San Diego Clippers

Friday, September 10, 2004, 7:33 —by Joe Crawford
This item was posted in San Diego History, San Diego Sports category and has 11 Comments so far.

San Diego Clippers
I bet some of you didn’t know that San Diego at one time hosted a professional basketball team (well, perhaps professional is being generous with the San Diego years for the Clippers). As I recall their hallmark was poor attendance at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Well, it’s true. The Los Angeles Clippers were formerly the San Diego Clippers. They were located in San Diego from 1978 to 1984. Here’s a franchise history:

Following a proposal by then-NBA attorney David Stern, the Braves were allowed to leave Buffalo after the 1977-78 season for San Diego. The deal was a complicated one, as Buffalo Braves owner John Y. Brown traded places with Boston Celtics owner Irv Levin. Levin, a California businessman, was unhappy in Boston and relished the opportunity to own a team in his home state. Levin immediately renamed the club the Clippers due to San Diego’s bustling harbor and seaside locale.

And did you know that Bill Walton played for them?

Walton’s professional career began when he was the number one over all pick in the 1974 NBA Draft by the Portland Trailblazers. He was a member of their championship team in 1977. Nine years later he earned another championship title, this time with the Boston Celtics in 1986. He played with the Trailblazers 1974-1979, the San Diego Clippers 1979-1984, the relocated Los Angeles Clippers in 1985, and The Boston Celtics 1985-1988.

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11 Responses to “San Diego Clippers”

  1. route66 said on Friday, September 10, 2004, 8:05

    I worked for the ABA’s (American Basketball Association) San Diego Conquistadors when they played at Peterson (San Diego State) Gym (capacity of 3,200) in the early 70s.

    In the fall of 1973, pro basketball fans heard the news about Wilt Chamberlain’s defection from the Lakers to the Q’s, and wondered whether he would actually play in the ABA. Many writers felt that with Wilt in the middle, the Q’s would contend for the Western Division title, and possibly the ABA championship.

    Ah, the days of red, white and blue basketballs at SDSU. :-).

  2. Jeff said on Friday, September 10, 2004, 8:43

    San Diego also had the Rockets before Houston:

    http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/sdrock/sdrockets.html

  3. David Montgomery said on Friday, September 10, 2004, 14:04

    I knew about the Clips, but that’s news about the Rockets! That’s interesting. Hasn’t there been talk in recent years about the Clips moving back down there? It would probably be a good idea. Either that or Anaheim.

  4. Jeff said on Friday, September 10, 2004, 22:07

    There’s no way an NBA franchise would ever move to San Diego to play in the Sports Arena. And there’s no way San diego would ever build another arena. (Just look at the imbroglio over Petco). Thus, no chance.

    Ps. why is the comment section and text running under the link section?

  5. Joe Crawford said on Friday, September 10, 2004, 22:51

    Jeff - not sure. On some versions of MSIE we have some strange rendering problems with the design of San Diego Blog. It sucks, and is on our “to do” list. The site works best in better browsers for now. And yes, we understand that’s lame.

    The upside is that you were not prevented from commenting. :-)

  6. Jeff said on Saturday, September 11, 2004, 10:39

    Joe, thanks. It’s working now.

  7. Graham Zulauf said on Monday, September 13, 2004, 17:47

    Interesting bit of trivia:

    First round draft pick for the Clippers of their first year: Pat Riley

  8. Jason S. said on Monday, May 22, 2006, 19:58

    I am a huge San Diego Clippers fan, even though they haven’t been located there for over 20 years! The team lives on through collectables and statistics. Would love to chat with anyone concerning the team and available collectables.

  9. mike said on Thursday, May 17, 2007, 12:36

    I’d like to get in touch with a San Diego resident who was a Clippers fan and was around when the team moved to LA. Even better if this person is old enough to remember the brief era of the San Diego Rockets (now of Houston). This is for research. Thanks.

  10. Tommy said on Tuesday, September 25, 2007, 19:08

    Back then the NBA was like a minor league. The Clippers were like a third-tier team in the league. Their big name was Lloyd Free. Clippers games were sparsely attended most nights. San Diego is just not a sports town, much less a basketball town. They like the Chargers when they are winning, same with the Padres. Other than that, few people really care unless their is some front-running to be done. Then they come out in droves. Really, a lousy, lousy sports town.

    When the Chargers leave, they’ll join the trash heap of past San Diego franchises. Simple as that. A big, who cares? Just like the Clippers when they left. Yawn.

  11. Breon said on Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 16:27

    Does anyone know the flags on the sides of the shorts
    ?????

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