About the Los Angeles Clippers

Formerly known as the Buffalo Braves and the San Diego Clippers, the Los Angeles Clippers have been around the NBA since 1970 when they were added to the league as an expansion team. Along with the Portland TrailBlazers and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Los Angeles Clippers expansion team went through some growing pains during the teams infancy. In their first two seasons the Los Angeles Clippers had identical records of 22-60, two sub par outings indeed.

In the next year the Los Angeles Clippers drafted center Bob McAdoo which would ultimately turn their fortunes around. In his first year McAdoo won rookie of the year, and the three subsequent years he helped the Los Angeles Clippers reach the playoffs. His 30 point per game average over that span also propelled him into an elite group of NBA player when he won league MVP in the 1974-75 season.

Rising in the standings progressively each year, the Los Angeles Clippers made a mistake that would prove fatal to their dreams of obtaining an NBA crown. In the 1976 season, the Los Angeles Clippers sold McAdoo's contract to the Knicks. A move that is still questioned by fans today, McAdoo continued to excel on his new team while the Los Angeles Clippers faltered year after year, earning a loosing record in the first year that McAdoo departed the franchise. The Los Angeles Clippers moved from their home in Buffalo to the west coast where they would be the San Diego Clippers before finally settling in Los Angeles in 1984.

Once settled the Los Angeles Clippers made some changes that helped them rise back into playoff contention. Owner Donald Sterling bought the Los Angeles Clippers in 1981 and the first move he made was the acquisition of former NBA all-star Elgin Baylor as his general manager. Baylor used the teams misfortunes to his advantage by utilizing his high draft picks to get Danny Manning and Ron Harper. Under newly hired coach Larry Brown, Manning and Harper led the Los Angeles Clippers to their best season in history in 1991-92, finishing with a mark of 45-37. The Los Angeles Clippers made the playoffs for the first time since the 1978-79 season, and made the playoffs again the following season. However the Los Angeles Clippers' bad luck came back when coach Brown left the team for greener pastures and the Los Angeles Clippers fell back to the bottom of the western conference.

Today the Clippers have a promising young bunch of players that are hungry to get back to the playoffs. Rounding out the starting five is Elton Brand, a fifth year power forward with old school low post moves and interior toughness on defense. Guard Corey Maggette is an explosive player with a quick first step and the ability to drain long range jumpers. Rookie Shaun Livingston, an Illinois native can jump out of the gym, despite his wiry frame and is one of the most exiting straight-from-high-school rookies to come out in the past few years. With their solid core on both sides of the court, the Los Angeles Clippers are poised to make fans and ticket holders alike forget about the McAdoo deal and think of the future.