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Los Angeles Clippers 1984 to Present

The Clippers moved to Los Angeles in the year 1984. They played at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

The Clippers hired Jim Lynam as the head coach. They finished the season with an embarrasing record of 31-51 record.

They continue struggling and playing poorly for the next seven seasons, one of which is a season with a 12-70 standing in the 1986-87 which is the 2nd worst season record in the history of the NBA. That season, Elgin Baylor became the general manager and vice president of basketball operations.

In 1989-90 season, they traded Danny Ferry and Reggie Williams for Ron Harper. Along with other notable players such as Ken Norman, Danny Manning, Charles Smith and Loy Vaught made the Clippers a playoff contender.

The 1991-92 NBA season, the Clippers hired coach Larry Brown from the San Antonio Spurs. He led the team to finish the season with a 45-37 record. It was the franchise first winning record for 13 years and it was also the first time that the Clippers has a better record than their neighboring team the Los Angeles Lakers.

They moved on to the playoffs but eventually lost to the Utah Jazz in the first round. They made the playoffs the next year with a record of 41-41 but lost again in the first round in the hands of the Houston Rockets.

Brown left and was replaced by Bob Weiss. They had a disappointing season that resulted in the firing of Weiss. Bill Fitch filled up the coaching job to handle the young roster. They continued to move players and hiring coaches for the next seasons and only one playoff appearance.

In the 2000-01 season, the acquired Corey Maggette from the Orlando Magic in exchange for Derek Strong. They also drafted the duo Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson who were childhood friends and brought electrifying entertainment in the crowd of the Los Angeles Clippers with their high flying skills. They improved their season with a 31-51 record.

They signed Elton Brand from the Bulls in exchange of the draft rights for Tyson Chandler. In the offseason of 2002, they traded Darius Miles for Andre Miller of the Cavaliers. Despite their deep roster with Brand and Miller, they had an embarrasing season with a lot of injuries and finished it with 27-55 standing. They hired Coach Avin Gentry as the head coach in 2002-03 season.

The next season, they lost most of their key players to Free Agency, which are Miller, Olowokandi, Odom and Piatkowski. They retained Elton Brand and Corey Maggette. The two of them with Richardson, formed one of the NBA’s best scoring trios with 58 points per game combined. They were led by Coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. in a 28-54 season.

The 2004-05 season, they acquired Cuttino Mobley, and traded Marko Jaric and Lionel Chalmers for Sam Cassell and 1st round draft pick. They were back in the playoffs in 05-06 season as the 5th seed of the Western Conference with 47-35 record. They won their first playoff series since the Buffalo days. They played against the Phoenix Suns in the next round and lost in 7 games. In 2006-07 season, they were back in struggling years, with a 40-42 season.

From 2007-09, the Clippers had a lot of movements in their roster, with the departure of their star player Elton Brand and Maggette. Their only bright spot was the talented Chris Kaman.

In the present, they drafted Blake Griffin in 2009 but did not play for the whole season because of an injury. In the next season, as the much anticipated debut of Blake Griffin for the Clippers, Eric Gordon has also improved.

Blake Griffin established himself as one of the most electrifying and entertaining basketball players to watch because of his dunks almost every game. Blake Griffin was also voted as an All-Star Reserve for the 2011 Western All-Stars.

Los Angeles Clippers

 

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