston Celtics
Conf2:	Western
Conf2 Link:	Western Conference (NBA)
Conf2 Champ:	Los Angeles Lakers
Conf2 Runner-Up:	Sacramento Kings
Finals:	Finals
Finals Link:	2002 NBA Finals
Finals Champ:	Los Angeles Lakers
Finals Runner-Up:	New Jersey Nets
Finals Mvp:	Shaquille O'Neal (L.A. Lakers)
Finals Mvp Link:	Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
Seasonslist:	List of NBA seasons
Seasonslistnames:	NBA
Prevseason Link:	2000–01 NBA season
Prevseason Year:	2000–01
Nextseason Link:	2002–03 NBA season
Nextseason Year:	2002–03

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.

Notable occurrences

Offseason
Team	2000–01 coach	2001–02 coach
Cleveland Cavaliers	Randy Wittman	John Lucas
Detroit Pistons	George Irvine	Rick Carlisle
Portland Trail Blazers	Mike Dunleavy, Sr.	Maurice Cheeks
Washington Wizards	Leonard Hamilton	Doug Collins
In-season
Team	Outgoing coach	Incoming coach
Chicago Bulls	Tim Floyd	Bill Berry
Chicago Bulls	Bill Berry	Bill Cartwright
Denver Nuggets	Dan Issel	Mike Evans
Golden State Warriors	Dave Cowens	Brian Winters
New York Knicks	Jeff Van Gundy	Don Chaney
Phoenix Suns	Scott Skiles	Frank Johnson

Kwame Brown became the first high school player to be drafted first overall when the Washington Wizards drafted him in the 2001 NBA draft.
The Grizzlies relocated from Vancouver, British Columbia to Memphis, Tennessee. They played their first three seasons at The Pyramid in Memphis.
The 2002 NBA All-Star Game was held at First Union Center in Philadelphia. Kobe Bryant of the Lakers took MVP honors amidst boos from the Philadelphia fans following a 135–120 victory by the West. Philadelphia was originally slated to host the 1999 All-Star Game, but was awarded the 2002 game instead due to the 1999 lockout.
Prior to the start of the season, NBA and Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan, then part-owner of the Washington Wizards, announced his second comeback to the NBA, this time with the Wizards. The announcement was delayed due to the September 11 attacks.
The Dallas Mavericks played their first game at the American Airlines Center, not to be confused with the American Airlines Arena (now Kaseya Center) in Miami, Florida.
This was the last season that both NBC and TBS televised NBA games.
NBA teams wore patches on their jerseys with the American flag and a red-white-and-blue ribbon, in honor of the victims of the September 11 attacks. The Raptors wore the American and Canadian flags on their jerseys.
The only Canadian team left in the NBA, the Toronto Raptors, after losing seventeen of eighteen to drop to 30–38, won twelve of their last fourteen to finish at 42–40 and go to the NBA playoffs as the seventh seed in the East.
The New Jersey Nets, who had never won fifty games in a season and had only been to the second round of the playoffs once, won 52 games to reach the Finals.
2001–02 is one of the most memorable seasons in the history of the Milwaukee Bucks. The team got off to a division-leading 26–13 start, and were 10 games over .500 as late as March 6. However, the Bucks lost 16 of their last 22 games and missed the playoffs, one of the biggest late-season collapses for a team that was contending for a division title in March.
For the first time since 1985–86, no team won fewer than twenty games. The Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors shared the league's worst record of 21–61. This had however previously occurred during every season between 1973–74 and 1978–79 and again from 1983–84 to 1985–86.^[1]
Former All-Star Jayson Williams was charged with the murder of his limousine driver on February 14. He was immediately fired from his spot on NBC's Verizon Wireless at the Half shortly after appearing on TV during the All-Star Game the previous week.
Marv Albert and Mike Fratello were involved in a limousine crash prior to the start of the 2002 Playoffs and were unable to announce for NBC. Albert returned to announce the 2002 Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals.
The San Antonio Spurs played their last season at the Alamodome.
The zone defense was legalized.
The defensive three-second violation was introduced.
This season marked the last time the NBA playoffs used a best–of–five series in the first round. Started from next season onwards, the playoffs first-round series switched to the best–of–seven format.
Notable incidents occurred during the playoffs. During the Magic–Hornets series, Baron Davis's game-winner was waved off in time at the buzzer by referee Bernie Fryer, in the Nets–Pacers series, Reggie Miller hit the turnaround 40-foot three–pointer at the buzzer at the end of regulation was made by referee Bob Delaney, and lastly in the Kings–Lakers series, Samaki Walker hit a three–pointer at the buzzer at the end of the first half and then Robert Horry hit a game–winning three–pointer at the buzzer. Following the season, the NBA instituted new rules regarding the end-of-period indicators. An LED light strip on the backboard and the scorer's table replaced the traditional electric red light behind the backboard, and a shot clock visible to all three viewable sides was mandated.
Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals series between the Kings and the Lakers is considered to be one of the most controversial games in NBA history, as numerous questionable calls went against the Kings in the fourth quarter. The Lakers, led by O'Neal's 41 points and 17 rebounds, won, 106–102, setting the stage for Game 7 in Sacramento. There are allegations that the game was affected by the referees in relationship to the Tim Donaghy scandal.
This season marked the first time the league's scoring leader (in this case Allen Iverson) failed to make the All-NBA First Team.

2001–02 NBA changes

Dallas Mavericks – added new logo and new uniforms, replacing blue and green with dark navy blue, grey and black, and moved into their new arena the American Airlines Center.
Detroit Pistons – added new logo and new uniforms, also brought back original red, white and blue colors replacing teal and maroon, added side panels to their jerseys and shorts.
Los Angeles Lakers – added new logo changed from a lighter purple to a darker purple still remained with the gold and black color.
New York Knicks – slightly changed their uniforms, removed from the jersey numbers with side stripes and panels to their shorts.
Memphis Grizzlies – relocation from Canada to the United States, and moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Changed wordmark on their jerseys.
Miami Heat – added new red alternate uniforms with black side panels to their jerseys and shorts.
Milwaukee Bucks – slightly changed their uniforms, added side panels to their jerseys.
Seattle SuperSonics – added new logo and new uniforms, also brought back original yellow and emerald green colors replacing dark green and red.

Teams

2001-02 National Basketball Association

Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Atlantic	Boston Celtics	Boston, Massachusetts	FleetCenter	19,156
	Miami Heat	Miami, Florida	American Airlines Arena	19,500
	New Jersey Nets	East Rutherford, New Jersey	Continental Airlines Arena	20,049
	New York Knicks	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden	19,812
	Orlando Magic	Orlando, Florida	TD Waterhouse Centre	17,283
	Philadelphia 76ers	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	First Union Center	20,338
	Washington Wizards	Washington, District of Columbia	MCI Center	20,356
Central	Atlanta Hawks	Atlanta, Georgia	Philips Arena	20,233
	Charlotte Hornets	Charlotte, North Carolina	Charlotte Coliseum	24,042
	Chicago Bulls	Chicago, Illinois	United Center	21,711
	Cleveland Cavaliers	Cleveland, Ohio	Gund Arena	19,432
	Detroit Pistons	Auburn Hills, Michigan	The Palace of Auburn Hills	22,076
	Indiana Pacers	Indianapolis, Indiana	Conseco Fieldhouse	18,345
	Milwaukee Bucks	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Bradley Center	18,717
	Toronto Raptors	Toronto, Ontario	Air Canada Centre	19,800

Midwest	Dallas Mavericks	Dallas, Texas	American Airlines Center	19,200
	Denver Nuggets	Denver, Colorado	Pepsi Center	19,099
	Houston Rockets	Houston, Texas	Compaq Center	16,285
	Memphis Grizzlies	Memphis, Tennessee	Pyramid Arena	20,142
	Minnesota Timberwolves	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Target Center	18,798
	San Antonio Spurs	San Antonio, Texas	Alamodome	20,557
	Utah Jazz	Salt Lake City, Utah	Delta Center	18,306
Pacific	Golden State Warriors	Oakland, California	The Arena in Oakland	19,596
	Los Angeles Clippers	Los Angeles, California	Staples Center	19,079
	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles, California	Staples Center	19,079
	Phoenix Suns	Phoenix, Arizona	America West Arena	19,023
	Portland Trail Blazers	Portland, Oregon	Rose Garden	21,401
	Sacramento Kings	Sacramento, California	ARCO Arena	17,317
	Seattle SuperSonics	Seattle, Washington	Key Arena	17,072

Map of teams

Standings

By division

Eastern Conference

By conference

Notes

z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
y – Clinched division title
x – Clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

See main article: 2002 NBA playoffs. Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.

Statistics leaders


Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game			31.4
Rebounds per game			13.0
Assists per game			10.9
Steals per game			2.8
Blocks per game			3.5
FG%			.579
FT%			.911
3FG%			.472

Awards

Yearly awards

Most Valuable Player

Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs

Rookie of the Year

Pau Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies

Defensive Player of the Year

Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons

Sixth Man of the Year

Corliss Williamson, Detroit Pistons

Most Improved Player

Jermaine O'Neal, Indiana Pacers

Coach of the Year

Rick Carlisle, Detroit Pistons

Executive of the Year

Rod Thorn, New Jersey Nets

Sportsmanship Award

Steve Smith, San Antonio Spurs

All-NBA First Team

- F – Tracy McGrady, Orlando Magic
- F – Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
- C – Shaquille O'Neal, Los Angeles Lakers
- G – Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
- G – Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets

All-NBA Second Team:
- - - F – Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves F – Chris Webber, Sacramento Kings
- C – Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
- G – Gary Payton, Seattle SuperSonics
- G – Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers

All-NBA Third Team
- F – Jermaine O'Neal, Indiana Pacers
- F – Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons
- C – Dikembe Mutombo, Philadelphia 76ers
- G – Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics
- G – Steve Nash, Dallas Mavericks

NBA All-Defensive First Team

- F – Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
- F – Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves
- C – Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons
- G – Gary Payton, Seattle SuperSonics
- G – Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets

NBA All-Defensive Second Team
- F – Clifford Robinson, Detroit Pistons
- F – Bruce Bowen, San Antonio Spurs
- C – Dikembe Mutombo, Philadelphia 76ers
- G – Doug Christie, Sacramento Kings
- G – Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

NBA All-Rookie First Team

All-Rookie Second Team:
- Eddie Griffin, Houston Rockets
- Richard Jefferson, New Jersey Nets
- Joe Johnson, Phoenix Suns
- Vladimir Radmanović, Seattle SuperSonics
- Željko Rebrača, Detroit Pistons
- Jamaal Tinsley, Indiana Pacers

Players of the month

The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month.

Month	Eastern Conference	Western Conference
October – November	(New Jersey Nets) (1/1)	(Los Angeles Lakers) (1/1)
December	(Boston Celtics) (1/2) (Boston Celtics) (1/1)	(San Antonio Spurs) (1/2)
January	(Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)	(Sacramento Kings) (1/1)
February	(Orlando Magic) (1/1)	(Minnesota Timberwolves) (1/1)
March	(Detroit Pistons) (1/1)	(Phoenix Suns) (1/1)
April	(Boston Celtics) (2/2)	(San Antonio Spurs) (2/2)

Rookies of the month

The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month.

Month	Eastern Conference	Western Conference
October – November	(Indiana Pacers) (1/2)	(Memphis Grizzlies) (1/3)
December	(Washington Wizards) (1/1)	(Memphis Grizzlies) (1/1)
January	(New Jersey Nets) (1/1)	(Memphis Grizzlies) (2/3)
February	(Chicago Bulls) (1/1)	(Golden State Warriors) (1/1)
March	(Indiana Pacers) (2/2)	(Memphis Grizzlies) (3/3)
April	(Detroit Pistons) (1/1)	(Golden State Warriors) (1/1)

Coaches of the month

The following coaches were named Coaches of the Month.

Month	Coach
October – November	(Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)
December	(Washington Wizards) (1/1)
January	(Sacramento Kings) (1/1)
February	(Detroit Pistons) (1/1)
March	(San Antonio Spurs) (1/1)
April	(Toronto Raptors) (1/1)

Notes and References

See Berri, David J., Brook, Stacey L., Frick, Bernd, Fenn, Aju J. and Vicente-Mayoral, Roberto; 'The Short Supply of Tall People: Competitive Imbalance and the National Basketball Association'; Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Dec., 2005), pp. 1029–1041