1999–2000 Vancouver Grizzlies season

The 1999–2000 Vancouver Grizzlies season was the fifth season for the Vancouver Grizzlies in the National Basketball Association. After finishing the lockout season with the worst record, the Grizzlies received the second overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, and selected point guard Steve Francis from the University of Maryland. However, Francis refused to play for the Canadian team, and was later on traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for second-year guard Michael Dickerson, Othella Harrington, Brent Price and Antoine Carr; Dickerson would reunite with his former University of Arizona teammate, second-year star Mike Bibby. Francis, now with the Rockets, would be named the co-NBA Rookie of the Year along with Elton Brand of the Chicago Bulls. During the off-season, the Grizzlies signed free agents Grant Long, and three-point specialist Dennis Scott.

With the addition of Dickerson, Harrington, Long and Scott, the Grizzlies got off to a 3–3 start to the regular season, but continued to struggle posting an 11-game losing streak between November and December afterwards. Head coach Brian Hill was fired after a 4–18 start to the season, and was replaced with assistant coach Lionel Hollins. Under Hollins, the Grizzlies posted a six-game losing streak in January, and later on held a 14–34 record at the All-Star break. The team suffered a 12-game losing streak between February and March, losing 14 of their 15 games in March, and posted a seven-game losing streak in April. The Grizzlies finished in last place in the Midwest Division with a 22–60 record, which was the first time that the franchise had won 20 or more games during the regular season.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim averaged 20.3 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, while Dickerson averaged 18.2 points and 1.4 steals per game, and also led the Grizzlies with 119 three-point field goals, and Bibby provided the team with 14.5 points, 8.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game. In addition, Harrington contributed 13.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, and Bryant Reeves provided with 8.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Off the bench, Scott contributed 5.6 points per game, while Long provided with 4.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, but only played just 42 games due to a hand injury.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at The Arena in Oakland in Oakland, California, Dickerson and Bibby were both selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as members of the Sophomores team, while Bibby also participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout. Dickerson also finished tied in eighth place in Most Improved Player voting. The Grizzlies finished 27th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 569,864 at General Motors Place during the regular season, which was the third-lowest in the league.

Following the season, Scott was traded along with second-year guard Felipe López, and Cherokee Parks to the Washington Wizards, but was released to free agency, while Carr retired, and Hollins was fired as head coach.