2002–03 Memphis Grizzlies season

March 2026 August 2023 Memphis Grizzlies 2003 28 54 Midwest 6 12 Sidney Lowe Hubie Brown Dick Versace Jerry West Michael Heisley Pyramid Arena Did not qualify MEM 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. Memphis Grizzlies Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MEM/ August 10, 2026 Season summary Off-season The Grizzlies received the fourth overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, and selected power forward Drew Gooden from the University of Kansas. Lago Joe Rockets Make Yao Ming First Overall Pick ESPN June 26, 2002 https://www.espn.com/nbadraft/story?id=1399417 January 14, 2022 Passan Jeff Rockets Select Yao No. 1 Overall in Draft The Washington Post June 26, 2002 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2002/06/27/rockets-select-yao-no-1-overall-in-draft/514fd892-fe37-4595-aed2-c42c53b509fb/ July 15, 2022 2002 NBA Draft Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2002.html December 1, 2022 During the off-season, the team acquired rookie small forward Gordan Giriček from the San Antonio Spurs, acquired Wesley Person from the Cleveland Cavaliers on draft day, and signed free agents Earl Watson, and undrafted rookie power forward Mike Batiste. Western Conference: Team-by-Team Preview The New York Times October 28, 2002 https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/28/sports/basketball/teambyteam-preview-2002102890660337665.html July 16, 2022 For the season, the Grizzlies slightly updated their white home uniforms and black road uniforms, replacing their alternate logo of a brown grizzly bear with black shadows scratching a turquoise letter "G", with their primary logo of a grizzly bear holding a red basketball on the right leg of their shorts. These uniforms would remain in use until 2004. Memphis Grizzlies Home Uniform  Chris Creamer's SportsLogos.net  https://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/8jxpuvsgpkx7rzk9pkg65h03y/Memphis-Grizzlies-Logo/2003/Home-Uniform October 24, 2026 Memphis Grizzlies Road Uniform  Chris Creamer's SportsLogos.net  https://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/qi7k7xc6wugpggcerbkx72h81/Memphis-Grizzlies-Logo/2003/Road-Uniform October 24, 2026 Regular season In their second season in Memphis, and with the addition of Gooden, Giriček and Person, 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 seven-game losing streak between January and February, and held a 13–35 record at the All-Star break. NBA Games Played on February 6, 2003 Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/?month=2&day=6&year=2003 February 3, 2026 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. Magic Trades Miller for Grizzlies' Gooden The Washington Post February 20, 2003 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2003/02/20/magic-trades-miller-for-grizzlies-gooden/8d41286e-7076-4579-9cc8-bb06212341dc/ September 13, 2022 Schmitz Brian Magic Trade Miller, Get 2 Rookies Orlando Sentinel February 20, 2003 https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2003-02-20-0302200304-story.html June 13, 2022 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 seven-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; 2002–03 Memphis Grizzlies Schedule and Results Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MEM/2003_games.html January 13, 2022 however, for the eighth consecutive year, the franchise failed to reach 30 wins, or qualify for the NBA playoffs. 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. 2002–03 Memphis Grizzlies Roster and Stats Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MEM/2003.html January 13, 2022 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. Basketball The Madison Courier February 8, 2003 A8 https://books.google.com/books?id=KbpJAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA5&dq=2003+NBA+All-Star+Rosters&article_id=6980,3744966&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjUp7Pcs6-SAxUnmIkEHXTXEisQ6AF6BAgHEAM#v=onepage&q=2003%20NBA%20All-Star%20Rosters&f=false January 28, 2026 2003 NBA Rising Stars: Sophomores 132, Rookies 112 Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/allstar/NBA_2003_rookie.html January 28, 2026 Meanwhile, Person participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout. NBA & ABA All-Star Game Contest Winners Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/allstar/contest.html January 28, 2026 Williams finished in seventh place in Most Improved Player voting, while Swift finished tied in 26th place, 2002–03 NBA Awards Voting Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_2003.html February 3, 2026 and Brown finished in seventh place in Coach of the Year voting. 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. 2002–03 NBA Season Summary Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2003.html February 3, 2026 Aftermath 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 2002 NBA draft Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 4 Drew Gooden PF/C Kansas 2 31 Robert Archibald PF/C Illinois 2 45 Matt Barnes SF UCLA The franchise participated in the draft for the first time since relocating to Memphis. They entered the draft with one first-round pick and two second-round picks, one of which was acquired via trade with the Orlando Magic. Roster Memphis Grizzlies 2002–03 #000000 #FFFFFF #20B2AA #000000 21 Robert Archibald C 6 11 250 1980–03–29 Illinois 24 Mike Batiste F 6 8 225 1977–11–21 Arizona State 31 Shane Battier G/F 6 8 220 1978–09–09 Duke 8 Michael Dickerson G 6 5 190 1975–06–25 Arizona yes 16 Pau Gasol F/C 7 0 250 1980–07–06 Spain 40 Ryan Humphrey PF 6 8 235 1979–07–24 Notre Dame 22 Brevin Knight G 5 10 173 1975–11–08 Stanford 33 Mike Miller basketball, born 1980 F/G 6 8 218 1980–02–19 Florida yes 20 Chris Owens basketball F 6 7 245 1979–03–01 Texas 1 Wesley Person G 6 6 195 1971–03–28 Auburn 4 Stromile Swift F 6 9 225 1979–11–21 LSU 15 Cezary Trybański C 7 2 240 1979–09–22 Poland 25 Earl Watson PG 6 1 195 1979–06–12 UCLA 2 Jason Williams basketball, born 1975 PG 6 1 180 1975–11–18 Florida 42 Lorenzen Wright C 6 11 255 1975–11–04 Memphis yes Hubie Brown Mitchell Anderson Tony Barone Brendan Brown Lionel Hollins Scott Roth Hal Wissel https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MEM/2003.html Regular season Season standings MEM MEM z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot Game log Player statistics Ragular season Player POS Position GP Games played GS Games starter MP Minutes played REB Rebounds AST Assists STL Steals BLK Blocks PTS Points MPG Minutes per game RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per gamePau GasolPF82 82 2,948 720 229 34 148 1,555 36.0 8.8 2.8 .4 1.8 19.0Earl WatsonPG 79 2 1,366 164 225 89 14 433 17.3 2.1 2.8 1.1 .2 5.5Shane BattierSF 78 47 2,383 345 105 102 88 756 30.6 4.4 1.3 1.3 1.1 9.7Jason Williams basketball, born 1975PG 76 76 2,407 212 631 91 10 919 31.7 2.8 8.3 1.2 .1 12.1Michael BatistePF 75 2 1,248 257 52 42 16 481 16.6 3.4 .7 .6 .2 6.4Lorenzen WrightC 70 49 1,982 528 80 51 54 797 28.3 7.5 1.1 .7 .8 11.4Stromile SwiftPF 67 26 1,478 384 45 55 104 647 22.1 5.7 .7 .8 1.6 9.7Wesley PersonSG 66 44 1,941 192 112 42 19 727 29.4 2.9 1.7 .6 .3 11.0Brevin KnightPG 55 4 928 81 233 69 2 216 16.9 1.5 4.2 1.3 .0 3.9Drew Gooden basketball†SF 51 29 1,329 295 63 38 22 616 26.1 5.8 1.2 .7 .4 12.1Gordan Giriček†SG 49 35 1,187 108 70 22 6 548 24.2 2.2 1.4 .4 .1 11.2Mike Miller basketball, born 1980†SF 16 13 360 55 31 6 5 205 22.5 3.4 1.9 .4 .3 12.8Cezary TrybańskiC 15 0 86 14 1 0 6 14 5.7 .9 .1 .0 .4 .9Ryan Humphrey†PF 13 0 122 30 4 5 2 29 9.4 2.3 .3 .4 .2 2.2Robert ArchibaldPF 12 0 72 17 3 0 3 19 6.0 1.4 .3 .0 .3 1.6Michael DickersonSG 6 1 87 6 8 5 1 29 14.5 1.0 1.3 .8 .2 4.8Chris Owens basketballSF 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 Gordan Giricek, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team References See also 2002-03 NBA season Category:Memphis Grizzlies seasons Memphis Memphis Grizzlies Memphis Grizzlies Category:2000s in Memphis, Tennessee