2000–01 Boston Celtics season 2000–01 Boston Celtics season The 2000–01 NBA season was the 55th season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. During the offseason, the Celtics acquired Bryant Stith from the Denver Nuggets. The Celtics played around .500 in November, but then struggled as Kenny Anderson played just 33 games due to an ankle injury and broken jaw. With a 12–22 start to the season, a frustrated Rick Pitino resigned as head coach after three years with the Celtics. Under replacement Jim O'Brien, they played around .500 for the remainder of the season finishing fifth in the Atlantic Division with
Original Celtics of owner Jim Furry for embezzling $190,000 from a New York business. Then, in early October, just a month before the ABL season was to get underway, the Celtics bolted to the newly organized National Basketball League. The new league operated solely in and around the metropolitan New York City, but despite its geographical limitations was stocked with some of the best players in the country. After pulling off a coup by signing the Original Celtics, the NBL brashly raided ABL rosters for additional players. The Brooklyn Arcadians were particularly hard hit, losing stars Red Conaty and Rody Cooney, while