L.A. Clippers history
The Buffalo Braves were founded in 1970 as an "expansion team." That means they entered an existing league as a new team. In the eight seasons they played in Buffalo, they reached the playoffs three times. Because of a dispute with another team over the stadium, the Braves moved to San Diego, California, in 1978. There they also changed their name to the San Diego Clippers, because of the many sailboats that sailed into the harbor of San Diego. They spent six years in San Diego, and in that time they missed the playoffs every season. Without the approval of the NBA, the Clippers left San Diego in 1984. Owner Donald Sterling moved the club to Los Angeles, and they became the Los Angeles Clippers. In their first 27 seasons in Los Angeles, the Clippers qualified for the playoffs only four times, and they won only a small number of those games. In the years around 2010, the Clippers' reputation began to steadily improve, and they are now seen as a worthy postseason contender. Between 2012 and 2019, the Clippers managed to reach the playoffs seven times.
Clippers star players
Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo was the NBA's top scorer three seasons in a row and was named MVP in 1947-1975. World B. Free (Lloyd Bernard Free) had the second-highest scoring average per game in the entire NBA in the 1978-1979 season, with 28.9 points per game. In his first season with the Clippers, Elton Brand led the league in offensive rebounds. He was an MVP candidate and reached the conference semifinals with the Clippers. He didn't play for the Clippers for very long, but with a spot on the Olympic team, two All-Star Games, one All-Star MVP award and two selections to the All-NBA First Team, Chris Paul is certainly worth mentioning. One of the first players who really made an impact for the Clippers was Randy Smith. He holds several franchise records, such as games and minutes played, assists and steals. Although Blake Griffin is only 24 years old, he has already been selected for three All-Star Games and actually played in two, he has won a Rookie of the Year Award and he has won a Slam Dunk Contest.