Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Clippers

Basketball Team
Los Angeles Clippers

1969 Los Angeles


The Los Angeles Clippers, also known as Clippers or LA Clippers, are a professional basketball team that currently competes in the National Basketball Association (NBA), specifically in the Pacific Division, within the Western Conference. It is based in Los Angeles and shares city and pavilion with the Los Angeles Lakers, playing its games at the Staples Center.

Although the franchise is already known worldwide as the Los Angeles Clippers, this has not always been its name, nor has it always lived in the same city. It was founded in 1970 under the name Buffalo Braves (based in Buffalo, New York) and that year would be one of three new teams to join the league. Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers were the other two. All of them are still competing in the NBA today.

Due to some scheduling problems in setting up games at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, the sale of the team resulted in its relocation to San Diego. In 1978, after a renaming contest, the team became known as the San Diego Clippers, a reference to the large sailboats that passed through San Diego Bay.

Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan y Blake Griffin lideraron a los mejores Clippers de la historia | Foto: Getty Images
Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin led the best Clippers in history | Photo: Getty Images

After living there its grayest stage and despite multiple discussions with the NBA, the team finally moved to Los Angeles in 1984, the city where it remains today.

These three clearly differentiated stages have a common denominator that unites them: the team has always been considered a losing team. And traditionally it has been so. However, in recent years the air is changing and little by little they have been consolidating themselves as a regular in the Playoffs, even as candidates to be NBA champions, something they have not achieved in their entire history.

Beginnings in Buffalo (Buffalo Braves, 1970-1978)

The franchise was founded in 1970 in western New York as the Buffalo Braves. That same year it was introduced into the NBA, which was in the midst of an expansion policy, along with two other teams: Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. The Braves played their home games at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

The team's first successes came with Bob McAdoo, the first great star in the history of the franchise. The center was the NBA's leading scorer for three consecutive seasons and was named MVP in the 1974-75 season. To date, he is the only one to have achieved it in this franchise.

Bob McAdoo con los Buffalo Braves | Foto: Getty Images
Bob McAdoo with the Buffalo Braves | Photo: Getty Images

As a result of McAdoo's individual talent, the Braves qualified for the Playoffs for three consecutive seasons, however, they would not make it past the conference semifinals, a trend that would be repeated in the future.

Despite the team's good results in its early years, owner Paul Snyder and the NBA had some problems with the scheduling of games, as the priority for choosing dates was given to the Canisius Golden Griffins college team. As a result, Snyder was forced to sell the team to John Y. Brown, Jr.

His tenure would not last long. As soon as he took over, he would trade away all of the team's stars, causing a tremendous drop in both performance and attendance.

Finally, Brown agreed to trade the franchises with then Celtics owner Irv Lenin, a resident of Southern California. In this way, Lenin accomplished with the Braves what he had not been allowed to do with the Celtics, move the franchise to San Diego, California .

San Diego Clippers (1978-1984): the grayest period

The first consequence of the relocation of the franchise to San Diego was not long in coming, since several team managers considered that 'Braves' was not a suitable name for the new location. Therefore, a contest was held to assign the franchise a new name that would be representative of the city. The winner was the 'San Diego Clippers', a name that refers to the large sailboats that pass through San Diego Bay.

In terms of sports, during the first years they stayed close to the Playoffs led by World B. Free, however, problems were not long in coming.

Bill Walton en su etapa en los San Diego Clippers | Foto: Getty Images
Bill Walton during his time with the San Diego Clippers | Photo: Getty Images

They signed Bill Walton, a San Diego native and NBA champion and MVP with the Blazers, with the intention of making a quality leap. However, he missed 68 games in his first season and the next two full seasons due to physical problems. The injury curse had begun.

The team's physical problems caused the results to get poorer each year to the point that Levin gave up and sold the team to Donald Sterling (a Los Angeles lawyer) for $12.5 million. Sterling's time as owner of the Clippers will begin as it ended, with controversy.

Controversial move to Los Angeles

In 1984, just two years after taking over the team, Sterling moved the team to Los Angeles without NBA permission, which resulted in him being fined $25 million. In addition, the league filed a lawsuit demanding that the team be returned to San Diego. They even threatened to dissolve the franchise if this did not happen, but eventually the league relented and Sterling got his way.

The Clippers would have the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena as their home and would keep their name despite the new situation. With the change of city, the results not only did not improve, but got worse. Injuries, among other factors, caused them to finish with a 12-70 record in 1987 (the second worst record at the time and the third worst in terms of winning percentage in history).

The first joy came in the 1991-1992 season, when they managed to finish with a positive record (45-37) for the first time in 13 years, and it was also enough to get into the Playoffs, something they had not achieved since their time in Buffalo. They would later be eliminated in the first round by the Utah Jazz. The Clippers would qualify for the Playoffs again the following year, but again they would fall in the first round.

Dominique Wilkins en uno de sus pocos partidos con los Clippers | Foto: Getty Images
Dominique Wilkins in one of his few games with the Clippers | Photo: Getty Images

These two Playoff appearances would be practically anecdotal as the franchise's continuous failures made them an object of ridicule not only for the entire NBA, but for America as a whole. They were considered a losing team and the ridicule was further accentuated by the success and popularity of their neighbor, the Los Angeles Lakers.

Problems in finding a competitive identity prompted Anaheim (a city just outside of Los Angeles) to try to recruit the franchise. In fact, between 1994 and 1999, the Clippers played several games at Anaheim's Arrowhead Pond, generating there, curiously, more excitement than at their usual home.

The NBA, the team's fans and some players pressured the management to make the move, and there were even negotiations, but Donald Sterling finally opted to stay in Los Angeles.

Staples Center phase

Plans to build a new 19,000-seat arena became a reality and in 1999 the Clippers joined the Lakers and Los Angeles Kings (of the NHL) as users of the new Staples Center. Obviously the other two teams would have initial priority over the Clippers in terms of dates so they had to make do with what was available.

Little by little the Clippers have been gaining in popularity, although it would not be until 2011 when they would reach their peak. Since that same year the franchise has sold out every game (regular league and Playoffs) until today. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and their 'the lob city' are largely to blame.

Staples Center lleno durante un partido de los Clippers | Foto: @LAClippers
Staples Center full during a Clippers game | Photo: @LAClippers

During the first 10 years of the century, coinciding also with the first years in the new pavilion, the Clippers would only confirm their label as a losing team, further enhanced by sharing the court with the second most decorated team in NBA history. Only one appearance in the Playoffs during this period, in which they would once again fall in the conference semifinals.

Bad luck has always followed them

The Clippers were a losing team. That is the reality. But they also had terrible bad luck. Practically since their foundation, various misfortunes kept them from maintaining a certain consistency in their game.

At a quick glance, in 1988 the Clippers selected Danny Manning with the number 1 pick in the draft and when he had not even played 30 games with the team, he tore his ACL. The following year they signed Ron Harper, and when everything seemed to work out he broke his knee and again goodbye to the season. Two projects in two years that were going down the drain because of the damn injuries.

Momento de la escalofriante lesión de Shaun Livingston | Foto: Getty Images
Moment of Shaun Livingston's chilling injury | Photo: Getty Images

With the arrival of the 21st century, luck didn't change. First Lamar Odom, whose behavioral problems and knee injuries prevented him from proving his worth with the Clippers. Then Michael Olowokandi, another No. 1 draft pick who never got to prove why he was a No. 1 pick. And to top it all off is Shaun Livingston, who in 2007 shattered his knee in one of the worst injuries in basketball history.

Finally came Blake Griffin. Another number 1 of the Draft (2009) who was showing signs of success. "The new Malone" many said. An imposing physique that amazed everyone in the preseason. But in the last game of preparation Griffin broke his knee and had to say goodbye to the season. This time, however, the story would be a little different.

A new era: 'The Lob City

After a regular season without Griffin, a glimmer of hope emerged in the franchise with the debut of the youngster from Oklahoma. He was the leader of a core of young players who provided the team with some solidity to win games. In addition, Blake Griffin dazzled in his first year winning the Rookie of the Year award, being All-Star and also winning the dunk contest after jumping a car. The Clippers then began to earn the respect of the rest.

2011 would be the year that would change everything, the Clippers, in a trade involving 5 players signed Chris Paul, an established star already in the league who arrived to lead a very young and promising project. Upon learning of his arrival, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan nicknamed the team 'The Lob City' because of the number of Alley-oops that could be given by combining the qualities of each other.

Blake Griffin, Chris Paul y DeAndre Jordan | Foto: Getty Images
Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan | Photo: Getty Images

The truth is that Griffin was not wrong. From the beginning, this project was marked by the many highlights that came out of each game. They developed a very attractive game for the spectator and, in addition, victories also came. In their first season, these Clippers managed to get into the Playoffs for the first time since 2006 and for the second time since 1997. Something had changed and the dynamic was to be maintained during the 6 years that the project lasted.

Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan led those Clippers to the Playoffs for 6 consecutive years, but they ran into the franchise's historical curse time and again. Up to 3 times they reached the conference semifinals, being even 3-1 up in one of them. But they failed to overcome that barrier.

Injuries, chemistry, egos and extra-sports scandals prevented these Clippers from becoming a legendary team, although they will certainly go down in history. They earned the respect of the entire NBA, managed to stop being seen as the losing team of Los Angeles and will forever be remembered as one of the best and most entertaining teams that never won a ring.

The Donald Sterling scandal

In April 2014, when the 'Lob City' Clippers were at their best, a bomb exploded inside the locker room. The American media 'TMZ' published a conversation of Donald Sterling (owner of the Clippers) with his girlfriend V. Stiviano in which he criticized her for having uploaded a photo with Magic Johnson to her social networks. Sterling said he was upset that she was "hanging out with black people," adding that he didn't want them at his Clippers' games.

This racism scandal brought about reactions of all kinds: from league stars to sponsorships being pulled, even his own players took issue with the owner. During a playoff game against the Warriors they chose to hide the franchise's logo by wearing their jerseys backwards.

La plantilla de los Clippers durante su protesta frente al racismo | Foto: Getty Images
The Clippers roster during their protest against racism | Photo: Getty Images

After an investigation, the NBA sanctioned Sterling with a $2.5 million fine (the maximum) and banned him from being present at any game, practice, meeting or any decision involving the league itself. Adam Silver would also force Sterling to sell the franchise immediately. Finally, Steve Ballmer took over the team for a price of $2 billion exceeding all expectations.

Rebuilding to try to become champions

After two years of falling in the first round and having already made his intentions to leave clear, Chris Paul would be traded to Houston in exchange for Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell, Sam Dekker, Darrun Hilliard, DeAndre Liggins, Kyle Wiltjer, a future draft pick and money. The rebuild had already begun.

The Clippers renewed Blake Griffin with the intention of making him the leader of the draft, but his endless physical problems ended up precipitating his trade to Detroit for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, Boban Marjanović and two Draft rounds.

In the 2018-2019 season, despite losing what had been their main players for 6-7 years, Doc Rivers' team once again qualified for the Playoffs, proving that they were still a very competitive squad. In addition, they stood up to the all-powerful Warriors in the first round, although they ended up falling 4-2.

los nuevos Clippers liderados por Kawhi Leornar y Paul George | Foto: @LAClippers
The new Clippers led by Kawhi Leornar and Paul George | Photo: @LAClippers

In the summer of 2019, having already proven to be a competitive squad that also enjoyed plenty of salary space, the Los Angeles Clippers took the most coveted piece of free agency, Kawhi Leonard, who had just been Finals MVP with the Toronto Raptors. In addition, he would join Paul George, who would come to the Los Angeles franchise in exchange for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and several rounds of the Draft.

The job was done. They had managed to put together two world superstars and were surrounded by hyper-competitive players and were one of the most feared teams in the NBA. Finally, the Clippers were one of the favorites to win the championship ring.

Biography by Luis Borja Escribá.