2002–03 Memphis Grizzlies season

2002–03 Memphis Grizzlies season
Head coach
PresidentJerry West
General managerDick Versace
OwnerMichael Heisley
ArenaPyramid Arena
Results
Record28–54 (.341)
PlaceDivision: 6th (Midwest)
Conference: 12th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball Reference

The 2002–03 Memphis Grizzlies season was the eighth season for the Memphis Grizzlies in the National Basketball Association, and their second season in Memphis, Tennessee.[1] The Grizzlies received the fourth overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, and selected power forward Drew Gooden from the University of Kansas.[2][3][4] During the off-season, the team acquired rookie small forward Gordan Giriček from the San Antonio Spurs, acquired Wesley Person from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and signed free agents Earl Watson, and undrafted rookie power forward Mike Batiste.[5]

In their second season in Memphis, the Grizzlies continued to struggle losing their first eight games of the regular season, as head coach Sidney Lowe resigned and was replaced with 69-year old Hubie Brown, who last coached the New York Knicks midway through the 1986–87 season. Under Brown, the Grizzlies lost their next five games, which led to a 13-game losing streak, before defeating the Washington Wizards at home, 85–74 at the Pyramid Arena on November 23, 2002. After a dreadful 2–18 start to the season, the Grizzlies won 9 of their next 13 games, but later on posted a 7-game losing streak between January and February, and held a 13–35 record at the All-Star break.[6]

At mid-season, the team traded both Gooden, and Giriček to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Mike Miller, and rookie power forward Ryan Humphrey.[7][8] After the All-Star break, the Grizzlies won 11 of their next 17 games, which included a six-game winning streak in March, but soon posted another 7-game losing streak between March and April, while losing 13 of their final 17 games of the season. The Grizzlies finished in sixth place in the Midwest Division with a 28–54 record, which was a five-game improvement over the previous season; however, for the eighth consecutive year, the franchise failed to reach 30 wins, or qualify for the NBA playoffs.[9]

Second-year star Pau Gasol averaged 19.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, while Miller averaged 12.8 points per game in 16 games after the trade, and Jason Williams provided the team with 12.1 points and 8.3 assists per game, and also led them with 143 three-point field goals. In addition, Lorenzen Wright provided with 11.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while Person contributed 11.0 points per game and 100 three-point field goals, and second-year forward Shane Battier averaged 9.7 points and 1.3 steals per game. Meanwhile, Stromile Swift averaged 9.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, Batiste provided with 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, Watson contributed 5.5 points and 2.8 assists per game, and Brevin Knight contributed 3.9 points, 4.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game.[10]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, and before the mid-season trade, Gasol, Gooden and Giriček were all selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as Gasol was a member of the Sophomores team, while Gooden and Giriček were both members of the Rookies team.[11][12] Meanwhile, Person participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout.[11][13] Williams finished in seventh place in Most Improved Player voting, while Swift finished tied in 26th place,[14] and Brown finished in seventh place in Coach of the Year voting.[14]

The Grizzlies finished 24th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 611,322 at the Pyramid Arena during the regular season.[10][15] Following the season, Knight was traded to the Phoenix Suns, and Michael Dickerson retired after only five seasons in the NBA due to continuing injuries.

Draft picks

Main article: 2002 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 4 Drew Gooden PF/C  United States Kansas
2 31 Robert Archibald PF/C  United Kingdom Illinois
2 45 Matt Barnes SF  United States UCLA

Roster

2002–03 Memphis Grizzlies roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
C 21 Robert Archibald 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1980–03–29 Illinois
F 24 Mike Batiste 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1977–11–21 Arizona State
G/F 31 Shane Battier 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1978–09–09 Duke
G 8 Michael Dickerson  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1975–06–25 Arizona
F/C 16 Pau Gasol 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1980–07–06 Spain
PF 40 Ryan Humphrey 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1979–07–24 Notre Dame
G 22 Brevin Knight 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 173 lb (78 kg) 1975–11–08 Stanford
G/F 33 Mike Miller  6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1980–02–19 Florida
F 20 Chris Owens 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1979–03–01 Texas
G 1 Wesley Person 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1971–03–28 Auburn
F 4 Stromile Swift 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1979–11–21 LSU
C 15 Cezary Trybański 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1979–09–22 Poland
PG 25 Earl Watson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1979–06–12 UCLA
PG 2 Jason Williams 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1975–11–18 Florida
C 42 Lorenzen Wright  6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1975–11–04 Memphis
Head coach
Assistant(s)
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-San Antonio Spurs 60 22 .732 – 33–8 27–14 17–7
x-Dallas Mavericks 60 22 .732 – 33–8 27–14 18–6
x-Minnesota Timberwolves 51 31 .622 9 33–8 18–23 15–9
x-Utah Jazz 47 35 .573 13 29–12 18–23 15–9
e-Houston Rockets 43 39 .524 17 28–13 15–26 11–13
e-Memphis Grizzlies 28 54 .341 32 20–21 8–33 5–17
e-Denver Nuggets 17 65 .207 43 13–28 4–37 3–21
#
Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-San Antonio Spurs 60 22 .732 –
2 y-Sacramento Kings 59 23 .720 1
3 x-Dallas Mavericks 60 22 .732 –
4 x-Minnesota Timberwolves 51 31 .622 9
5 x-Los Angeles Lakers 50 32 .610 10
6 x-Portland Trail Blazers 50 32 .610 10
7 x-Utah Jazz 47 35 .573 13
8 x-Phoenix Suns 44 38 .537 16
9 e-Houston Rockets 43 39 .524 17
10 e-Seattle SuperSonics 40 42 .488 20
11 e-Golden State Warriors 38 44 .463 22
12 e-Memphis Grizzlies 28 54 .341 32
13 e-Los Angeles Clippers 27 55 .329 33
14 e-Denver Nuggets 17 65 .207 43
z - clinched division title
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

Player statistics

Ragular season

Player POS GP GS MP REB AST STL BLK PTS MPG RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Pau Gasol PF 82 82 2,948 720 229 34 148 1,555 36.0 8.8 2.8 .4 1.8 19.0
Earl Watson PG 79 2 1,366 164 225 89 14 433 17.3 2.1 2.8 1.1 .2 5.5
Shane Battier SF 78 47 2,383 345 105 102 88 756 30.6 4.4 1.3 1.3 1.1 9.7
Jason Williams PG 76 76 2,407 212 631 91 10 919 31.7 2.8 8.3 1.2 .1 12.1
Michael Batiste PF 75 2 1,248 257 52 42 16 481 16.6 3.4 .7 .6 .2 6.4
Lorenzen Wright C 70 49 1,982 528 80 51 54 797 28.3 7.5 1.1 .7 .8 11.4
Stromile Swift PF 67 26 1,478 384 45 55 104 647 22.1 5.7 .7 .8 1.6 9.7
Wesley Person SG 66 44 1,941 192 112 42 19 727 29.4 2.9 1.7 .6 .3 11.0
Brevin Knight PG 55 4 928 81 233 69 2 216 16.9 1.5 4.2 1.3 .0 3.9
Drew Gooden† SF 51 29 1,329 295 63 38 22 616 26.1 5.8 1.2 .7 .4 12.1
Gordan Giriček† SG 49 35 1,187 108 70 22 6 548 24.2 2.2 1.4 .4 .1 11.2
Mike Miller† SF 16 13 360 55 31 6 5 205 22.5 3.4 1.9 .4 .3 12.8
Cezary Trybański C 15 0 86 14 1 0 6 14 5.7 .9 .1 .0 .4 .9
Ryan Humphrey† PF 13 0 122 30 4 5 2 29 9.4 2.3 .3 .4 .2 2.2
Robert Archibald PF 12 0 72 17 3 0 3 19 6.0 1.4 .3 .0 .3 1.6
Michael Dickerson SG 6 1 87 6 8 5 1 29 14.5 1.0 1.3 .8 .2 4.8
Chris Owens SF 1 0 6 1 0 0 0 4 6.0 1.0 .0 .0 .0 4.0
  • † Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Grizzlies only.

Awards and records

References

  1. ^ 2002-03 Memphis Grizzlies
  2. ^ Passan, Jeff (June 27, 2002). "Rockets Select Yao No. 1 Overall in Draft". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  3. ^ "Rockets Make Yao Ming First Overall Pick". ESPN. June 26, 2002. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  4. ^ "2002 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  5. ^ "WESTERN CONFERENCE: Team-by-Team Preview". The New York Times. October 28, 2002. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  6. ^ "NBA Games Played on February 6, 2003". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2026.
  7. ^ "Magic Trades Miller for Grizzlies' Gooden". The Washington Post. February 20, 2003. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  8. ^ Schmitz, Brian (February 20, 2003). "Magic Trade Miller, Get 2 Rookies". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  9. ^ "2002–03 Memphis Grizzlies Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  10. ^ a b "2002–03 Memphis Grizzlies Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Basketball". The Madison Courier. February 8, 2003. p. A8. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  12. ^ "2003 NBA Rising Stars: Sophomores 132, Rookies 112". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  13. ^ "NBA & ABA All-Star Game Contest Winners". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  14. ^ a b "2002–03 NBA Awards Voting". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2026.
  15. ^ "2002–03 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2026.

See also

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