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After two bad seasons, the Braves' fortunes started to change under coach Jack Ramsay and star forward/center Bob McAdoo. McAdoo led the NBA in scoring for three consecutive seasons and was named the league's MVP in the 1974–75 season. The Braves qualified for the playoffs three times in a row, losing twice to the eventual Eastern Conference champions . At a time where the NBA was nearing a nadir and the league did not have its current prestige, the Griffins saw the Braves as a threat to their own success, and purposely scheduled all the best dates at the arena to prevent the Braves from succeeding. Eventually, Brown met with Celtics owner Irv Levin in 1978 so they could trade franchise ownerships.
After the dismal season prior, the team lost several of its core players, with Miller, Odom, Olowakandi, and forward Eric Piatkowski (who was one of the longest-tenured players in franchise history) departing via free agency prior to the 2003–04 season. They, along with Richardson, made up one of the NBA's best high-scoring trios, with a combined 58 points per game. With new head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr., they finished 28–54, due to inexperience and injuries. The following season again saw the team missing the playoffs, although, they posted a better record than the Lakers for the first time since 1993. Bobby Simmons, a former second-round pick, won the 2004–05 NBA Most Improved Player award after averaging 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists per game.
Retained draft rights
Brown left to become the Indiana Pacers' head coach after the season and Bob Weiss was brought in to replace him. That 1993–94 season proved to be one of the worst in Los Angeles history, with the Clippers and Lakers going a combined 60–104. In February 1994, the Clippers traded Manning to the Atlanta Hawks for Dominique Wilkins. Wilkins played 25 games for the club, averaging 29.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 37.9 minutes per game. After one year on the job, Weiss was fired, Wilkins left in free agency, and veteran head coach Bill Fitch was brought in to guide a new roster of young and inexperienced players.
Johnson remained an assistant coach until the middle of the 2002–03 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. The 1981–82 season brought ultimately unwelcome changes to the franchise as Levin sold the team to Los Angeles-area real estate developer and attorney Donald Sterling for $12.5 million. 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.
Warriors knock off Clippers, win sixth straight home game
Rumors of a move to Sterling's hometown of Los Angeles and franchise mismanagement plagued the team immediately from the onset of Sterling's acquisition. On one occasion, Sterling was fined $10,000 by the NBA, the largest sum ever levied by the NBA against an owner at the time, for publicly guaranteeing the Clippers would lose enough games to contend for a high enough draft pick to select Ralph Sampson. On another, he was fined for flying his players to away games in coach seats on commercial airliners, a violation of the league's collective bargaining agreement. Hotels refused to house the Clippers because of alleged non-payment for previous accommodations on multiple occasions. A bus company in Newark once stranded the team at the airport after Sterling failed to pay for previous trips, which nearly caused the team to miss a scheduled regular-season game that day against the New Jersey Nets.
He especially liked mixing it up with the “grit and grind” Memphis Grizzlies, and after an offseason in which he got shipped to Charlotte and then shipped to Memphis, Barnes will return to Los Angeles as a member of the Grizzlies. His first game against the Clippers is Nov. 9 at Staples Center, and Barnes has already posted he’s not going to take it easy on his old friend, Jordan. Media requests for individual playoff games and credentials must be submitted in writing via email to the attention of All media members MUST continue to contact the Clippers’ Communications Department at least 24 hours in advance to guarantee a seat. If the player is already under contract to, or signs a contract with a non-NBA team, the team retains the player's draft rights for one year after the player's obligation to the non-NBA team ends. Essentially, the clock stops as long as the player plays pro ball outside the NBA.
Game Flow
In March 2012, Nick Young joined the Clippers as part of a three-team trade with the Washington Wizards and the Denver Nuggets. On February 4, 2010, head coach Mike Dunleavy resigned, and Kim Hughes was named interim coach. Dunleavy retained his front-office title and duties for just over a month, but on March 10 he was fired as General Manager, being replaced by Neil Olshey. Dunleavy received the news of his dismissal from the internet, as well as friends and reporters calling his cell phone.
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 1989–90 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 1987 NBA draft of Ken Norman, the 1988 selections of Danny Manning and Charles Smith , and the 1990 draft of Loy Vaught, formed a nucleus that would make the franchise a playoff contender.
2017: Arrival of Chris Paul and Lob City
Later on, the Clippers unveiled a blue alternate uniform which spelled the city name in red with white trim. On August 12, 2014, Ballmer officially took control of the team following an order by a California court that confirmed the sale from Shelly Sterling to Ballmer. The deal also included a stipulation that Steve Ballmer would keep the Clippers in Los Angeles. On November 6, the team hired its first major female executive as former Auto Club Speedway president Gillian Zucker was hired as the Clippers' president of business operations.
In the second round of the playoffs, the team was swept by the San Antonio Spurs. The following off-season, GM Neil Olshey reached an agreement to become General Manager of the Portland Trail Blazers. On draft night, the team re-acquired Lamar Odom from the Dallas Mavericks as part of a four-team deal that also sent Mo Williams and Furkan Aldemir, their 2012 draftee, to the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets, respectively. The team then sent Reggie Evans to the Brooklyn Nets for the right to swap second-round draft picks with the Nets in the 2016 NBA draft. On the same day, the Clippers signed free agent Jamal Crawford, formerly of the Portland Trail Blazers, and re-signed Billups to a one-year deal. The franchise then rounded out its roster for the upcoming season with Grant Hill, Ryan Hollins, and Ronny Turiaf, while signing Matt Barnes to a one-year deal early in the season.
The Clippers won their last seven games and earned the fourth playoff seed by defeating the Sacramento Kings in the final game of the season. The Clippers faced the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs, but lost in seven games. The 2007–08 season started off negatively, with Brand rupturing his left Achilles tendon.
Austin Rivers was traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Marcin Gortat, while long-time Clipper DeAndre Jordan, who had been with the team since 2008, opted out of his contract and became a free agent. Despite the departure of Griffin and Jordan for the 2018–19 season, the Clippers clinched a playoff berth and finished the regular season with a 48–34 record. The team faced the defending two-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the first round, losing in six games. The Clippers finished the 2016–17 season with a 51–31 record, the team's fifth straight 50-win season, despite injuries to both Griffin and Paul during the regular season.
Baron Davis, a Los Angeles native and formerly of the Golden State Warriors, signed a five-year contract with the Clippers, worth an estimated $65 million. In the upcoming draft, the Clippers obtained the seventh pick, and selected Eric Gordon. Mike Taylor, the 55th overall pick, was acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for a future second-round pick.
Paul and Griffin were selected as starters for the Western Conference team in the 2012 NBA All-Star Game, the first time in franchise history the team had two All-Star starters in the same year. In October 2008, Baylor ended his 22-year reign as vice president and general manager of basketball operations. The Clippers indicated that Baylor had retired from his post, and as a result, head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr. assumed the role of General Manager, while director of player personnel Neil Olshey was promoted to assistant general manager. However, several other reports indicated Baylor had been fired or resigned, and when questioned, Baylor responded he had been advised by his attorneys not to comment on the matter. This prompted speculation that the team and Baylor were in negotiations to work out a settlement agreement for his departure, with Baylor reportedly working without a formal contract since the early 1990s. In December, Vaught, the team's leading scorer for the past three seasons, had season-ending back surgery.
In Game 5, Raja Bell made a key 3-pointer for the Suns with 1.1 seconds left in the first overtime to send the game into a second overtime. Second-year defensive specialist Quinton Ross had a timely offensive game, scoring a then career-high 18 points. Corey Maggette came off the bench to score 25 points, with 7–8 shooting from the field, and 9–9 from the free-throw line.
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