2000-01_Philadelphia_76ers_season
2000–01 Philadelphia 76ers season
NBA professional basketball team season
The 2000–01 NBA season was the 76ers 52nd season in the National Basketball Association, and 38th season in Philadelphia.[1] All-Star guard Allen Iverson had his best season in 2001; he led the 76ers to win their first ten games, and started for the Eastern Conference at the 2001 NBA All-Star Game in Washington D.C., and won All-Star MVP honors.[2][3][4][5][6][7] The Sixers also posted a 56–26 record, which was the best in the Eastern Conference that season, and the team's first 50-win season since 1989–90.[8] It was also the 76ers' best regular season record since 1984–85.[9]
Iverson averaged a then-career high of 31.1 points per game, winning his second NBA scoring title in the process. He also won the NBA steals title at 2.5 per game, and contributed 4.6 assists per game.[10] Iverson was selected to the All-NBA First Team, and named NBA Most Valuable Player for his accomplishments, beating Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal by a wide margin.[11][12][13][14] In addition, head coach Larry Brown was named NBA Coach of the Year,[15] All-Star center Dikembe Mutombo, who was acquired from the Atlanta Hawks in a midseason trade,[16][17][18] won his fourth NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award,[19][20] while being named to the All-NBA Second Team and NBA All-Defensive First Team, and Aaron McKie won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award.[21][22][23] McKie averaged 11.6 points, 5.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game, while Tyrone Hill provided the team with 9.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, Eric Snow contributed 9.8 points, 7.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game, but only played just 50 games due to a stress fracture in his right ankle,[24] and George Lynch provided with 8.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.[10] The 76ers had the fifth best team defensive rating in the NBA.[25]
However, this season was not without controversy. With the Sixers having a big lead in the Eastern Conference with a 36–14 record at the All-Star break,[26] Theo Ratliff sustained a wrist injury that sidelined him for the remainder of season after 50 games,[27][28] thus only having Matt Geiger and second-year player Todd MacCulloch at center. Ratliff was also selected to play in the All-Star Game along with Iverson, but did not play because of his injury.[29] The Sixers then traded him along with Toni Kukoč, and Nazr Mohammed to Atlanta for Mutombo.[16][17][18] By trading Kukoc (who was not included in the original proposed deal, and who won three championships with Phil Jackson as his coach during his tenure with the Chicago Bulls), the Sixers had only one other player on the roster who had NBA Finals experience, Snow, who played a total of 24 minutes in 10 games in the 1996 NBA Playoffs as a reserve for the Seattle SuperSonics. At one point the team's record was 42–14, but finished 14–12 the rest of the way, including a five-game losing streak in March.[8]
In the last game of the season (at home against the Chicago Bulls), Larry Brown rested his starters instead of trying to go for a win. Had the Sixers won this game, they would have had the league's second best record (behind the San Antonio Spurs), and home court advantage over the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. Both had the same record, but the Lakers' record for non-conference opponents was better than Philadelphia's.
In the playoffs, Iverson and the Sixers faced the 8th-seeded Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference First Round. Despite losing Game 1 at home, 79–78,[30][31] the Sixers won the next three games, thus the series,[32][33][34][35] before meeting the Vince Carter-led Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals. The Raptors took a 2–1 series lead,[36][37] but the Sixers managed to win the series in seven games.[38][39][40][41] In the Eastern Conference finals, the Sixers trailed 2–1 to the Milwaukee Bucks,[42][43] but managed to win the series also in seven games,[44][45][46][47] to advance to the NBA Finals against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. Iverson scored 48 points in Game 1, which the Sixers won on the road in overtime, 107–101.[48][49][50] However, the Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant-led Lakers would win the next four games and the title.[51][52][53][54][55] Following the season, Hill was traded along with second-year forward Jumaine Jones back to his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers,[56][57] and Lynch was dealt to the Charlotte Hornets.[58][59]
The team's season roster has been featured in the video game series NBA 2K. However, Rodney Buford, Roshown McLeod, Kevin Ollie, Pepe Sánchez, Raja Bell, and Speedy Claxton have been excluded from past installations of the game due to issues in regards to the permission of using the players' likenesses in the games.[60]
For the season, the 76ers slightly redesigned their uniforms, which remained in use until 2007.[61][62] This was the last time the 76ers won the Atlantic Division title, and clinched the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs until the 2020–21 COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season.
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