2000–01 Atlanta Hawks season

The 2000–01 NBA season was the 52nd season for the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association, and their 33rd season in Atlanta, Georgia. The Hawks received the sixth overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft, and selected small forward DerMarr Johnson from the University of Cincinnati. During the off-season, the team signed free agent Matt Maloney, and re-signed former Hawks guard Anthony Johnson after a brief stint with the Orlando Magic.

Under new head coach Lon Kruger, the Hawks got off to a bad start losing their first seven games of the regular season, but then played .500 basketball by posting a 7–7 record in December. In January, the team traded Johnson and Jim Jackson to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Brevin Knight.

At mid-season, Dikembe Mutombo, who was selected for the 2001 NBA All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., was traded along with Roshown McLeod to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Theo Ratliff, Toni Kukoč and Nazr Mohammed; however, Ratliff injured his wrist prior to the trade, and was out for the remainder of the season. Mutombo would later on be named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year with the 76ers, who went on to lose in five games to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2001 NBA Finals. The Hawks continued to struggle losing ten straight games between February and March, as they finished in seventh place in the Central Division with a 25–57 record.

Second-year star Jason Terry showed improvement averaging 19.7 points, 4.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and also leading the Hawks with 124 three-point field goals. In addition, Lorenzen Wright averaged 12.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while Alan Henderson provided the team with 10.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, and Knight contributed 6.9 points, 6.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game in 47 games with the team after the trade. Terry finished tied in seventh place in Most Improved Player voting, while Ratliff finished in seventh place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

The Hawks finished 27th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 560,330 at the Philips Arena, which was the third-lowest during the regular season. Following the season, Wright and Knight were both traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, and Maloney was released to free agency.