1999–2000 NBA season

54th NBA season

Sports season

The 1999–2000 NBA season was the 54th season of the National Basketball Association. The season began on November 2, 1999, and ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA championship, beating the Indiana Pacers 4 games to 2 in the 2000 NBA Finals.

Players warming up prior to an April 2000 game between the Charlotte Hornets and the season's eventual Eastern Conference champions Indiana Pacers at the Charlotte Coliseum.

Notable occurrences

• Effective this season, the first game of the NBA regular season begins on either the first Tuesday of November or the last Tuesday of October, and the last game on the third Wednesday of April. The NBA playoffs begin on the third Saturday of April.
• Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain died on October 12, 1999, at 63.^[1] Wilt's former teams, the Lakers, Sixers, and Warriors honored him by sporting black patches for the rest of the season.
• The Boston Celtics officially retired their trademark parquet floor on December 22, 1999, after 54 years. The floor would be replaced by a replica combining elements of the old floor and new wooden sections.^[2]
• Two active players were killed in automobile accidents within four months of each other.
  • On January 12, Bobby Phills of the Charlotte Hornets was killed as a result of reckless driving while racing against teammate David Wesley.^[3] Phills would have his jersey retired during the season after news of his unexpected death was announced.^[4]
  • On May 20, Malik Sealy of the Minnesota Timberwolves was driving home from a birthday party being held for Kevin Garnett when his SUV was struck by a drunk driver who had been driving on the wrong side of the road.^[5] Sealy would have his jersey retired on November 4, 2000.^[6]
• The Lakers would also go on to win 19 consecutive games between February 4, 2000, and March 16, 2000, the sixth-longest winning streak in NBA history.^[7]
• The 2000 NBA All-Star Game was held in Oakland, California. The West won 137–126. Tim Duncan from the San Antonio Spurs and Shaquille O'Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers shared the game's MVP honors.^[8] The Slam Dunk Contest returned after a two-year absence, with Vince Carter winning the title in what is considered to be the best Dunk Contest performance of all time.^[9]
• San Antonio Spurs forward Sean Elliott was sidelined for most of the season while undergoing kidney transplant operations. He successfully returned on March 13, becoming the first player to return following kidney transplant.^[10]
• Staples Center's first season saw its tenants at two opposite ends of the league: the Lakers finished with a best regular season record of 67–15 and the NBA title, while the Clippers finished 15–67, the worst of the season.^[11]
• The Toronto Raptors also made the playoffs for the first time, becoming the first Canadian team to do so.
• 36-year-old Houston Rockets forward Charles Barkley suffered a devastating injury early in the season but returned for a final game before retiring.^[12]
• The season marked Patrick Ewing's last in a New York Knicks uniform. He was traded during the 2000 offseason to the Seattle SuperSonics in a four-team deal.^[13]
• Doc Rivers became the first recipient of the NBA Coach of the Year Award to have not led his team to the playoffs. He coached the Orlando Magic to a respectable 41–41 (.500) record, good enough for the 9th seed in the East.^[14]
• During Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, the Portland Trail Blazers held a 75–60 lead over the Los Angeles Lakers with 10:28 left to play. During the fourth quarter, the Blazers would miss thirteen consecutive shots, allowing the Lakers to claw back and take the game, 89–84. The game was capped off with a famous alley-oop to Shaquille O'Neal from Kobe Bryant.^[15]
• The Indiana Pacers advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.^[16]
• Kevin Johnson returned from retirement to replace the injured Jason Kidd of the Phoenix Suns in this season's playoffs, but the Suns fell to the Lakers in the second round and Johnson would retire again.

1999–2000 NBA changes

• The Atlanta Hawks moved into the Philips Arena (now State Farm Arena) and changed their uniforms added white (road), and red (home) side panels to their jerseys and shorts.^[17]
• The Boston Celtics added their alternate logo of a cloverleaf above the shorts of their uniforms.
• The Cleveland Cavaliers changed their uniforms, removing the blue areas from their jerseys.
• The Denver Nuggets moved into the Pepsi Center (now Ball Arena).^[18]
• The Detroit Pistons added new maroon alternate uniforms added black side panels to their jerseys and shorts.
• The Indiana Pacers moved into Conseco Fieldhouse, now Gainbridge Fieldhouse.^[19]
• The Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers both moved into the Staples Center, now Crypto.com Arena, while the Lakers changed their uniforms added gold (road), and purple (home) side panels to their jerseys and shorts.^[20]
• The Miami Heat changed their logo and uniforms added dark red (road), and also dark red (home) side panels to their jerseys and shorts, and moved into the AmericanAirlines Arena in January 2000 (now Kaseya Center).^[21]
• The Philadelphia 76ers added new blue alternate uniforms.
• The Seattle SuperSonics added new red alternate uniforms added dark green side panels to their jerseys and shorts.
• The Toronto Raptors changed their uniforms removing the pinstripes added side panels to their jerseys and shorts. They also played their first full season at Air Canada Centre (now Scotiabank Arena).

Teams

Map of teams

Final standings

By division

Eastern Conference

Western 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

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.

• * Division winner
• Bold Series winner
• Italic Team with home-court advantage

Statistics leaders

NBA awards

• Most Valuable Player: Shaquille O'Neal, Los Angeles Lakers
• Co-Rookies of the Year: Elton Brand, Chicago Bulls; Steve Francis, Houston Rockets
• Defensive Player of the Year: Alonzo Mourning, Miami Heat
• Sixth Man of the Year: Rodney Rogers, Phoenix Suns
• Most Improved Player: Jalen Rose, Indiana Pacers
• Coach of the Year: Doc Rivers, Orlando Magic
• Executive of the Year: John Gabriel, Orlando Magic
• Sportsmanship Award: Eric Snow, Philadelphia 76ers

Players of the month

The following players were named the Players of the Month.

Rookies of the month

The following players were named the Rookies of the Month.

Coaches of the month

The following coaches were named Coaches of the Month.

Notes

1. Entered the NBA as Ron Artest before changing his name in 2011.

See also

• List of NBA regular season records

References

1. Litsky, Frank (October 12, 1999). "Wilt Chamberlain Is Dead at 63". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
2. "ESPN.com - NBA - Celtics to officially replace parquet floor". www.espn.com. November 22, 2000. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
3. "ESPN.com - NBA - Hornets' Phills, 30, killed in car crash". a.espncdn.com. January 16, 2000. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
4. "Hornets Retire Phills' No. 13". www.nba.com. February 7, 2000. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
5. "ESPN.com - NBA - Sealy dies in collision with pickup truck". www.espn.com. May 22, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
6. Timberwolves, Minnesota. "Timberwolves History - Wolves Transactions". www.nba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
7. Fromal, Adam (March 22, 2013). "Ranking Most Impressive Stretches of Kobe Bryant's Career". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
8. "2000 NBA All-Star recap". NBA.com. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
9. Zarum, Dave. "The oral history of Vince Carter's dunk contest win". sportsnet.ca. Archived from the original on September 23, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
10. Rayford, Meg (November 10, 2014). "National Kidney Foundation's Michele Anthony and Wizards Alumni Association Executive Director Bob Dandridge on the 34th Annual Kidney Ball | WashingtonExec". Retrieved February 1, 2024.
11. Treat, Jeremy (April 15, 2016). "A Mini History of the L.A. Clippers". LAmag - Culture, Food, Fashion, News & Los Angeles. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
12. Alexander, Rachel (December 9, 1999). "Washingtonpost.com: Barkley's Career Ends on Injury". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
13. "Legends profile: Patrick Ewing". NBA.com. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
14. Ferguson, Mike (April 26, 2020). "20-year Orlandoversary: Magic's Doc Rivers named NBA Coach of the Year". Orlando Pinstriped Post. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
15. Beck, Howard (June 4, 2020). "'Bryant...to Shaq!'". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
16. Michael, J. (June 5, 2020). "20 years later, Pacers reflect on only NBA Finals trip: 'You always wonder what could've been.'". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
17. "Atlanta Hawks Historical Timeline: Heritage Hall". www.nba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
18. "Pepsi Center". InsideArenas.com. January 15, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
19. "20 Years of Fieldhouse Memories with Many More to Come". www.nba.com. November 19, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
20. "A behind-the-scenes look at the center of NBA star power". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
21. "Kaseya Center: These Are All the Names the Miami-Dade Arena Has Had in Over 20 Years". NBC 6 South Florida. April 6, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
22. "League Honors". The Ledger. April 5, 2000. pp. C8. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
23. "Payton NBA player of the month - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
24. "ESPN.com - NBA - Francis, Brand tie in rookie voting". www.espn.com. Retrieved August 2, 2024.