Clippers Concept Logo. Sports History. Baseball History. Basketball History. College History. Football History. Hockey History. Soccer History. Greatest Player Polls. And it was. For four decades, Clippers has been an unfortunate nickname, one that—with some cocktail of wins, revenue, and dopamine—may finally bite the dust.
A real nickname after years of having one of the worst! Pity the clippers industry if you must. Ironic that the one franchise to associate itself with ships has never even been to the Finals. The team moved to L. This is the time to lean into a new identity.
SI Now suggested the L. Stars or the L. Though if the Clips ever want to be no. Big Mood. Burbank Airports, as it represents something every L. There is a real opportunity to lean into the identity of the city. Here are eight Los Angeles—centric ideas, from an L. Seems like the kind of thing that would help in trade talks. Cons: Kind of sounds like the L. Paolo Uggetti: We can all agree that this one makes the most sense, right?
Hollywood Stars. Walk of Fame Stars. The combination was short-lived, as the team relocated to Utah soon after arriving in L. In March , Steve Ballmer, owner of the Clippers, reached an agreement with the Madison Square Garden Company to buy The Forum , which would eliminate any opposition related to the construction of the Clippers' new arena. The Clippers began in as the Buffalo Braves. 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 Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, who also debuted in Murphy would eventually be inducted into the Hall Of Fame.
As typical of first—year expansion teams, the Braves finished with a dismal record, going 22—60, seven games ahead of expansion—mate Cleveland, which finished its season at 15— Kauffman, who averaged 4. The Braves repeated their 22—60 record in the following —72 season , but did make good acquisitions that would make the club better.
Schayes was replaced one game into the season with John McCarthy as the team's head coach. The team did not do much better in the —73 season , as they went 21—61 under new head coach, Dr.
Jack Ramsay. The team finally made its first playoff appearance in —74 , where they faced the Boston Celtics in the first round and lost in six games. The Braves made a trip to the playoffs in the —75 season and again during the —76 season , which would be one of their last in Buffalo. By the summer of , the team's founding owner Paul Snyder was doing all he could to sell the team. The sale eventually fell through and the Braves and the city signed a new 15 year Memorial Auditorium lease in July with a provision that the lease could be voided if the team did not sell 5, season tickets in any season.
Later that summer Snyder finally sold 50 percent of the franchise to businessman John Y. Brown, Jr. Brown later acquired the remaining half from Snyder sometime in the —77 season. Brown, in turn, sold a percentage of the team to another businessman, Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. However, a provision in the transaction stipulated that if Brown sold the contract of any Braves player, then the money would go to Snyder 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 —77 season. Because of the team's poor play in its final two years 30—52 in —77 and 27—55 in —78 , along with rumors of the franchise relocating because of low season ticket sales, 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 an NBA team in his native state. The deal was brokered by David Stern , the general counsel for the NBA who later became the league's commissioner in San Diego team officials did not think "Braves" was a proper representative nickname for the club in San Diego, and a local naming contest ultimately decided on "Clippers", in reference to the city being known for the great sailing ships that passed through San Diego Bay.
Playing at the San Diego Sports Arena , the Clippers posted a record of 43—39 in their first season in California under new head coach Gene Shue , leaving them two wins shy of the final playoff spot.
World B. Free , acquired before the season from the Philadelphia 76ers, finished second overall in NBA scoring average, with It was also in this first season in Southern California that long—time announcer Ralph Lawler began his association with the franchise. Walton missed 68 games in his first season in San Diego due to foot injuries which he also suffered in his final years in Portland. San Diego finished 35—47, as Walton and other key players missed significant time due to injuries.
Free again finished second in league scoring, with Paul Silas replaced Shue as head coach the following season, and the Clippers finished 36—46, again missing the postseason.
Walton missed the entire season due to foot injuries, while Free was traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for guard Phil Smith.
The Clippers experienced poor play, as foot injuries again caused Walton to miss the entire season, and the team limped to a 17—65 record. Franchise mismanagement and rumors of a move to Sterling's home town of Los Angeles plagued the team from the onset of Sterling's acquisition.
Additionally, like what happened in Buffalo, competition from the other local sports teams the Padres and Chargers were both excelling at this time further took attention away from the Clippers. The team's final two seasons in San Diego were not much better despite Walton finally returning to the court, finishing 25—57 in —83 and 30—52 in — In , Sterling moved the Clippers north to Los Angeles without league approval.
The league threatened to dissolve the franchise if ownership did not comply and return the team to San Diego. The Clippers, under head coach Jim Lynam finished with a disappointing 31—51 record.
The Clippers' early days in Los Angeles were marred with many seasons of hapless performances. Despite fielding a squad of talented veterans, the organization suffered systematic injuries to many of its star players. The phenomenon was dubbed the "Clipper Triangle" by some sports writers. Derek Smith suffered a knee injury during the —86 season , followed by Norm Nixon knee and Marques Johnson spinal cord the following season. The team's 12—70 finish in the season was the second—worst single—season record in NBA history at the time and is now the third—worst winning percentage in NBA history, behind the Philadelphia 76ers and the Charlotte Bobcats.
That same season also saw Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor join the team as the general manager and vice president of basketball operations. Nixon suffered an ailing Achilles tendon in —88 season , while number one draft pick rookie Danny Manning injured his anterior cruciate ligament during the —89 campaign. The Clippers traded the rights to the recently drafted Danny Ferry and Reggie Williams for high—scoring shooting guard Ron Harper at the start of the —90 season.
Los Angeles had a 19—19 record nearly halfway into the season, prompting some to seriously consider the team as a possible playoff contender. That move, along with the NBA draft of Ken Norman, the selections of Danny Manning and Charles Smith Smith was acquired from Philadelphia in exchange for the draft rights to Hersey Hawkins , and the draft of Loy Vaught , formed a nucleus that would make the franchise a playoff contender.
Midway through the —92 season , the Clippers made yet another coaching change. Larry Brown , who was fired by the Spurs weeks before, was hired as the team's head coach in late January He replaced Mike Schuler , who had led the team to a 22—25 record before his firing.
Brown finished the season with a 23—12 mark, for an overall record of 45— It was the franchise's first winning season in 13 years. The team also achieved a first that season—for the first time since moving to Los Angeles, the Clippers finished with a better record than the Los Angeles Lakers. The Clippers advanced to the playoffs for the first time in 16 years since they were Buffalo , but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Utah Jazz , 3—2.
The Clippers returned to the playoffs again in the —93 season with a 41—41 regular season record, but lost again 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 —94 season proved to be one of the worst seasons in Los Angeles NBA history, with both the Clippers 27—55 and Lakers 33—49 going a combined 60— in the regular season, and both LA teams missed the playoffs.
After one year on the job, Weiss was fired, and veteran head coach Bill Fitch was brought in to guide a roster of young and inexperienced players. The Clippers continued to make frequent roster and coaching changes throughout the next several years and made a playoff appearance in , under Fitch. That team made the playoffs with a losing record 36—46 and were swept in the first round by the eventual Western Conference Champion Utah Jazz , 3 games to none.
Anaheim, a suburb approximately thirty miles south of Downtown Los Angeles in affluent Orange County, expressed interest in obtaining an NBA franchise. Louis in for 21 seasons, before moving back to Los Angeles in , was looking for a new professional team and began courting the Clippers, who struggled carving out an identity competing against the popular Lakers for audience share.
From to , the Clippers played several games annually usually five to eight regular season games a season, and an annual preseason game at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, sharing the venue with the NHL's Ducks and the Splash indoor soccer team. Clippers games regularly drew a much—higher average attendance per game at the Pond than when the team played its home games at their regular venue, the Los Angeles Sports Arena; the Anaheim games proved so popular that many Clippers players and much of the fan base, as well as the NBA, wanted to the team to stay in what was considered at the time a state—of—the—art arena.
For instance, between and , the Clippers drew an average of nearly 16, fans per game at the Pond, while in Los Angeles, they drew in the neighborhood of 9, per home game. Anaheim officials and the Clippers had had on—going talks about moving to Anaheim full—time years before the Pond was eventually built, as Donald Sterling was pursuing options to play elsewhere in the Los Angeles metropolitan region if there was not a replacement for the Sports Arena being built.
Also at the time, the Walt Disney Company, owners of the Ducks and Anaheim Angels baseball team during that period, were pursuing at least a partial ownership of the Clippers, with the key element being that its game telecasts would be part of a planned ESPN regional network for Southern California. This remained a sticking point in any deal to relocate to Anaheim, eventually leaving the team to remain in Los Angeles. On the court, the Clippers continued to make frequent roster changes throughout this particular period, which only resulted with one playoff appearance under Fitch.
Along with Loy Vaught , a collection of young players including Lamond Murray , Eric Piatkowski , and Lorenzen Wright , and journeyman veterans among them Pooh Richardson , Tony Massenburg , Rodney Rogers , Darrick Martin , and Brian Williams , the Fitch—coached teams during this particular era struggled mightily, although they did make the playoffs once during this time. The —97 team made the playoffs with a losing record 36—46 and were swept in the first round by the eventual Western Conference Champion Utah Jazz , three games to none.
Four members of the —97 squad are now deceased. Malik Sealy died in a car accident in , Kevin Duckworth died of heart disease in , Lorenzen Wright went missing and was murdered in , and Dwayne Schintzius died from cancer complications in Two other players from the Fitch era suffered tragic circumstances of their own; Brian Williams who played for the Clippers during the —96 season, and later became known as Bison Dele was believed to have been murdered by his brother while the two were vacationing in while in the South Pacific, and Rodney Rogers became paralyzed after a dirt bike crash in in his native North Carolina.
In December, Vaught, the team's leading scorer for the past three seasons, had season—ending back surgery. Without Vaught, the Clippers finished 17—65, the third—worst record in the league. Fitch was fired after the —98 season and later sued the team to recover the remaining money on his contract , and was replaced by one of his proteges, former Celtics and Bucks coach Chris Ford.
Meanwhile, Vaught's career as a Clipper was effectively finished, as he left as a free agent after that season, and signed with the Detroit Pistons ; at the time of his departure, he was the franchise's all—time rebounds leader with 4, a number that was later surpassed by Elton Brand, with 4, The Clippers won the first overall pick in the Draft Lottery and selected center Michael Olowokandi from University of the Pacific.
The team had a 0—17 start and finished with a 9—41 record in the shortened —99 season. They were led by second—year forward Maurice Taylor , who averaged Johnson remained an assistant coach until the middle of the —03 season , when he took over as head coach.
Abdul—Jabbar remained only one season, detailing a lack of improvement in Olowokandi, who is largely considered one of the biggest draft busts in league history. During the offseason, Rodney Rogers signed with the Phoenix Suns. The team finished with the worst record in the league 15—67 in the — season , while their crosstown rival Lakers had the best record that year 67—15 and would go on to win the NBA Finals.
However, those plans were scuttled once planning for Staples Center two miles directly up the street from the Sports Arena were taking place, and the Clippers decided to become a tenant at Staples.
In sharing the building with other tenants, such as the more popular Lakers, the Clippers, with relatively low success, were often overshadowed. Also, because of the terms of its leasing agreement with Staples Center, the Kings and Lakers had scheduling priority over the Clippers, with the Clippers taking whatever dates that were available, including scheduling same—day Clipper—Laker and Clipper—King doubleheaders. However, in the years after, the Clippers' scheduling at Staples Center became gradually more favorable especially given the popularity of the team in recent years in their lease renewals in and , with the team receiving increased profits, including more of a share of luxury suite and concession revenue.
The —01 season brought more changes. Reserve forward Derek Strong 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. The Clippers' two draft picks that year were childhood friends from Illinois: high schooler Darius Miles from East St.
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.
The Clippers contended for most of the season, but won only 3 out of their last 13 games and finished 39—43, 5 games out of the final playoff position.
The offseason brought more changes, as Miles was traded to the Cavaliers in exchange for point guard Andre Miller , who led the NBA in assists in —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've made a serious run for the playoffs.
However, with poor team chemistry and injuries the Clippers lost man—games to injury , the Clippers finished with a very disappointing 27—55 record. The most notable name to play for the team was Bill Walton, who was on the downside of his career. I used Dictionary. Clipper : Nautical.
Also called a clipper ship. A sailing ship built and rigged for speed, esp. I think the following from Wikipedia says it best: "The ships had low expected lifetimes and rarely outlasted two decades of use before they were broken up for salvage.
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