2000-01

A highly active summer produced a youth movement in 2000-01. Forward Corey Maggette and the Draft rights to Keyon Dooling were traded to the Clippers from Orlando, and the club used two first round draft picks to add Darius Miles (3rd Overall) and Quentin Richardson (18th Overall) to the roster. Changes were also made on the bench, as Alvin Gentry became the Clippers' third Head Coach in four seasons. With only six players returning from the 1999-00 squad (which soon became five after Tyrone Nesby was traded to Washington in November), Forward Lamar Odom found himself in a leadership role in just his second professional season. Odom responded with team leading averages in points (17.2), rebounds (7.8), blocks (1.6) and steals (.97). For good measure, he finished second behind Jeff McInnis in assists with 5.2 per game. Odom also established a new Clippers franchise record by recording four triple doubles in a single season. Although the team struggled at times, they brought fans out of their seats with dunks, highlight plays and no-look passes. Nowhere was this more evident than during the 2001 NBA All Star Weekend in Washington, as Odom, Miles, and Richardson battled it out in the Rookie Challenge while Maggette "flipped" in the Dunk contest. The season ended with a 31-51 record for Los Angeles, thanks in large part to an NBA-best 37.0 ppg supplied by the Clippers bench.