55 Fun Facts About Los Angeles Clippers

What is the name of the Clippers' Inglewood arena, opened for the 2024–25 season?

Intuit Dome ended 25 seasons of sharing a downtown arena with other teams; "We gotta have a house," owner Steve Ballmer said while planning it.

Which Hall of Fame centre led the NBA in scoring three straight seasons and won MVP for Buffalo in 1975?

Bob McAdoo was traded to the Knicks in December 1976 as a new owner broke up the Braves, and later won two NBA titles in Los Angeles.

In which Canadian city did the Buffalo Braves stage 16 home games between 1971 and 1975?

Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens took the games partly because hockey's Sabres and Canisius College had first call on dates at Buffalo's arena.

In 1978 Braves owner John Y. Brown swapped franchises with which team's owner, Irv Levin?

John Y. Brown traded the Braves for Irv Levin's Boston Celtics in 1978; Levin, who lived in Southern California, wanted a franchise nearer home and moved the Braves west.

Which guard finished second in NBA scoring in 1978–79, the Clippers' first season?

World B. Free, born Lloyd Free, later made his nickname his legal first name; his 28.8 points a game in 1978–79 trailed only George Gervin's 29.6.

Which San Diego native and former MVP signed with the Clippers in 1979 but was sidelined by foot injuries?

Bill Walton played 14 games that season and none in the next two, yet recovered to win a second championship and the Sixth Man award in 1986.

Donald Sterling, who bought the Clippers in 1981, made his fortune in which business?

Real estate made Sterling rich: a lawyer by training, he bought up Los Angeles property when it was cheap, then bought the Clippers from Irv Levin.

Sterling was fined a record $10,000 for saying the Clippers would lose enough to draft which player?

Ralph Sampson stayed in college another year, so the Clippers, picking second in 1982, took Terry Cummings, who won Rookie of the Year; the fine was the NBA's largest yet for an owner.

Which arena became the Clippers' home after their unapproved 1984 move?

The L.A. Sports Arena took them in after Sterling, emboldened by the Raiders' court win over the NFL, moved without a vote and sued the NBA for $100 million when it objected.

The 1986–87 Clippers went 12–70, the fewest wins in a full NBA season since which team's 9–73?

The Philadelphia 76ers' 9–73, set in 1972–73, remained the low mark; the Clippers played all season without guard Norm Nixon, who had wrecked his knee that summer.

Which Hall of Famer served as the Clippers' general manager for 22 years from 1986?

Elgin Baylor was Executive of the Year in 2006, but after leaving in 2008 he sued the Clippers, claiming he was forced out over his age; a jury rejected the suit in 2011.

Which coach, hired mid-1991-92, gave the Clippers their first winning season in 13 years?

Larry Brown, fired by San Antonio weeks earlier, went 23–12 to finish 45–37 and take the Clippers to their first playoffs in 16 years.

Where was Game 4 of the Clippers' 1992 first-round series played because of the Los Angeles riots?

The Anaheim Convention Center stood in, and the Clippers won there 115–107 to level the series before losing the deciding fifth game on the road a day later.

Which star did the Clippers acquire from Atlanta in February 1994 in a trade for Danny Manning?

Dominique Wilkins came from the Hawks for Danny Manning in February 1994, averaged 29.1 points in 25 games, and left as a free agent that summer.

At which Orange County arena did the Clippers play some games from 1994 to 1999?

The Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, home of hockey's Mighty Ducks, hosted a few Clippers games each season while Anaheim courted the team for a full-time move that never came.

Which centre did the Clippers take first overall in the 1998 draft?

Michael Olowokandi, a centre from the University of the Pacific, was taken ahead of future Hall of Famers Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce.

Which power forward did the Clippers acquire from Chicago in 2001 for the rights to Tyson Chandler?

Elton Brand made two All-Star teams with the Clippers and led them to a playoff series win in 2006, then walked away as a free agent in 2008.

Which veteran point guard, acquired from Minnesota in 2005, helped the Clippers win a playoff series in 2006?

Sam Cassell, who already owned two championship rings, steadied a 47–35 team that ended the franchise's 30-year wait for a playoff series win.

Which young Clippers guard suffered a devastating knee dislocation in 2007 and missed more than a year?

Shaun Livingston damaged almost every part of his left knee, yet recovered to win three championships with Golden State in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

Whom did the Clippers select first overall in the 2009 draft?

Blake Griffin broke his left kneecap in the final preseason game and missed the whole season, then won Rookie of the Year in 2011.

The 2011 first-round pick the Clippers sent to Cleveland with Baron Davis became which No. 1 pick?

Kyrie Irving came from the pick the Clippers sent away with Baron Davis in February 2011, which went on to win the draft lottery; in return they got Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.

From which team did the Clippers acquire Chris Paul in December 2011, days after the NBA vetoed another trade for him?

The New Orleans Hornets were owned by the NBA itself at the time, which is how commissioner David Stern was able to veto a deal with another club days earlier.

Which Clippers centre verbally agreed to join Dallas in 2015, then re-signed with the Clippers?

DeAndre Jordan agreed to a four-year, $80 million deal with Dallas in July 2015, then changed his mind days later and re-signed with the Clippers after teammates camped at his home to talk him round.

Which team did the Clippers beat 99–98 in a 2012 playoff opener after trailing by 21 points entering the fourth quarter?

The Memphis Grizzlies were outscored 35–13 in the final quarter, and the Clippers went on to win the series in seven games, taking Game 7 on the road as well.

What nickname did the Clippers earn in the era when they won a franchise-record 17 straight games in 2012?

Lob City took hold after the December 2011 trade for an elite passer; a year later the team won 17 in a row, including a perfect 16–0 December.

Which coach did the Clippers acquire from Boston in 2013 for a first-round pick?

Doc Rivers cost the Clippers an unprotected 2015 first-round pick, a rare trade for a coach, and won 57 games in his first season in charge.

Which team did the Clippers rout 142–94 in March 2014?

The Los Angeles Lakers were officially the home team that night at the arena the clubs shared, and the 48-point loss was the heaviest in their history to that point.

Which website first published the April 2014 recording of Donald Sterling's racist remarks?

TMZ posted a nine-minute tape of Sterling's remarks to V. Stiviano; before their next playoff game the players wore their warm-up shirts inside out to hide the Clippers logo.

Which NBA commissioner banned Donald Sterling for life in 2014, three months into the job?

Adam Silver also fined Sterling $2.5 million, the most the NBA's constitution allowed, and urged the other owners to force a sale of the team.

For how much did Steve Ballmer buy the Clippers in 2014?

Steve Ballmer's $2 billion was a record price for an NBA team; the Seattle resident promised to keep the Clippers in Los Angeles despite talk that he would move them north.

Which billionaire was reportedly part of a rival group that Steve Ballmer outbid for the Clippers in 2014?

Oprah Winfrey was reported to be teaming with David Geffen and Larry Ellison on a bid; Magic Johnson, with separate backers, was tipped as another front-runner.

Which title did Shelly Sterling receive in the 2014 sale of the Clippers?

Owner Emeritus and 'Number 1 Fan' were written into the deal for Shelly Sterling, who as sole trustee sold the team over her banned husband's objections.

Which team eliminated the Clippers in 2015 after Los Angeles led the second-round series 3–1?

The Houston Rockets won three straight, including a Game 6 rally from 19 down in Los Angeles, after the Clippers had beaten the champion Spurs on Chris Paul's Game 7 shot with one second left.

Which two-time Executive of the Year joined the Clippers as a consultant in 2017?

Jerry West joined days after helping Golden State win the 2017 title, and advised the Clippers until his death in June 2024.

Which guard, drafted for the Clippers in 2018, went to Oklahoma City in the Paul George trade?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander left with Danilo Gallinari and a haul of draft picks, then won the 2025 MVP award and led Oklahoma City to that year's title.

Kawhi Leonard left which team to sign with the Clippers in 2019?

Kawhi Leonard left the Toronto Raptors weeks after leading them to the 2019 title, signing once the Clippers had agreed to trade for Paul George.

Which team eliminated the Clippers in the 2020 bubble after they blew a 3-1 lead in the West semis?

The Denver Nuggets, who had already come back from 3–1 against Utah, won Games 5, 6 and 7 in September 2020; the Clippers' coach was gone within two weeks.

Which team beat the Clippers in six games in 2021 in the franchise's first-ever conference finals?

The Phoenix Suns took the 2021 Western Conference finals 4–2, Deandre Ayton's last-second alley-oop winning Game 2; the Clippers had upset top seed Utah without the injured Kawhi Leonard.

As of 2025, the Clippers were the oldest major-league franchise never to have done what?

The Clippers had never played in a championship game or series in 55 seasons by 2025; the closest call came in 2021, when they lost the conference finals without the injured Kawhi Leonard.

Which former MVP did the Clippers acquire from Philadelphia early in the 2023–24 season?

James Harden had forced the move by publicly calling his team's president, Daryl Morey, a liar; the 2018 MVP arrived in November 2023 in a deal that sent four Clippers players east.

Which nearby venue did Steve Ballmer buy in 2020 to end its operator's opposition to his new arena?

Ballmer paid $400 million for the Forum in March 2020, settling the lawsuits its New York owner had filed to block the Inglewood arena.

Which company's $28 million 'no-show' endorsement deal with Kawhi Leonard cost the Clippers five first-round picks in 2026?

Aspiration, a now-defunct tree-planting finance firm part-funded by Steve Ballmer, was the sponsor; the NBA ruled that the deal circumvented the salary cap and fined the Clippers $30 million.

Which guard won Sixth Man of the Year with the Clippers in 2014 and 2016?

Jamal Crawford won the award three times, the first player to do so, yet never made an All-Star team in 20 NBA seasons.

What kind of symbols spelled out the team name down the shorts of the San Diego Clippers' first uniforms?

Nautical flags, one for each letter of 'Clippers', ran down the baby-blue shorts, a nod to the sailing ships that gave the team its name in 1978.

The Clippers' 2022–23 black 'City' uniform paid homage to which Los Angeles summer basketball league?

The Drew League, a South Los Angeles pro-am founded in 1973, was marking its 50th anniversary, and its motto, 'No Excuse. Just Produce', appears on the jersey tag.

Which long-time announcer began his association with the Clippers in their first San Diego season?

Ralph Lawler called more than 3,000 Clippers games before retiring in 2019 and coined 'Lawler's Law': the first team to reach 100 points wins.

Which team knocked the Clippers out of the playoffs in both 1992 and 1997?

The Utah Jazz ended two of the Clippers' only four playoff trips in their first 27 Los Angeles seasons, and beat them again in 2017 before the Clippers won their 2021 rematch.

The Buffalo Braves entered the NBA in 1970-71 alongside Cleveland and which other expansion team?

The Portland Trail Blazers, Braves and Cavaliers took the NBA to 17 teams, and that season it split into Eastern and Western Conferences for the first time.

Which coach turned the Braves' fortunes around from 1972, reaching the playoffs in 1974?

Jack Ramsay took over a 22-win team in 1972 and had it in the playoffs within two seasons; he left in 1976 and won the NBA title with his next club a year later.

Which future Hall of Fame centre played only two games for the Buffalo Braves in 1976 before being traded away?

Moses Malone played six minutes over two games before the Braves traded him for two first-round picks; he went on to win three MVP awards.

From which California city did the Clippers' G League affiliate move in 2024 to become the San Diego Clippers?

Ontario had hosted the team since 2017; it moved to a new arena in Oceanside and revived the San Diego Clippers name 40 years after the NBA club left the area.

Which No. 2 pick in the 1989 draft refused to join the Clippers and played in Italy instead?

Danny Ferry signed with Il Messaggero of Rome, so that November the Clippers traded his rights to Cleveland in the deal that brought them guard Ron Harper.

Which Hall of Famer did the Clippers hire in 2000 to tutor their young centre?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was hired in February 2000, two weeks after the Clippers fired their head coach, to school the team's young big men, and he did not return when his contract ran out that June.

In 1999-2000 the Clippers went 15-67, the NBA's worst record, while the Lakers won the title at what record?

67-15 mirrored the Clippers' record exactly in the first season the two clubs shared an arena; the Clippers fired their head coach in February and still finished last in the league.

Who coached the Clippers to their first playoff series win in Los Angeles, in 2006?

Mike Dunleavy's sixth-seeded Clippers beat a third seed with a worse record in five games, and the NBA changed how division winners were seeded the very next season.