Clippers: The other team from Los Angeles

Los Angeles Clippers are one of the most famous names in the NBA, but since their foundation in 1970 they have never won the title or won the division of the conference.

The team share their Staples Center home with Los Angeles Lakers, but that has not always been the case as the Clippers started out playing in Buffalo until 1978 under the name of the Braves. In their first eight seasons they reached the play-offs on three occasions, but only won once, when they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1975/76 campaign.

The Clippers in San Diego

At the beginning of the 1978/79 season, the team moved to the city of San Diego and adopted the name Clippers instead of Braves. In this new guise there were even less highlights than there had been in previous years and in six season the team did not make it into the play-offs once and only once did they end a term having won more games than they had lost.

24 years in Los Angeles

Since the 1984/85 season, the Clippers have played in Los Angeles but things have stayed pretty much as they were when they were in Buffalo and San Diego. The team did manage to win their first play-off game in 13 years and they went on to beat the Denver Nuggets, but the team has dropped away in recent seasons and have been unable to build on that.

Current stars

Unlike many teams in the NBA, the Clippers do not have a world class star to build their team around. The reference point of the team for 2007 /08 has been Corey Maggette, who was signed from Golden State Warriors. Coach Mike Dunleavy has added tow players with experience in the shape of veteran Marcus Camby from Denver Nuggets and Jason Williams, who played with Pau Gasol at Memphis Grizzlies and won the title with Miami Heat in 2005/06.

That pair, along with players such as Al Thornton, Cuttino Mobley, Chris Kaman and Tim Thomas, will be hoping to finally see the Clippers luck change and to make an appearance in the play-offs in 2009.