2000–01 Houston Rockets season
The 2000–01 NBA season was the Rockets' 34th season in the National Basketball Association, and 30th season in the city of Houston. The Rockets had the ninth pick in the 2000 NBA draft, and selected Joel Przybilla from the University of Minnesota, but soon traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks for rookie center Jason Collier. In an effort to shore up their front line, the Rockets signed free agent Maurice Taylor during the off-season. After the retirement of Charles Barkley, second-year star Steve Francis continued to emerge as the new star of the Rockets  averaging 19.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game. The Rockets got off to a 13–9 start to the season, but then went on a six-game losing streak afterwards. They would recover and play above .500 for the remainder of the season. However, the Rockets missed the playoffs despite finishing fifth in the Midwest Division with a winning record of 45–37, which was two games behind the 8th-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves. Cuttino Mobley finished second on the team in scoring averaging 19.5 points per game, while Taylor provided the team with 13.0 points and 5.5 rebounds  per game, and Hakeem Olajuwon contributed 11.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. This season also marked an end of an era as Olajuwon was traded to the Toronto Raptors following the season, after seventeen seasons with the Rockets. Also following the season, Shandon Anderson was traded to the New York Knicks, while Carlos Rogers signed as a free agent with the Indiana Pacers, and three-point specialist Matt Bullard signed with the Charlotte Hornets.