1999–2000 Boston Celtics season

The 1999–00 NBA season was the 54th season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Celtics acquired Danny Fortson, and former Celtics forward Eric Williams from the Denver Nuggets,   and signed free agents Calbert Cheaney,   and undrafted rookie guard Adrian Griffin. In their third season under head coach Rick Pitino, the Celtics won their first three games, but played below .500 for the first few months, holding a 21–28 record at the All-Star break. At midseason, the team traded Fortson to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Alvin Williams, but the trade was voided due to Williams failing his physical exam; Fortson only played 55 games this season due to a stress fracture in his right foot. The Celtics struggled and suffered a ten-game losing streak between March and April, but managed to win five of their final six games, finishing fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 35–47 record, and missing the playoffs again for the fifth straight season.

Second-year star Paul Pierce had a stellar season, averaging 19.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, while Antoine Walker averaged 20.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, and Kenny Anderson contributed 14.0 points, 5.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game. In addition, Vitaly Potapenko provided the team with 9.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, and Griffin provided with 6.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. Off the bench, Fortson averaged 7.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, while Williams and Dana Barros both contributed 7.2 points per game each, and Tony Battie provided with 6.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

This season also reached a breaking point for the Celtics, after a 96–94 home loss to the Raptors on March 1, 2000, where All-Star guard Vince Carter hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, which even drew cheers from the Celtics fans at the Fleet Center; Pitino went on a legendary rant in his post-game interview, wherein he blamed fans and the media for being negative towards the Celtics, and demanded them to stop reliving past glories; best remembered by the phrase "walking through that door", as he referred to retired Celtics legends Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, who all won three championships with the team in the 1980s. This would not leave Celtics fans nor the Boston media any more satiated, and contributed to his eventual downfall.

Following the season, the Celtics were involved in a four-team trade, as Barros was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, while Fortson was dealt to the Golden State Warriors. However, Barros never played for the Mavericks, as he was traded to the Detroit Pistons two months later. Meanwhile, Cheaney was traded to the Denver Nuggets,  and Pervis Ellison signed as a free agent with the Seattle SuperSonics. For the season, the team added their alternate logo of a cloverleaf above the shorts of their uniforms.

Roster Notes

 * Guard/forward Greg Minor missed the entire season due to a hip injury.