The
NBA All-Star Game was held at the
MCI Center in Washington, D.C.. The East won 111–110, with Philadelphia's
Allen Iverson being named the game's Most Valuable Player. The game is noted for the Eastern Conference's 21-point comeback in the fourth quarter.
Rick Pitino resigned as head coach and president of the
Boston Celtics, ending a three-plus-year tenure filled with turmoil, disappointment and three consecutive below .500, non-playoff seasons.[2]
The
Los Angeles Lakers win their second straight title by going 15–1 in the playoffs, then the best playoff winning percentage in NBA history (later surpassed by the 2017 Golden State Warriors).
The
Toronto Raptors advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs for the first time in franchise history, defeating the New York Knicks three games to two. The Raptors would eventually lose in the second round to the Philadelphia 76ers four games to three.
Prior to the season,
Miami Heat center
Alonzo Mourning announced that he suffered a
kidney disorder and missed the first five months of the season. Mourning would receive a kidney transplant two years later.
Effective of this season, the league now permitted players to wear knee-length shorts by default, although players like
John Stockton opted to continue wearing short shorts during the season. This would be the case for other players in the future as players like
Chris Douglas-Roberts in the
2014–15 season and
LeBron James for some of the
2015–16 season would opt to wear short shorts.
Three teams in the Western Conference who missed the playoffs won 40 or more games. The ninth-placed
Houston Rockets finished the season with a 45–37 record, the tenth-placed
Seattle SuperSonics finished with a 44–38 record, and the eleventh-placed
Denver Nuggets ended the season with a 40–42 record.
2000–01 NBA changes
The
Los Angeles Clippers changed their uniforms, added side panels to their jerseys and shorts.
The
New Jersey Nets slightly changed their alternate uniforms.
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.