The 2000–01 NBA season was the Wizards’ 40th season in the National Basketball Association. Washington D.C. hosted the 2001 NBA All-Star Game. During the off-season, the Wizards acquired Felipe López and Cherokee Parks from the Vancouver Grizzlies, and acquired Popeye Jones from the Denver Nuggets. Under new head coach Leonard Hamilton, and later on trading Parks to the Los Angeles Clippers for Tyrone Nesby, the Wizards continued to struggle posting a nine-game losing streak between November and December. The team lost nine straight again in January leading to an awful 7–34 start to the season, as Mitch Richmond only played just 37 games due to knee injuries. People scoffed that their best player, and the team’s Vice President Michael Jordan was sitting up in the owner's box. At midseason, Juwan Howard, who grew disgruntled with all the team failures, was traded along with second-year center Calvin Booth to the Dallas Mavericks for Christian Laettner, Hubert Davis, Loy Vaught and rookies Courtney Alexander and Etan Thomas, who was out for the entire season with a toe injury, 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.