The2000–01 Phoenix Suns season was the 33rd season for thePhoenix Suns in theNational Basketball Association.^[1] During the off-season, the Suns signed free agentsMario Elie,^[2][3][4] andTony Delk,^[5][6] and acquiredChris Dudley from theNew York Knicks in a four-team trade.^[7]

In their first full season withScott Skiles ashead coach, the Suns posted a 7-game winning streak early into the regular season, and held a 28–20 record at the All-Star break.^[8] The team posted another 7-game winning streak between March and April, and finished in third place in thePacific Division with a 51–31 record, which earned them the sixth seed in theWestern Conference;^[9] the Suns qualified for theNBA playoffs for the 13th consecutive year, which was a franchise record.^[10]

Second-year forwardShawn Marion showed improvement averaging 17.3points, 10.7rebounds, 1.7steals and 1.4blocks per game, whileJason Kidd averaged 16.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 9.8assists and 2.2 steals per game, and was named to theAll-NBA First Team, and to theNBA All-Defensive First Team, andClifford Robinson provided the team with 16.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. In addition, Delk and last season's Sixth Man of the Year,Rodney Rogers, both played sixth man roles off the bench, as Delk contributed 12.3 points per game, while Rogers provided with 12.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. Meanwhile,Penny Hardaway was the team's highest-paid player, but only played in just four games due to a knee injury, averaging 9.8 points, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game,^[11][12] whileTom Gugliotta averaged 6.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, but only played 57 games also due to injury, second-round draft pickJake Tsakalidis provided with 4.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, and Elie contributed 4.4 points per game.^[13]

During theNBA All-Star weekend at theMCI Center inWashington, D.C., Kidd was selected for the2001 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team.^[14][15][16] In addition, Kidd also participated in theNBA 2Ball Competition for the second consecutive year, along withBrandy Reed of theWNBA'sPhoenix Mercury,^[17][18] while Marion was selected for theNBA Rookie Challenge Game, as a member of the Sophomores team.^[19][20] Kidd finished in eighth place inMost Valuable Player voting,^[21] while Marion finished in fourth place inMost Improved Player voting;^[21] Kidd and Marion both finished tied in eleventh place inDefensive Player of the Year voting,^[21] while Rogers finished tied in sixth place inSixth Man of the Year voting, and with Delk finishing tied in tenth place.^[21]

In the Western Conference First Round of the2001 NBA playoffs, the Suns faced off against the 3rd–seededSacramento Kings, who were led by All-Star forwardChris Webber,Peja Stojaković, and All-Star centerVlade Divac. The Suns won Game 1 over the Kings on the road, 86–83 at theARCO Arena II,^[22][23] but then lost the next three games, including a Game 4 home loss to the Kings at theAmerica West Arena, 89–82, thus losing the series in four games.^[24][25][26]

The Suns finished ninth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 737,586 at the America West Arena during the regular season.^[13][27] Following the season, Kidd was traded to theNew Jersey Nets after four in a half seasons with the Suns,^[28][29][30] while Robinson was dealt to theDetroit Pistons,^[31][32][33] Dudley re-signed as a free agent with his former team, thePortland Trail Blazers, and Elie retired.

For the season, the Suns redesigned their primary logo, adding grey to their color scheme of purple and orange,^[34] and changed their uniforms, adding side panels to their jerseys and shorts.^[35][36] The team's primary logo and uniforms would both remain in use until 2013.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College / Club Team
1	25	Iakovos "Jake" Tsakalidis	Center	Georgia	AEK(Greece)

• Jason Kidd was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in theAll-Star Game. It was his fourth All-Star selection. Kidd finished second in voting among Western Conference guards with 1,062,837 votes.

• Jason Kidd was named to theAll-NBA First Team. Kidd also finished eighth inMVP voting.^[37][21]
• Jason Kidd was named to theNBA All-Defensive First Team. Kidd also finished 11th inDefensive Player of the Year voting.^[37][21]
• Jason Kidd led the league in assists per game, with a 9.8 average, and total assists with 753.
• Shawn Marion finished 11th inDefensive Player of the Year voting, and fourth inMost Improved Player voting.^[37][21]
• Rodney Rogers finished sixth inSixth Man of the Year voting.^[37][21] Rogers won the award the previous year in 2000.
• Tony Delk finished tenth inSixth Man of the Year voting.^[37][21]

* – Stats with the Suns.
† – Minimum 300 field goals made.
^ – Minimum 125 free throws made.

Player statistics citation:^[13]

September 20, 2000	ToNew York Knicks Lazaro Borrell Travis Knight Luc Longley Vernon Maxwell Glen Rice Vladimir Stepania 2001 first-round draft pick (Jamaal Tinsley) 2001 second-round draft pick (Eric Chenowith) 2001 second-round draft pick (Michael Wright 2002 first-round draft pick (Kareem Rush)	ToLos Angeles Lakers Emanual Davis Greg Foster Horace Grant Chuck Person
	ToSeattle SuperSonics Patrick Ewing	ToPhoenix Suns Chris Dudley 2001 first-round draft pick (Jason Collins) Cash considerations
January 26, 2001	ToGolden State Warriors Corie Blount Rubén Garcés Paul McPherson	ToPhoenix Suns Vinny Del Negro

Player Transactions Citation:^[38]

• Standings on Basketball Reference

• Phoenix Suns seasons

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2023
• Short description is different from Wikidata