Mobile Alerts
E-News Sign Up
SEASON RECAPS
 |
2008-09
High expectations can be dangerous and that certainly was the case entering this season. The team had added a two-time All-Star in Baron Davis and a former Defensive Player of the Year in Marcus Camby. They also grabbed a potential Rookie of the Year candidate in Eric Gordon with the seventh pick in the June Draft. Chris Kaman, Al Thornton, Cat Mobley and Tim Thomas were valued returning players and newcomers Ricky Davis, Jason Hart, Brian Skinner and Steve Novak provided depth at every position. Add promising second round picks DeAndre Jordan and Mike Taylor to the mix and all the bases looked to be covered. Looking at it on paper, it still looks good.
2007-08
The Clippers were optimistic entering the 2007-08 season. They felt they had a coup in the draft finding a mature, NBA-ready talent like Al Thornton with the 14th pick. They also added some depth at point guard by acquiring veteran Brevin Knight and had hopes that Shaun Livingston might be able to return from last season’s knee injury by mid-season. All this while Sam Cassell was getting ready for the 15th season.
2006-07
Clippers fans could not wait for the start of the 2006-07 season. The team had won 47 games the prior year and was a win away from the Western Conference Finals. They were now playoff tested and Coach Mike Dunleavy welcomed back almost the same team from the season before. The only exceptions really were that Corey Maggette was healthy now after playing only 32 games the previous season and shooter Tim Thomas was in from Phoenix to replace Vladimir Radmonovic. The rest of the cast was pretty much in tact, just a year older and wiser.
2005-06
Coach Mike Dunleavy was encouraged by the play of his team the prior year. They’d played very well when they were healthy. He knew, however, that the team had a missing link. That link was filled with a dramatic August trade with Minnesota. The Clippers acquired veteran Sam Cassell and a conditional first round draft pick from the Timberwolves in exchange for Marko Jaric.
2004-05
The Clippers went for a young point guard of enormous talent in June's NBA Draft. They selected 18-year-old Shaun Livingston straight out of high school in Peoria, Illinois. He was a slender 6-foot-7 bundle of eye-catching promise. A week later, they were in the hunt for Lakers free agent Kobe Bryant. The bidding began on July 1st.
2003-04
The summer of 2003 was a wild ride for Clipper fans. The team tabbed center Chris Kaman with the sixth overall pick in the June draft. Soon after, they’d sign the well-tested and proven Mike Dunleavy as Head Coach. The work was just beginning.
2002-03
All that seemed to be missing from last year’s 39-win Clippers team was a steady hand at the point guard position. The team addressed that need on July 30, acquiring NBA assist leader Andre Miller from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Darius Miles. It was agonizingly painful to give up the crowd pleasing Miles, but Miller was exactly what was needed.
2001-02
The 2001-02 season was “magical.” The magic was put in motion on draft day when the Clippers pulled a blockbuster trade in sending Brian Skinner and the draft rights to Tyson Chandler to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for brilliant and young power forward Elton Brand. They essentially added a nightly 20 and 10 player to last year’s promising cast without giving up any of the core group.
2000-01
On August 10, 2000 Alvin Gentry was named head coach of the Clippers to replace Chris Ford / Jim Todd. Gentry had a winning record through three seasons as head coach of the Detroit Pistons. He brought much needed enthusiasm and a new outlook. He had some bright new players with whom to work.
1999-2000
Everything seemed new and promising entering the 1999-2000 season. The team announced a move from the old L.A. Sports Arena into the $375-million STAPLES Center in downtown Los Angeles, where they would share the brilliant new venue with the Lakers and the Kings. It was a major coup for the team and a testament to the tenacity and business acumen of club owner Donald T. Sterling and the team’s executive Vice President Andy Roeser.
1998-99
This was not a good time for the NBA. League icon Michael Jordan had retired to play minor league baseball. Labor strife stole all the headlines through-out the summer of 1998. Training camps were delayed and then cancelled as owners and the players union debated a new collective bargaining agreement. October turned into November and December and just as it appeared the entire season would be cancelled, hope was afloat in January.
1997-98
The new season carried high hopes. Bill Fitch had just led the Clippers to the 1997 playoffs, their third appearance in six seasons. Things were looking up. The club also felt fortunate to be able to draft 21-year-old power forward Maurice Taylor out of Michigan with the 14th pick in the June draft.
1996-97
The 1996-97 season was eagerly anticipated. Fitch was entering his third year coaching the team and the season win totals had risen from 17 to 29 in his first two years. A similar jump this year could put the Clippers in playoff contention.
1995-96
Coach Bill Fitch had Won an NBA Championship. He was determined to help build this Clippers team into the playoff contender he had envisioned. The team brought in veterans Brian Williams and Rodney Rogers to help get the Clipper ship headed back in the right direction after last season’s 17-win debacle.
1994-95
The prior season would have been even better but for an undercurrent of conflict between Coach Larry Brown and all-star forward Danny Manning. It was almost palpable at times. Something had to give and it did. Not surprisingly, it was the nomadic coach who moved on.
1993-94
The prior season would have been even better but for an undercurrent of conflict between Coach Larry Brown and all-star forward Danny Manning. It was almost palpable at times. Something had to give and it did. Not surprisingly, it was the nomadic coach who moved on.
1992-93
Coach Larry Brown loved to tinker with his roster and he and Elgin Baylor made some adjustments before the 1992-93 season. In a three-team deal, the Clippers acquired former Rookie of the Year Mark Jackson from New York and big center Stanley Roberts from Orlando. The price was a sore-kneed Charles Smith and veteran point guard Doc Rivers. Brown also brought in big John Williams from Washington.
1991-92
Elgin Baylor brought in some veteran help to augment the Clippers' obviously talented, but very young nucleus. 36-year-old center James Edwards and 30-year-old guard Doc Rivers joined the young players with a mandate to show them how to win. Both vets had a world of playoff experience while the core of the Clipper youngsters - Grant, Manning, Norman and Smith - had yet to play a single game in the post-season. Surely, their time was now.
1990-91
On May 25, 1990, former NBA Coach of the Year Mike Schuler was named to replace Don Casey as coach of the Clippers. He’d Won 127 games and lost 74 in two and a half years of coaching the Portland Trail Blazers. His teams were noted as fast-breaking and high scoring. It looked like a good fit for this promising young Clipper team.
1989-90
You could see it coming as the 1989-90 season opened. The pieces were in place for this to be a very good team in the years to come. Manning was due back from last season’s knee injury in the first month of the season, Charles Smith was a rising young star, Ken Norman was better than anyone had dared hope, Gary Grant was called "the General" for a reason and big Benoit Benjamin was a legit space-eater in the middle.
1988-89
It looked like the team’s run of bad luck might be turning when the Clippers won the NBA’s first draft Lottery in the Spring of 1988. The prize was clearly consensus college player of the year Danny Manning who had just led Kansas to the NCAA Championship. Coach Shue had years earlier coached Danny’s father, Ed Manning. Now, he’d coach the 22 year old son who possessed point guard skills and vision in a 6-10 body.
1987-88
Change was the by-word in the off-season going into the 1986-87 campaign. Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor replaced Carl Scheer as General Manager in April of 1986. His first act was to retain Don Chaney as head coach. His busy summer saw him send injured star Derek Smith to Sacramento in exchange for Larry Drew, Mike Woodson and a future first round draft pick. The addition of Drew was critical because star point guard Norm Nixon tore up his left knee while playing in a softball game at Central Park in New York in July. Subsequent surgery would end his season before it began.
1986-87
Change was the by-word in the off-season going into the 1986-87 campaign. Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor replaced Carl Scheer as General Manager in April of 1986. His first act was to retain Don Chaney as head coach. His busy summer saw him send injured star Derek Smith to Sacramento in exchange for Larry Drew, Mike Woodson and a future first round draft pick. The addition of Drew was critical because star point guard Norm Nixon tore up his left knee while playing in a softball game at Central Park in New York in July. Subsequent surgery would end his season before it began.
1985-86
The 1985-86 season opened with great promise. General Manager Carl Scheer had traded away the oft-injured Bill Walton to Boston in exchange for the reliable and colorful Cedric Maxwell and a 1986 first round draft pick. The drafting of massive center Benoit Benjamin made the move of Walton possible.
1984-85
In 1984, owner Donald Sterling moved the Clippers to Los Angeles. But a new home was not the only change for the team. The Clippers sent Cummings, Pierce, and Craig Hodges to the Milwaukee Bucks for Marques Johnson, Junior Bridgeman, Harvey Catchings, and cash. Also new to the team was first-round draft choice Michael Cage.
|
 |
1983-84
Paul Silas's reign as head coach came to an end after the 1982-83 season, when he was replaced by Jim Lynam. Silas left the Clippers with a three-year record of 78-168 and a .317 winning percentage. The franchise made some major changes on the court as well. With Bill Walton a big question mark in the middle, the Clippers sent Chambers to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for 7-2 center James Donaldson. The team also picked up Norm Nixon in a deal that sent Swen Nater and rookie draftee Byron Scott to the Los Angeles Lakers.
1982-83
When the 1982-83 season opened the Clippers had reason for optimism. Bill Walton, whose injured feet had limited him to only 14 games during the previous four years, was back. Tom Chambers was coming off a fine rookie campaign. And the team had added veteran guard Lionel Hollins and had picked up promising rookie Terry Cummings in the 1982 NBA Draft.
|
 |
1981-82
On June 16, 1981, the team changed hands once again when Beverly Hills attorney and real estate mogul Donald T. Sterling bought the club from Ira Levin. Despite the change, the 1981-82 season was an especially difficult one. Center Bill Walton missed another year, Freeman Williams and Phil Smith were traded away, and Swen Nater missed 61 games because of a knee injury. The Clippers opened the campaign with a 125-110 win over the Rockets, then lost 10 of their next 11 games. December brought a nine-game losing streak. The team's best month was January, when it managed a 6-9 record. Halfway through the season, San Diego's record was only 13-29.
1980-81
Paul Silas replaced Shue as head coach before the 1980-81 campaign, and the Clippers traded Lloyd B. Free to the Golden State Warriors for six-year veteran Phil Smith and a first-round draft choice. But the year was over for San Diego before it began-during training camp Walton's feet gave out once again, and he missed the entire season.
1979-80
San Diego took a huge risk in the 1979 summer by signing free agent Bill Walton from Portland. The 6-11 redhead with the fragile feet had missed the entire previous season because of injury. The acquisition backfired, and the Clippers were forced to give Kermit Washington, Kevin Kunnert, and a first-round draft choice as compensation. Walton reinjured his foot and played only 14 games for San Diego.
1978-79
San Diego had not been home to an NBA basketball club since 1971, when the San Diego Rockets had moved to Houston after a four-year stay in southern California. Levin renamed his club the Clippers and appointed Gene Shue as the new head coach for 1978-79. The Clippers got a good performance out of Lloyd B. Free (later known as World B. Free), who had come to San Diego after three years in Philadelphia. Free averaged 28.8 points and finished second in the league in scoring, only 0.8 points per game behind league leader George Gervin of the San Antonio Spurs. Also turning in a solid season for the Clippers was Randy Smith, who finished his fourth consecutive season with a scoring average of better than 20 points per game (20.5). |
CLICK HERE to see the history of the Buffalo Braves (1970-78) |
BACK TO TOP
