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An 11-year NBA veteran and former NBA All-Star , Martin joined the Clippers after signing with the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association the previous summer. On February 6, 2012, during a game against the Orlando Magic, Billups tore his Achilles tendon and missed the remainder of the season. In March 2012, Nick Young joined the Clippers as part of a three-team trade with the Washington Wizards and the Denver Nuggets.
Aiming for one of the six play-off spots for the Conference, they managed to win eight games in a row, and then another five games consecutively. Playing at the San Diego Sports Arena, the Clippers posted a record of 43–39 in their first season in California under, leaving them two wins shy of the final playoff spot. It was also the first season in Southern California for long-time announcer Ralph Lawler began his association with the franchise.
Davis injured, but LeBron leads Lakers past Denver 126-108
Days before a league scheduled vote in October to remove Sterling, he agreed to sell the team, and the league sought buyers who would keep the franchise in San Diego. At the suggestion of David Stern, then the league's vice president, Sterling was able to maintain his position as owner, by instead handing over operations duties of the franchise to Alan Rothenberg, who became the team's president. By February 1983, Stern called the Clippers a "first-class" franchise, and the ouster of Sterling was no longer pursued. In 1984, owner Donald Sterling controversially relocated the franchise to Los Angeles without NBA approval, which was permitted following legal action between the league and Sterling.
However, in the years after, the Clippers' scheduling at Staples Center became gradually more favorable in their lease renewals in 2004 and 2013, with the team receiving increased profits, including more of a share of luxury suite and concession revenue. Since February 2011, the Clippers have sold out every regular season and postseason home game, behind the popularity of stars Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Paul. Malik Sealy died in a car accident in 2000, Kevin Duckworth died of heart disease in 2008, Lorenzen Wright went missing and was murdered in 2010, and Dwayne Schintzius died from cancer complications in 2012.
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In July, former Chicago Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro was hired as the next head coach. In August, the team introduced new uniform designs at a photoshoot, at the team's practice facility. Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, who saw significant improvement in his two years with the team, modeled the new uniforms, which were re-designed for the first time since the 2000–01 season. The Clippers' primary and secondary logos, which are modifications of the previous ones, were introduced to the public weeks earlier, on the night of the 2010 NBA draft, where the Clippers selected Al-Farouq Aminu eighth overall.
On January 9, 2013, with a 99–93 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, the Clippers recorded another franchise record with their 13th straight home victory. On January 12, the Clippers 13 game home win streak came to an end with a 104–101 loss to the Orlando Magic. A 126–101 victory over the Phoenix Suns saw the Clippers reach the 50-win mark for the first time in franchise history, breaking their previous mark of 49 from 1974–75, when they were in Buffalo. On April 7, with a 109–95 victory over the Lakers, they swept the LA season series, and clinched their first division title in franchise history.
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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. The team saw little success on the court and missed the playoffs during all six of their years in San Diego. Phoenix wasn’t at 100% by any means, missing Deandre Ayton , Cam Johnson , Cam Payne and Duane Washington Jr. but it didn’t have to play G League players off its bench the way the Clippers did with Brandon Boston Jr., Moussa Diabate and Jason Preston. After reaching the 2020 NBA playoffs, the Clippers were rewarded with an "Earned" uniform for the 2020–21 season. The uniform essentially recreated the team's "Icon" uniform, but had a grey base with thick white stripes, and red and blue were relegated to the arm piping.
The arena is also expected to house a practice facility and team headquarters for the Clippers, as the team's current practice facility in Los Angeles' Playa Vista neighborhood is still owned by the Sterling Family Trust, and is leased back to the team. In the 2019 off-season, Kawhi Leonard opted out of his final year on his contract with the Toronto Raptors to become one of the top free agents. Leonard chose to sign with the Clippers when the team agreed to trade for the Oklahoma City Thunder's Paul George.
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.
The 2005–06 season was a turning point for the team's image; marked by several wins over top teams, Brand's performances were greatly praised, and he was chosen for the All-Star Game. Many sports writers noted the team's improvement, especially after acquiring sharpshooter Vladimir Radmanović from the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for big-man Chris Wilcox. While the team had a few stretches of poor play, they were able to maintain a solid record, including posting several winning streaks.
The 2021–22 "City" uniform saw the Clippers incorporate various uniform styles from the past, including the baby blue and orange of the Buffalo/San Diego era, the "Clippers" script from 1987 to 2015, and the three sails motif from the 2017–18 "City" uniform. In 1987, the Clippers uniforms changed to a set that remained mostly intact until 2010. On the home white uniform, the team name was written in script lettering, while on the road red uniform, the city name in script was used. Later on, the road uniforms replaced the city name with the team name, and blue numerals were replaced with white numerals. Before the 2000–01 season, the Clippers made slight changes to their uniform, adding the interlocking "LAC" logo on the neckline and gaining thicker contrasting stripes and bolder numerals.
In 2010, the Clippers changed their uniforms, adjusting the stripes and letters. The white uniforms featured the team name in blue and the numerals in red, while the red uniforms were emblazoned with the city name in white and numerals in blue. Later on, the Clippers added a blue alternate uniform and a sleeved baby blue alternate uniform; both designs featured the city name in white and numerals in red. In March 2020, Steve Ballmer, owner of the Clippers, reached an agreement with the Madison Square Garden Company to buy The Forum, eliminating any opposition related to the construction of the Clippers' new arena.
The 1978–79 season started off poorly, with the Clippers' first win only on the fourth game against the Chicago Bulls. The team lost 12 of its 18 first games and dropped to the bottom of the Pacific Division. Player Kevin Kunnert argued they had the "killer instinct of a field mouse". The worst loss came against the San Antonio Spurs, with a loss of 163 to 125.
The 2006 off-season started as the team drafted Paul Davis in the second round of the 2006 NBA draft, as the 34th overall pick. The pick was acquired by the Clippers by way of a 2004 trade for Melvin Ely. Meanwhile, in free agency, they signed Tim Thomas away from divisional Phoenix, in a four-year, $24 million deal.
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