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L.A.
Clippers)
The Los Angeles Clippers are a National
Basketball Association team based in Los
Angeles, California.
Home arenas
- Buffalo
Memorial Auditorium (1970-1978)
- San
Diego Sports Arena (1978-1984)
- Los
Angeles Sports Arena (1985-1999)
- Staples
Center (1999-present)
Franchise history
The Buffalo
Braves played their first NBA season in 1970.
They were one of three franchises that joined the
NBA in the 1970-71 season, the others were the Portland
Trail Blazers and Cleveland
Cavaliers.
The Buffalo years (1970-78)
The Braves, in their eight seasons in Buffalo,
played their home games at the Buffalo
Memorial Auditorium, sharing the arena with
another new franchise, the Sabres
of the National
Hockey League, who also debuted in 1970. The
team's first head coach was Hall of Famer Dolph
Schayes, the franchise's first star players
were Bob Kauffman and Don May, who were acquired
in the expansion draft. As typical of first-year
expansion teams, the Braves finished with a 22-60
record, five games ahead of expansion-mate Cleveland,
who finished their season at 15-67. Kauffman, who
averaged 4.3 points per game the previous year with
the Chicago
Bulls, led Buffalo in scoring with 20.4 points
per game and earned a spot on the 1971 NBA Eastern
Conference All-Star team.
The Braves repeated their 22-60 season in the following
1971-72 season, but did make good acquisitions that
would make the club better. Buffalo drafted center
Elmore
Smith from Kentucky
State University, and local favorite Randy
Smith, from Buffalo
State University. Schayes was replaced one game
into the season with John McCarty as the team's
head coach. The team didn't do much better in the
1972-73 season, as they went 21-61 under new head
coach, Dr.
Jack Ramsay. The Braves' big move of that season
was the drafting for forward/center Bob
McAdoo, from North
Carolina. The team finally made their first
playoff appearance in 1973-74, where they faced
the Boston Celtics and lost in six games in the
first round. The Braves made two more trips to the
playoffs in the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons, which
would be their last in Buffalo.
In the summer of 1976, the team's founding owner
Paul Synder initially sold 50 percent of the franchise
to businessman John
Y. Brown, Jr., who had previously owned the
Kentucky
Colonels of the American
Basketball Association. Brown later acquired
the remaining portion from Synder sometime in the
1976-77 season. Brown, in turn, sold a percentage
of the team to another businessman, Harry Mangurian,
who later went on to own a portion of the Boston
Celtics in the 1980s. However, a provision in the
transaction stipulated that if Brown sold the contract
of any Braves player, then the money would go to
Synder and the purchase price would be reduced.
This subsequently occurred when the Braves sent
McAdoo to the New
York Knicks for players and cash midway through
the 1976-77 season.
Brown renegotiated his lease on Buffalo Memorial
Auditorium, to include a clause stating if the Braves
did not sell at least 4,500 season tickets, the
Braves could be left out of their lease and be free
to move to another city. Because of the team's poor
play in their final two years (30-52 in 1976-77
and 27-55 in 1977-78), along with rumors of the
franchise relocating, John Y. Brown met with the
then-owner of the Celtics, Irv Levin and negotiated
a deal in which the owners would swap franchises,
in which Brown would take control of the Celtics
and Levin would get the Braves. Levin was a California
businessman, and wanted to own a NBA team in his
native state. The deal was brokered by David
Stern, an attorney for the NBA, who of course,
later became the league's commissioner in 1984.
Following what would be the final season in western
New York, the NBA owners voted 21-1 to let the Braves
relocate. They moved to San
Diego, California after the 1977-78
season, and became the San Diego Clippers. Virtually
identical techniques would be used twenty-five years
later to move the Montreal
Expos baseball franchise to Washington,
a move in which Expos owner Jeffrey
Loria and MLB Commissioner Bud
Selig successfully fought off racketeering charges,
however the racketeering laws did not yet exist
in 1978 to prevent collusionary actions such as
that which cost Buffalo their NBA franchise.
The San Diego years (1978-84)
In the team's first season in San Diego, the Clippers
posted a winning record, going 43-39, under new
head coach Gene
Shue. However, that record wasn't good enough
to advance them to the playoffs, and they finished
only a few games out of the final playoff spot.
It was also in that first season in Southern California
that long-time announcer Ralph
Lawler began his association with the club.
Randy Smith had another solid season, averaging
20.5 points per game, finishing second behind World
B. Free, who was acquired in the offseason from
the Philadelphia 76ers. Free finished second overall
in NBA scoring average, with 28.8 per game, while
George
Gervin of the San
Antonio Spurs had a 29.6 average.
The 1979-80 season wasn't much better, as the Clippers
began to struggle, but not before they brought in
San Diego native, center Bill
Walton, who was two years removed from an NBA
championship with the Trail Blazers. Walton wasn't
much of an impact unfortunately, due to missing
68 games because of foot injuries, which he also
suffered in his final years in Portland. San Diego
finished with a 37-45 season, despite the fact that
many of their key players missed games due to injuries.
Free continued his great scoring, again finishing
second in league scoring, with 30.2 PPG (Points
Per Game). Paul Silas replaced Shue the following
season, and the Clippers finished with a 36-46 record,
once again missing the post-season. Walton missed
the entire season once again due to chronic foot
injuries. Free was traded to the Golden
State Warriors in exchange for guard Phil Smith.
The 1981-82 season brought more changes to the
Clipper franchise as Irv Levin sold the team to
Los Angeles-area real estate developer and attorney,
Donald T. Sterling. The purchase price was $20 million.
The Clippers' poor play in their final years in
San Diego resulted in poor attendance with the team
averaging only 4,500 fans per game. Sterling subsequently
lobbied the NBA to relocate the team to his native
Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles years (1984-present)
In 1984
the Clippers moved to Los
Angeles, California, playing in the Los
Angeles Memorial Sports Arena while the Lakers,
with a better reputation, continued to play at the
Great
Western Forum in Inglewood,
a few miles south. The Clippers were completely
overshadowed by their cross-town counterparts, who
were in the midst of a championship run with future
Hall of Famers, Magic
Johnson, Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, and James
Worthy. The Clippers, under head coach Jim
Lynam (and later Don
Chaney) and new acquisitions Marques
Johnson, Junior
Bridgeman, and Harvey
Catchings (all acquired via trade from the Milwaukee
Bucks), finished with a disappointing 31-51
record in the first season in the City of Angels.
The next seven seasons (1985-92), the Clippers
were mired in futility, including a 12-70 record
in the 1986-87 season, the third-worst single-season
record in NBA history (narrowly avoiding the all-time
worst record of 9-73 set by the Philadelphia 76ers
in 1972-73). That particular season was filled with
injuries to both Marques
Johnson and guard Norm
Nixon, who missed most, if not the whole, season.
Nixon's injury was particularly frustrating since
it happened during a softball
game in New
York's Central
Park. That season also brought in Hall of Famer
Elgin
Baylor as the team's vice president and general
manager of basketball operations, a post he currently
holds. In the 1989-90 season, Baylor made a trade
with the Cleveland Cavaliers that brought Ron
Harper, a rising star guard, in exchange for
forward Danny
Ferry (who refused to play for the Clippers)
and swingman Reggie
Williams. That move, along with the 1987 draft
of Ken Norman from the University
of Illinois, the 1988 draftings of University
of Kansas forward Danny
Manning and Charles Smith from the University
of Pittsburgh, and the 1990 draft of Loy
Vaught from the University
of Michigan formed a nucleus that led the Clipper
franchise to a play-off appearance in 1992, the
first since 1976 when the team was still in Buffalo.
Midway through the 1991-92 season, the Clippers
made yet another coaching change, but this one worked
out in their favor. Larry
Brown, who was fired by the Spurs weeks before,
was hired as the team's head coach in late January
1992. He replaced head coach Mike Schuler, who at
the point of his dismissal, posted a 22-25 record.
Brown finished the season with a 23-12 mark, and
the overall record for Los Angeles was 45-37. The
Clippers were eliminated in the first round of the
play-offs by the Utah
Jazz, 3 games to 2. Due to the late April 1992
Los Angeles riots, game 4 of their series was
moved to the Anaheim Convention Center, and the
Clippers won that game. The Clippers returned to
the play-offs again in the 1992-93 season (with
a 41-41 regular season record), and again lost in
five games in the first round, this time to the
Houston Rockets.
Brown left the Clippers to join the Indiana
Pacers as their head coach, and Bob
Weiss was brought in to replace him. That 1993-94
season proved to be one of the worst seasons in
Los Angeles NBA history, with both the Clippers
and Lakers going a combined 60-104 in the regular
season, missing the play-offs entirely. The Clippers
continued to make frequent roster and coaching changes
throughout the next several years and made their
last play-off appearance in 1997. That team made
the playoffs with a losing record (36-46) and were
summarily swept in the first round by the eventual
Western Conference Champion Utah Jazz, 3 games to
none.
From 1994
- 1999,
the Clippers played selected home games in the Arrowhead
Pond of Anaheim, sharing the venue with the
Mighty
Ducks (ice hockey) and the Splash
(soccer).
However, in 1999,
the Clippers and Lakers both started to play in
the Staples
Center. That season, the Clippers were outshone
by their in-city rivals, the Lakers, who won the
NBA
Championship. In the following years, the Lakers
dominated the NBA
with the combination of Shaquille
O'Neal and Kobe
Bryant, winning three championships. Meanwhile,
the Clippers struggled, consistently ending with
losing records which were significantly worse than
the Lakers' record. It was also in that first season
at Staples Center that the Clippers drafted highly-touted,
but oft-troubled, star forward Lamar
Odom from the University
of Rhode Island. The Clippers finished with
a very dismal 15-67 record. To help their young
players out with their growing pains, the team hired
former All-Star (and Los Angeles native) Dennis
Johnson, who won three NBA championships with
the Seattle
(1979) and Boston
(1984 and 1986) as an assistant coach. The team
also hired Hall of Famer and former Laker great
Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar as an assistant coach, to help
tutor second-year center Michael
Olowokandi, who was the #1 overall pick in the
1998 NBA Draft. Johnson remained an assistant coach
until the middle of the 2002-03 season, when he
took over as head coach. Abdul-Jabbar lasted only
one season on the job.
The 2000-01 season brought more changes. Atypically
these would be for the better. Reserve forward Derek
Strong, along with other players and cash, was
sent to the Orlando Magic in exchange for second-year
forward Corey
Maggette and the draft rights to guard Keyon
Dooling from the University
of Missouri. Making more moves, the Clippers'
two draft picks that year were childhood friends
from Illinois: high schooler Darius
Miles from East
St. Louis (3rd overall pick) and Quentin
Richardson, a guard/forward from DePaul
University (18th overall pick). The team became
popular among fans with their high-flying style
of basketball and the Clippers did improve a bit
with a 31-51 record, leading the NBA in bench-scoring
with 37 points per game.
To improve upon the previous season, the Clippers
acquired high-scoring and rebounding power forward
Elton
Brand from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for
the draft rights to Los Angeles-area native and
high schooler Tyson
Chandler. At this point of his career, Brand
had career averages of 20 points and 10 rebounds
per game in just two seasons. Brand's hard work
and accomplishments earned him a spot on the 2002
NBA Western Conference All-Star team, although he
was a last-minute replacement for center Shaquille
O'Neal of the Lakers. The Clippers were in the
Western Conference play-off race, but a 3-10 finish
in the final 13 games caused the Clippers to finish
out of the play-offs once again, this time with
a 39-43 record, 5 games out of the final play-off
position.
The 2002 off-season brought more changes, as popular
star Darius Miles was traded to the Cavaliers in
exchange for point guard Andre
Miller, who led the NBA in assists in 2001-02
with 11 per game. Suddenly, with a good point guard
in Miller, the playmaker Lamar Odom at small forward,
one of the league's best power forwards, Elton Brand,
the emerging center Michael Olowokandi, and a very
good supporting cast off the bench, the Clippers
could actually make a serious run for the play-offs.
However, with poor team chemistry and injuries (several
players missed a combined 293 games), the Clippers
finished with a very disappointing 27-55 record.
Head coach Alvin Gentry was replaced by Dennis Johnson
midway through the 2002-03 season.
In the 2003-04 season, Los Angeles lost four key
players to free agency (Miller, Odom, Olowokandi,
and forward Eric
Piatkowski--one of the longest-tenured players
in Clippers history), while opting to retain Brand
and Maggette with long-term contracts. They, along
with Richardson, made of one of the NBA best high-scoring
trios, with a combined 58 points per game. With
new head coach Mike
Dunleavy, Sr., the Clippers finished at 28-54,
a lot due to inexperience and injuries.
The 2004-2005 season proved to be a turning point
in the relative standings of the two Los Angeles
franchises. The Lakers, because of the trade of
O'Neal to the Miami
Heat, ended the season with a losing record
and missed the play-offs. The Clippers, although
also missing the play-offs, ended with a better
record than the Lakers (the first time since 1993)
and have great hope for the future, with young rising
stars such as Elton
Brand, Corey
Maggette and Shaun
Livingston. One bright spot in an otherwise
disappointing season was forward Bobby
Simmons winning the 2004-05 NBA Most Improved
Player award after averaging 16 points, 6 rebounds,
and 3 assists per game. As a result of that, Simmons
cashed in on his newfound fame, and signed a 5-year,
$47 million deal with the Bucks in July 2005, playing
closer to his hometown of Chicago,
Illinois.
To counter Simmons' defection to Milwaukee, the
Clippers announced days later that they would sign
guard Cuttino
Mobley (formerly of Houston,
Orlando,
and most recently Sacramento)
to a contract similar in years (5) but less in money
($42 million) to what Simmons received from the
Bucks. Mobley's signing would give the Clippers
what they missed in recent years since Piatkowski
departed Los Angeles for Houston (and later ended
up in Chicago),
which is consistent outside shooting, plus a good
defensive player at shooting guard, which is something
else the Clippers have lacked in recent years as
well. Mobley is also the first significant free
agent signing from outside the organization since
Bill Walton in late 1970s. Mobley officially signed
his contract on August 3, 2005.
More deals were made, most notably on August 12,
2005, where the Clippers traded guards Marko
Jaric (in a sign and trade transaction) and
Lionel
Chalmers to the Minnesota
Timberwolves in exchange for guard Sam
Cassell and a lottery-protected 1st round pick
in the 2006 NBA Draft. In relation to the lottery-protected
pick, in order for the Clippers to acquire the pick,
the Timberwolves would have to make the playoffs,
or else Minnesota retains its draft pick.
During the summer of 2005, the Clippers announced
that they would build a state-of-the-art practice
facility - the first NBA practice facility within
the four corners of the City
of Los Angeles - in the Playa
Vista development. Several current players on
the Clipper's lineup live in the planned community.
According to the Clipper's website [1],
the new facility will open its doors for community
programs in the off-season and will be surrounded
by other community parks and recreation.
Currently, the season of 2005-2006 initially seems
to be a turning point for the team's overall image,
with a hot start marked by several wins over top
teams that caught the attention of many fans. While
the Clippers have had a few stretches of losing
streaks and slumps this season, they have been able
to maintain a good record with several large winning
streaks.
Players of note
Current roster
McAdoo and Randy
Smith (G, 1972-79, 1983-84) are also members
of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. Walton,
a native of the San Diego area, is also a member
of the San Diego Hall of Champions. Aside from Walton's
one injury-plagued season in Los Angeles, no Los
Angeles Clippers player has ever been inducted into
the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Retired numbers
None
Not to be forgotten
Commentators & broadcast outlets
Current 2005-2006 record
As of March
1, 2006,
the Clippers have a 33-23 record, placing them 2nd
in the Pacific Division of the Western
Conference.
Trivia
On March
1, 2006
the Clippers held the New
Orleans Hornets to an NBA record low 16 points
in the second half of play. Previously, since the
introduction of the shot clock, no point total for
a half had been lower than 19. Oddly enough, one
of three teams to have such a low point total in
a half was the Clippers.
External links
