Los Angeles Clippers
National Basketball Association team in Los Angeles, California / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Clippers recently played their home games at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles from 1999 to 2024, which they had shared with NBA's Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL), and will play in the Intuit Dome beginning with the 2024–25 NBA season.
| Los Angeles Clippers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 2023–24 Los Angeles Clippers season | |||||
.svg) | |||||
| Conference | Western | ||||
| Division | Pacific | ||||
| Founded | 1970 | ||||
| History | Buffalo Braves 1970–1978 San Diego Clippers 1978–1984 Los Angeles Clippers 1984–present[1][2] | ||||
| Arena | Intuit Dome | ||||
| Location | Inglewood, California | ||||
| Team colors | Royal blue, red, black, silver, white[3][4][5] | ||||
| Main sponsor | PayPal Honey[6] | ||||
| President | Lawrence Frank[7] | ||||
| General manager | Trent Redden | ||||
| Head coach | Tyronn Lue | ||||
| Ownership | Steve Ballmer[8] | ||||
| Affiliation(s) | San Diego Clippers | ||||
| Championships | 0 | ||||
| Conference titles | 0 | ||||
| Division titles | 3 (2013, 2014, 2024) | ||||
| Website | www | ||||
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The franchise was founded as the Buffalo Braves in 1970 as an expansion team. Led by Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo, the Braves reached the NBA playoffs three times during their eight seasons in Buffalo, New York. Conflicts with the Canisius Golden Griffins over the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and the sale of the franchise led to their relocation from Buffalo to San Diego, California in 1978 and subsequent rebranding as the San Diego Clippers, in reference to the sailing ships synonymous with San Diego Bay.[9] The team saw little success on the court and missed the playoffs during all six of their years in San Diego. In 1984, owner Donald Sterling controversially relocated the franchise to Los Angeles without NBA approval. The NBA spent more than three years on a lawsuit to force the team back to San Diego before eventually dropping the suit in exchange for Sterling paying a fine.
Arguably the least successful franchise in North American professional sports, the Clippers qualified for the postseason only four times and won a single playoff round during their first 27 seasons in Los Angeles. They were frequently considered a perennial loser in American professional sports, drawing unfavorable comparisons to the historically successful Lakers.
The Clippers' reputation improved during the 2010s, which saw them transform into consistent postseason contenders. Aided by the "Lob City" lineup of Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Paul, the team qualified for the playoffs in six consecutive seasons from 2012 to 2017 and won two consecutive division titles in 2013 and 2014, both firsts for the franchise. Despite this success, the Clippers struggled in the postseason and were frequently eliminated in the conference semifinals; the team reached the conference finals for the first time in 2021 and lost. To date, they are the oldest franchise in North American professional sports to have never played in a championship game.