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The Curse: The Colorful & Chaotic History of the LA Clippers
From Bill Walton's feet to DeAndre Jordan's free throws, something always seems to go wrong for the LA Clippers.Beginning with the highly unusual birth of the franchise, the Clippers' legacy has always carried with it the haunting suspicion that the team is cursed. Author Mick Minas goes behind the scenes-- interviewing players, coaches, and front office personnel--to create the first in-depth look at the history of the Clippers.The Curse is filled with the unauthorized relocation of the franchise that led to the NBA filing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Clippers, the disruption of the team's first playoff appearance by the Los Angeles riots, the bold but unsuccessful attempt to sign Kobe Bryant at the peak of his career, and the scandal that ultimately resulted in owner Donald Sterling being banned from the NBA for life. Featuring some of basketball's biggest names, including World B. Free, Elgin Baylor, Danny Manning, Doc Rivers, Larry Brown, Dominique Wilkins, Elton Brand, Baron Davis, Blake Griffin, and Chris Paul, The Curse delves into the disasters of the past and the complications of the present. This is the definitive history of the NBA's most dysfunctional franchise.
559 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 25, 2016
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90 people want to read
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September 4, 2018
A rollicking romp through over 40 years of misery as L.A's "other team". Mick Minas does a thorough job researching the colorful cast of characters that have made up the L.A. Clippers over the years. From Bill Walton to DeAndre Jordan, Gary Grant to Chris Paul, Dominique Wilkins, Danny Manning, Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, they're all here. What a fun read!
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March 2, 2021The Curse (Clippers)
People:
- Irv Levin: first owner of the Clippers.
- Was also the owner of the Celtics starting in 1976 (maybe 80’s?)
- Was a WW2 pilot then became a successful movie producer
- John Y Brown: owner of the Buffalo Braves around 1976
- Purchased KFC from Colonel Sanders in 1964 for only $2mil
Chapter 1
- 1976 Finals Game 5 is regarded as one of the greatest NBA games of all time (5)
- Irv Levin: first owner of the Clippers
- John Y Brown: Buffalo Braves Owner
- Brown wanted to move the team to a better city, and the only way out of the team’s lease with the Buffalo arena was if they sold less than 4,500 season tickets (10)
- They had a super stacked team in ’76/77 but Brown traded everyone away
- Moses Malone (won 3 MVPs after getting traded from Buffalo)
- McAdoo (won the MVP the prior season w/Buffalo)
- Adrian Dantley (won R.O.Y. in ’77 then was traded that offseason)
- John Brown & Irv Levin basically traded franchises in 1977 (13)
- Brown took over the Celtics and Levin took over the Braves, then moved them from Buffalo to San Diego
- Levin gave up the Celtics, which had 13 championships at that point…
- The Rockets played in SD for 4 seasons b4 moving to Houston (13)
- Players were included in the deal to trade the Celtics & Braves (14-15)
- Braves could have had Larry Bird since they had the choice between the 2 players that the Celtics drafted that season, John Brown didn’t have a preference b/w Bird and Freeman Williams, so he left it up to Levin…
- Williams had just averaged 39ppg as a junior & 36 as a senior in college
- Bird wasn’t eligible to play in the NBA until the following season after he was drafted tho, so there was risk to drafting him (16)
- Braves also sent Tiny Archibald to the Celtics in this deal (17)
- Clippers traded for World B. Free in 1978 (20)
- Averaged 29ppg that year
- “In 1971, the NBA draft didn’t have a designated finishing point, teams just continued drafting until they decided that they wanted to stop.” (24)
- Clippers won 43 games their first season in SD (27)
- But barely missed out on the playoffs because they collapsed down the stretch to end the season
Chapter 2: The Homecoming
- Season 2: 1979-1980
- Clippers got Bill Walton in 1979/80 season (30)
- Clipper traded for Joe Jellybean Bryant in 1980 when Kobe was 1 (44)
- halftime pie throwing competition story (47-48)
- Marvin “Bad News” Barnes: did come on the bench during a game once while on the Celtics (49-50)
- Walton played a total of 14 games his first season with the Clippers (50)
Season 3: 1980/81
- Clippers hired Paul Silas as the coach (52)
- Walton missed the entire ‘80/81 season with foot problems (54)
Chapter 3: The Don
- when Jerry Buss bought the Lakers, in 1979 he didn’t have all of the necessary cash, so he sold Donald Sterling 11 of his Santa Monica apartment complexes for cash to use (58)
- Donald Sterling purchased the Clippers in 1981
- Sterling was originally from Chicago but moved to Boyle Heights when he was 2. (60)
- Sterling worked as a personal injury attorney and then used the money he made to invest in apartment complexes in Beverley Hills/Santa Monica (60)
Season 4: 1981/82
- Sterlings first basketball-related move as owner was to veto a trade that would have gotten the Clippers Alex English, who made the Hall of Fame (61)
- Walton missed this entire season too (61-62)
- Sterling publicly said that the Clippers were tanking his first season in order to get the #1 pick in the draft, was fined $10k (62-63)
- Sterling shut down the scouting department mid season, tried to have the team fly coach, and asked the coach (Silas) to take the players ankles before games so that they wouldn’t have to pay for a trainer (64-65)
- Ralph Sampson opted to return to Virginia for his senior season just because of the possibility that the Clippers would end up with the #1 pick and draft him (67-68)
Chapter 4: To Live and Die in LA
- Sterling announced he was moving the team to LA after the 1982 season, but it got blocked bc of a bunch of legal stuff (71-72)
Season 5: 1982/83
- Sterling cut the Clippers’ scouting budget by 95% this season (76)
- Drafted Terry Cummings 2nd overall, but didn’t sign him to a contract until the 5th game of the season (77-78)
- Ended up winning RoY (82)
- Walton played this season, but spent half the season like this: on weekdays studying law at Stanford, then on weekends would fly to meet the Clippers to play 1 game (79)
- Only played 33 games before shutting it down for the season bc of injuries (81)
Season 6: 1983/84 (84)
- Story of Sterling interviewing a potential new coach, Rollie Massimino, shows up to meet him drunk and with a “blonde bimbo” (84-85)
- 1983 draft, Clippers picked Byron Scott #4 but never signed a deal w/ the team bc Sterling didn’t want to pay him the amount the Byron Scott asked for, so he was traded to the Lakers for Norm Nixon (86-88)
- Also in the ’83 draft, Clippers selected Manute Bol, but the selection was ruled invalid, so he never played a single game for the Clippers (89-90)
- Walton broke his hand in early December and missed 7 weeks (92)
Chapter 5: If at First You Don’t Succeed
- in 1984, Clippers and Sixers agreed to swap Julius Erving for Terry Cumming straight up, but the Sixers owner said that he would only do the deal if Dr. J was ok with it, which of course he was NOT (99-100)
Season 7: 1984/85 (103)
- MJs first game was against the Clippers at the LA Sports Arena and that game drew a larger crowd than the Lakers game the same night. Jack Nicholson skipped the Laker game to attend the Clipper game. (103)
- Derek Smith’s story (104)
- Clippers traded Terry Cummings to the Bucks for Marques Johnson. That next season Cummings averaged over 24ppg and was considered arguably the best PF in the league. Marques Johnson averaged career lows in every category after breaking his finger in his shooting hand and suffering a hamstring injury (109)
- Clippers went 31-51 and fired the coach (Lynam) midway through the season (112-113)
- Clippers traded Walton to the Celtics for Cedric Maxwell after the season. Walton agreed to surrender a year and a half worth of deferred payments that the clippers owed him in order to get the trade done (116)
Chapter 6: Thank God for the Sixers
Season 8: 1985/86 (122)
Season 9: 1986/87
- Clippers hired Elgin Baylor as GM
- in 1958, Elgin Baylor became the first player to refuse to suit up for an NBA game on the grounds of racial discrimination (132)
- Worst team of all-time: Philly 1973, 9-73 record (147)
- Clippers finished 12-70
- They never won back to back games (148)
Season 10: 1987/88 (151)
- 17-65
- Clippers won the lottery for the upcoming season
Chapter 7: If I Have…
- Danny Manning (157)
Season 11: 1988/89
- Drafted Danny Manning #1 overall but he didn’t begin the season with him bc of contract dispute (161-162)
- Manning tore his ACL just 26 games into his rookie year (164)
Season 12: 1989/90
- Drafted Danny Ferry #2 but he ended up signing with a team in Italy instead (169-170)
- Traded the rights to Danny Ferry to Cleveland for Ron Harper (174)
- Harper tore his ACL (178)
- List of all the key players injured for Clippers (178)
Season 13: 1990/91
- 31-51
Chapter 8: One Riot, Two Playoff Wins…
- Traded for Doc Rivers (183)
- He did not want to play for the Clippers so held out of training camp and publicly asked to be traded (187-188)
- Rivers: I want to win, but I don’t see it happening with the Clippers. It is not a classy organization.” (188)
- Doc Rivers racial stuff at Marquette (186)
Season 14: 1991/92
- Fired Schuler and hired Larry Brown (192-193)
- TRIVIA: Larry Brown is the only person to coach 2 different NBA teams in the same season (193)
- Clippers finished w/more wins than the Lakers for the first time ever (195)
- Clips: 45-37
- Clippers made the playoffs for the first time (195)
The Playoffs: Round 1 vs Utah (195)
- Game 4 in LA was scheduled for the same evening that the verdict for the Rodney King trial was announced (Wed, April 29 1992) (198-200)
- Game was postponed to Saturday, then eventually postponed again to Sunday and moved to the Anaheim Convention Center
- Quote from Carl Lahr (199)
- Other Carl Lahr story (200)
Chapter 9: The Curse is Broken?
Season 15: 1992/93
- Mark Jackson on the Clippers (215)
- Larry Brown beefed with Danny Manning (216)
- played Houston in the first round of the playoffs (220)
- Lost 3-2
- Larry Browns sketch exit as the Clippers coach (225-226)
Chapter 10: Things Fall Apart
- Danny Manning was going to be traded to Miami, then the deal fell apart, possibly bc of Sterling (228-230)
Season 16; 1993/94 (232)
- Bob Weiss became the head coach (232)
- Danny Manning traded to Atlanta for Dominique Wilkins (237)
- David Robinson scored 71 points against the Clippers in the final game of the season to clinch the scoring title (239)
- Bob Weiss fired as coach
- final record: 27-55 (240)
Chapter 11: Life’s A Fitch
Season 17: 1994/95 (241)
- Bill Fitch hired as Coach (243)
- had won 2 Coach of the Year awards and 1 championship as head coach in Boston w/Bird (243)
- Clippers odds in Vegas to win the ‘95 championship were a million-to-one (247)
- lost the first 16 games of the year (247)
- final record: 17-65 (249)
Season 18: 1995/96 (249)
- “The option of a permanent move to Anaheim was beginning to appear progressively more attractive” (250)
- Clippers played 9 games in Anaheim this season (251)
- one of the main reasons that the Clippers didn’t end up moving to Anaheim was Sterling’s reluctance to drive the extra miles to Orange County for home games (252)
- 1995 draft, Clippers selected Antonio McDyess 2nd, but traded him to Denver for Brent Barry and 2 other randos (254-255)
- final record: 29-53 (253)
Season 19: 1996/97 (256)
- Made the playoffs with a 36-46 record, second fewest wins for a playoff team ever (264)
- TRIVIA: lowest win total for a playoff team 1994/95 Celtics 35-47 (264)
- Swept by the Jazz in the playoffs
Season 20: 1997/98 (266)
- Bill Fitch’s final season as coach
- 17-65
- Clippers got the #1 pick in the 1998 draft
Chapter 12: The Kandi Man
- Olawakandi hadn’t played competitive basketball until he was 20 years old, 3 years before the Clippers drafted him #1 overall (271)
- Lockout happened in the 1998/99 season and lasted 204 days (278)
- During the lockout, players couldn’t use their team’s practice facilities
- Teams played 50 games total that season (281)
- Hired Chris Ford as head coach
Season 21: 1999 (283)
- 9-41 record
Season 22: 1999/2000 (285)
- First season for the Lakers & Clippers at Staples Center (285)
- Lakers would receive 1/4 of the revenue generated from suites & club seats while the Clippers wouldn’t get any of the revenue (286)
- President of the Staples Center: “The Clippers have been given a gift. Our challenge to them is to make something of it.” (287)
- Drafted Lamar Odom (287)
- Lamar Odom story (288)
- Finished w/the worst record in league
Season 23: 2000/01 (298)
- Alvin Gentry hired as head coach (298)
- traded for Corey Maggette (298)
- Clippers had 3 top-18 picks in the 2000 draft (298)
- drafted D-Miles 3rd, Q-Rich 18th and Keyon Dooling 10th (299)
- First time a top 3 pick had been used on a high school player (299)
- Finished 31-51 and ended up with the 2nd overall pick in the 2001 draft (301)
Chapter 13: Elton Brand
Season 24: 2001/02 (302)
- Elton Brand was the first player in Duke history to leave early to go to the nba (304)
- Brand was picked #1 by the Bulls in 1999 draft
- traded to the Clippers for the #4 pick so the Bulls could select Eddy Curry (304-305)
- Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, Darius Miles, Quentin Richardson, Corey Maggette, and Keyon Dooling all under 22 years old
- finished 39-43, 5 games back of the 8 seed (309)
Season 25: 2002/03 (310)
- Elgin Baylor traded Darius Miles to the Cavs for Andre Miller (311)
- all 5 of the Clippers starters played the season without contract extensions so they all were set to become free agents that offseason
- 27-55 (316)
Season 26: 2003/04
- Clippers didn’t match Miami’s offer sheet for Lamar Odom so he signed with Heat (320)
- hired Mike Dunleavy as coach (321)
- finished with the worst record in the Western Conference (323)
2005/06 season
- Clippers beat Nuggets to advance to 2nd round for first time in team history (352)
- Lose to Suns in 7 games (367)
Chapter 16 (369)
2006/07 season
- Shaun Livingston injury (369)
2007/08 season (375)
- Elton Brand tore his Achilles in the offseason, then one of the Clippers staff members asked him if he was using PEDs and if that contributed to his injury (377/378)
Chapter 17 (382)
- Elton Brand contract negotiation (387)
- Baron Davis signed with the Clippers bc he wanted to play with Elton Brand, but Brand ended up signing with the Sixers that same offseason (388-389)
2008/09 season (391)
- Traded for Zach Randolph (392)
- Elgin Baylor sues Clippers after quitting as GM (394)
- stories about Sterling being a fucked up landlord (397)
Chapter 18 Blake Griffin (400)
2009/10 season
- Blake got injured in the final press on game of the season and missed his entire rookie year (401)
- Blake Griffin wasn’t a one and done college player. Played 2 years at Oklahoma
- Clippers traded Zach Randolph to give more minutes to Blake...would have been an interesting front court if they would’ve kept Z-Bo (404)
- Story about clippers making assistant coach Kim Hughes pay for his own prostate cancer surgery (409)
- When Sterling fired Dunleavy, he also stopped sending him his checks, even tho he still owed him money (412)
2010/11 season (413)
- Sterling and Jerry Reinsdorf were homies (413)
- Story about the reason why the Clippers hired Vinny Del Negro this season - so Bulls wouldn’t have to continue paying out his contract after firing him (414)
- Sterling heckling his own player during games, Baron Davis (417)
- Sterling would bring women into the locker room after games and make comments like “look at those beautiful black bodies.” While the players were showering or getting dressed (419)
- Elgin Baylor trial (418)
- Mike Dunleavy trial (422)
- Clippers traded Baron Davis and a 1st round pick to the Cavs for Mo Williams. The draft pick ended up being the #1 pick and Cavs drafted Kyrie Irving with what would’ve been the clippers pick (418 & 424)
Chapter 19: Chris Paul (425)
- Chris Paul Lakers trade story (425)
- ^Gasol would’ve been in trade (433)
2012/13 season (450)
- lost to Memphis is 6 games in round 1
- Won the first 2 games of series then lost 4 in a row
- Blake injured before game 5
Chapter 20 (461)
- story of hiring Doc Rivers (462)
2013/14 season (470)
- Potential boycott over Sterling (482)
People:
- Irv Levin: first owner of the Clippers.
- Was also the owner of the Celtics starting in 1976 (maybe 80’s?)
- Was a WW2 pilot then became a successful movie producer
- John Y Brown: owner of the Buffalo Braves around 1976
- Purchased KFC from Colonel Sanders in 1964 for only $2mil
Chapter 1
- 1976 Finals Game 5 is regarded as one of the greatest NBA games of all time (5)
- Irv Levin: first owner of the Clippers
- John Y Brown: Buffalo Braves Owner
- Brown wanted to move the team to a better city, and the only way out of the team’s lease with the Buffalo arena was if they sold less than 4,500 season tickets (10)
- They had a super stacked team in ’76/77 but Brown traded everyone away
- Moses Malone (won 3 MVPs after getting traded from Buffalo)
- McAdoo (won the MVP the prior season w/Buffalo)
- Adrian Dantley (won R.O.Y. in ’77 then was traded that offseason)
- John Brown & Irv Levin basically traded franchises in 1977 (13)
- Brown took over the Celtics and Levin took over the Braves, then moved them from Buffalo to San Diego
- Levin gave up the Celtics, which had 13 championships at that point…
- The Rockets played in SD for 4 seasons b4 moving to Houston (13)
- Players were included in the deal to trade the Celtics & Braves (14-15)
- Braves could have had Larry Bird since they had the choice between the 2 players that the Celtics drafted that season, John Brown didn’t have a preference b/w Bird and Freeman Williams, so he left it up to Levin…
- Williams had just averaged 39ppg as a junior & 36 as a senior in college
- Bird wasn’t eligible to play in the NBA until the following season after he was drafted tho, so there was risk to drafting him (16)
- Braves also sent Tiny Archibald to the Celtics in this deal (17)
- Clippers traded for World B. Free in 1978 (20)
- Averaged 29ppg that year
- “In 1971, the NBA draft didn’t have a designated finishing point, teams just continued drafting until they decided that they wanted to stop.” (24)
- Clippers won 43 games their first season in SD (27)
- But barely missed out on the playoffs because they collapsed down the stretch to end the season
Chapter 2: The Homecoming
- Season 2: 1979-1980
- Clippers got Bill Walton in 1979/80 season (30)
- Clipper traded for Joe Jellybean Bryant in 1980 when Kobe was 1 (44)
- halftime pie throwing competition story (47-48)
- Marvin “Bad News” Barnes: did come on the bench during a game once while on the Celtics (49-50)
- Walton played a total of 14 games his first season with the Clippers (50)
Season 3: 1980/81
- Clippers hired Paul Silas as the coach (52)
- Walton missed the entire ‘80/81 season with foot problems (54)
Chapter 3: The Don
- when Jerry Buss bought the Lakers, in 1979 he didn’t have all of the necessary cash, so he sold Donald Sterling 11 of his Santa Monica apartment complexes for cash to use (58)
- Donald Sterling purchased the Clippers in 1981
- Sterling was originally from Chicago but moved to Boyle Heights when he was 2. (60)
- Sterling worked as a personal injury attorney and then used the money he made to invest in apartment complexes in Beverley Hills/Santa Monica (60)
Season 4: 1981/82
- Sterlings first basketball-related move as owner was to veto a trade that would have gotten the Clippers Alex English, who made the Hall of Fame (61)
- Walton missed this entire season too (61-62)
- Sterling publicly said that the Clippers were tanking his first season in order to get the #1 pick in the draft, was fined $10k (62-63)
- Sterling shut down the scouting department mid season, tried to have the team fly coach, and asked the coach (Silas) to take the players ankles before games so that they wouldn’t have to pay for a trainer (64-65)
- Ralph Sampson opted to return to Virginia for his senior season just because of the possibility that the Clippers would end up with the #1 pick and draft him (67-68)
Chapter 4: To Live and Die in LA
- Sterling announced he was moving the team to LA after the 1982 season, but it got blocked bc of a bunch of legal stuff (71-72)
Season 5: 1982/83
- Sterling cut the Clippers’ scouting budget by 95% this season (76)
- Drafted Terry Cummings 2nd overall, but didn’t sign him to a contract until the 5th game of the season (77-78)
- Ended up winning RoY (82)
- Walton played this season, but spent half the season like this: on weekdays studying law at Stanford, then on weekends would fly to meet the Clippers to play 1 game (79)
- Only played 33 games before shutting it down for the season bc of injuries (81)
Season 6: 1983/84 (84)
- Story of Sterling interviewing a potential new coach, Rollie Massimino, shows up to meet him drunk and with a “blonde bimbo” (84-85)
- 1983 draft, Clippers picked Byron Scott #4 but never signed a deal w/ the team bc Sterling didn’t want to pay him the amount the Byron Scott asked for, so he was traded to the Lakers for Norm Nixon (86-88)
- Also in the ’83 draft, Clippers selected Manute Bol, but the selection was ruled invalid, so he never played a single game for the Clippers (89-90)
- Walton broke his hand in early December and missed 7 weeks (92)
Chapter 5: If at First You Don’t Succeed
- in 1984, Clippers and Sixers agreed to swap Julius Erving for Terry Cumming straight up, but the Sixers owner said that he would only do the deal if Dr. J was ok with it, which of course he was NOT (99-100)
Season 7: 1984/85 (103)
- MJs first game was against the Clippers at the LA Sports Arena and that game drew a larger crowd than the Lakers game the same night. Jack Nicholson skipped the Laker game to attend the Clipper game. (103)
- Derek Smith’s story (104)
- Clippers traded Terry Cummings to the Bucks for Marques Johnson. That next season Cummings averaged over 24ppg and was considered arguably the best PF in the league. Marques Johnson averaged career lows in every category after breaking his finger in his shooting hand and suffering a hamstring injury (109)
- Clippers went 31-51 and fired the coach (Lynam) midway through the season (112-113)
- Clippers traded Walton to the Celtics for Cedric Maxwell after the season. Walton agreed to surrender a year and a half worth of deferred payments that the clippers owed him in order to get the trade done (116)
Chapter 6: Thank God for the Sixers
Season 8: 1985/86 (122)
Season 9: 1986/87
- Clippers hired Elgin Baylor as GM
- in 1958, Elgin Baylor became the first player to refuse to suit up for an NBA game on the grounds of racial discrimination (132)
- Worst team of all-time: Philly 1973, 9-73 record (147)
- Clippers finished 12-70
- They never won back to back games (148)
Season 10: 1987/88 (151)
- 17-65
- Clippers won the lottery for the upcoming season
Chapter 7: If I Have…
- Danny Manning (157)
Season 11: 1988/89
- Drafted Danny Manning #1 overall but he didn’t begin the season with him bc of contract dispute (161-162)
- Manning tore his ACL just 26 games into his rookie year (164)
Season 12: 1989/90
- Drafted Danny Ferry #2 but he ended up signing with a team in Italy instead (169-170)
- Traded the rights to Danny Ferry to Cleveland for Ron Harper (174)
- Harper tore his ACL (178)
- List of all the key players injured for Clippers (178)
Season 13: 1990/91
- 31-51
Chapter 8: One Riot, Two Playoff Wins…
- Traded for Doc Rivers (183)
- He did not want to play for the Clippers so held out of training camp and publicly asked to be traded (187-188)
- Rivers: I want to win, but I don’t see it happening with the Clippers. It is not a classy organization.” (188)
- Doc Rivers racial stuff at Marquette (186)
Season 14: 1991/92
- Fired Schuler and hired Larry Brown (192-193)
- TRIVIA: Larry Brown is the only person to coach 2 different NBA teams in the same season (193)
- Clippers finished w/more wins than the Lakers for the first time ever (195)
- Clips: 45-37
- Clippers made the playoffs for the first time (195)
The Playoffs: Round 1 vs Utah (195)
- Game 4 in LA was scheduled for the same evening that the verdict for the Rodney King trial was announced (Wed, April 29 1992) (198-200)
- Game was postponed to Saturday, then eventually postponed again to Sunday and moved to the Anaheim Convention Center
- Quote from Carl Lahr (199)
- Other Carl Lahr story (200)
Chapter 9: The Curse is Broken?
Season 15: 1992/93
- Mark Jackson on the Clippers (215)
- Larry Brown beefed with Danny Manning (216)
- played Houston in the first round of the playoffs (220)
- Lost 3-2
- Larry Browns sketch exit as the Clippers coach (225-226)
Chapter 10: Things Fall Apart
- Danny Manning was going to be traded to Miami, then the deal fell apart, possibly bc of Sterling (228-230)
Season 16; 1993/94 (232)
- Bob Weiss became the head coach (232)
- Danny Manning traded to Atlanta for Dominique Wilkins (237)
- David Robinson scored 71 points against the Clippers in the final game of the season to clinch the scoring title (239)
- Bob Weiss fired as coach
- final record: 27-55 (240)
Chapter 11: Life’s A Fitch
Season 17: 1994/95 (241)
- Bill Fitch hired as Coach (243)
- had won 2 Coach of the Year awards and 1 championship as head coach in Boston w/Bird (243)
- Clippers odds in Vegas to win the ‘95 championship were a million-to-one (247)
- lost the first 16 games of the year (247)
- final record: 17-65 (249)
Season 18: 1995/96 (249)
- “The option of a permanent move to Anaheim was beginning to appear progressively more attractive” (250)
- Clippers played 9 games in Anaheim this season (251)
- one of the main reasons that the Clippers didn’t end up moving to Anaheim was Sterling’s reluctance to drive the extra miles to Orange County for home games (252)
- 1995 draft, Clippers selected Antonio McDyess 2nd, but traded him to Denver for Brent Barry and 2 other randos (254-255)
- final record: 29-53 (253)
Season 19: 1996/97 (256)
- Made the playoffs with a 36-46 record, second fewest wins for a playoff team ever (264)
- TRIVIA: lowest win total for a playoff team 1994/95 Celtics 35-47 (264)
- Swept by the Jazz in the playoffs
Season 20: 1997/98 (266)
- Bill Fitch’s final season as coach
- 17-65
- Clippers got the #1 pick in the 1998 draft
Chapter 12: The Kandi Man
- Olawakandi hadn’t played competitive basketball until he was 20 years old, 3 years before the Clippers drafted him #1 overall (271)
- Lockout happened in the 1998/99 season and lasted 204 days (278)
- During the lockout, players couldn’t use their team’s practice facilities
- Teams played 50 games total that season (281)
- Hired Chris Ford as head coach
Season 21: 1999 (283)
- 9-41 record
Season 22: 1999/2000 (285)
- First season for the Lakers & Clippers at Staples Center (285)
- Lakers would receive 1/4 of the revenue generated from suites & club seats while the Clippers wouldn’t get any of the revenue (286)
- President of the Staples Center: “The Clippers have been given a gift. Our challenge to them is to make something of it.” (287)
- Drafted Lamar Odom (287)
- Lamar Odom story (288)
- Finished w/the worst record in league
Season 23: 2000/01 (298)
- Alvin Gentry hired as head coach (298)
- traded for Corey Maggette (298)
- Clippers had 3 top-18 picks in the 2000 draft (298)
- drafted D-Miles 3rd, Q-Rich 18th and Keyon Dooling 10th (299)
- First time a top 3 pick had been used on a high school player (299)
- Finished 31-51 and ended up with the 2nd overall pick in the 2001 draft (301)
Chapter 13: Elton Brand
Season 24: 2001/02 (302)
- Elton Brand was the first player in Duke history to leave early to go to the nba (304)
- Brand was picked #1 by the Bulls in 1999 draft
- traded to the Clippers for the #4 pick so the Bulls could select Eddy Curry (304-305)
- Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, Darius Miles, Quentin Richardson, Corey Maggette, and Keyon Dooling all under 22 years old
- finished 39-43, 5 games back of the 8 seed (309)
Season 25: 2002/03 (310)
- Elgin Baylor traded Darius Miles to the Cavs for Andre Miller (311)
- all 5 of the Clippers starters played the season without contract extensions so they all were set to become free agents that offseason
- 27-55 (316)
Season 26: 2003/04
- Clippers didn’t match Miami’s offer sheet for Lamar Odom so he signed with Heat (320)
- hired Mike Dunleavy as coach (321)
- finished with the worst record in the Western Conference (323)
2005/06 season
- Clippers beat Nuggets to advance to 2nd round for first time in team history (352)
- Lose to Suns in 7 games (367)
Chapter 16 (369)
2006/07 season
- Shaun Livingston injury (369)
2007/08 season (375)
- Elton Brand tore his Achilles in the offseason, then one of the Clippers staff members asked him if he was using PEDs and if that contributed to his injury (377/378)
Chapter 17 (382)
- Elton Brand contract negotiation (387)
- Baron Davis signed with the Clippers bc he wanted to play with Elton Brand, but Brand ended up signing with the Sixers that same offseason (388-389)
2008/09 season (391)
- Traded for Zach Randolph (392)
- Elgin Baylor sues Clippers after quitting as GM (394)
- stories about Sterling being a fucked up landlord (397)
Chapter 18 Blake Griffin (400)
2009/10 season
- Blake got injured in the final press on game of the season and missed his entire rookie year (401)
- Blake Griffin wasn’t a one and done college player. Played 2 years at Oklahoma
- Clippers traded Zach Randolph to give more minutes to Blake...would have been an interesting front court if they would’ve kept Z-Bo (404)
- Story about clippers making assistant coach Kim Hughes pay for his own prostate cancer surgery (409)
- When Sterling fired Dunleavy, he also stopped sending him his checks, even tho he still owed him money (412)
2010/11 season (413)
- Sterling and Jerry Reinsdorf were homies (413)
- Story about the reason why the Clippers hired Vinny Del Negro this season - so Bulls wouldn’t have to continue paying out his contract after firing him (414)
- Sterling heckling his own player during games, Baron Davis (417)
- Sterling would bring women into the locker room after games and make comments like “look at those beautiful black bodies.” While the players were showering or getting dressed (419)
- Elgin Baylor trial (418)
- Mike Dunleavy trial (422)
- Clippers traded Baron Davis and a 1st round pick to the Cavs for Mo Williams. The draft pick ended up being the #1 pick and Cavs drafted Kyrie Irving with what would’ve been the clippers pick (418 & 424)
Chapter 19: Chris Paul (425)
- Chris Paul Lakers trade story (425)
- ^Gasol would’ve been in trade (433)
2012/13 season (450)
- lost to Memphis is 6 games in round 1
- Won the first 2 games of series then lost 4 in a row
- Blake injured before game 5
Chapter 20 (461)
- story of hiring Doc Rivers (462)
2013/14 season (470)
- Potential boycott over Sterling (482)
July 8, 2017
Horrifying and fascinating
I've been a basketball fan for much of the time the Clippers have been in LA, and always had some appreciation for the city's "other" team. The title of this book is appropriate, for no franchise appears as cursed as the Clippers: even when they seem to get a little luck, it usually turns out to have its own cloud, as when top picks Danny Manning and Blake Griffin sustain early season (or pre-season) injuries and miss their chance to resurrect the franchise (can a franchise that has never shown much life be resurrected?).
The story can get repetitive, but sadly, it's the true story. Imagine you were reading a story about a methodical serial killer, with a definite pattern to his crimes; now imagine Donald Sterling as the owner who methodically killed his franchise for 33 seasons, and add in a bit of bad luck for the players, and you have a pretty clear picture of the Clippers in southern California. Compared to the rest of the franchise's history, I felt there was a lot of time spent on the scandal that saw Sterling's reign end; however, the event was singular in NBA history, and, well, it's not like the franchise has a lot highlights to devote space to.
The author's style was straightforward, and I'm not sure if it was good or bad - the book was engaging, but the author's tone and the division by individual seasons gave it the feel of an annotated almanac at times. The author makes extensive use of footnotes, which first brought Bill Simmons' "The Basketball Book" to mind, but the footnotes aren't as amusing, and generally just add a few non-essential facts or stats. Some of the phrasings were awkward ("quarter time," instead of "at the end of the first quarter"; or the backstory about a player's dream of being a "basketballer"), some phrases were just overused ("it hit nothing but the bottom of the net"). Minor complaints, but definitely noticeable after 20 seasons of use.
All in all, this was a fascinating read, even if at times it feels like a disaster epic; you could have a healthy debate about whether the Clippers are a tragedy or a comedy. After reading this, I'm still not sure - but I am more of a Clippers fan than I was a few days ago, and have a new appreciation for the long suffering of Clippers fans.
I've been a basketball fan for much of the time the Clippers have been in LA, and always had some appreciation for the city's "other" team. The title of this book is appropriate, for no franchise appears as cursed as the Clippers: even when they seem to get a little luck, it usually turns out to have its own cloud, as when top picks Danny Manning and Blake Griffin sustain early season (or pre-season) injuries and miss their chance to resurrect the franchise (can a franchise that has never shown much life be resurrected?).
The story can get repetitive, but sadly, it's the true story. Imagine you were reading a story about a methodical serial killer, with a definite pattern to his crimes; now imagine Donald Sterling as the owner who methodically killed his franchise for 33 seasons, and add in a bit of bad luck for the players, and you have a pretty clear picture of the Clippers in southern California. Compared to the rest of the franchise's history, I felt there was a lot of time spent on the scandal that saw Sterling's reign end; however, the event was singular in NBA history, and, well, it's not like the franchise has a lot highlights to devote space to.
The author's style was straightforward, and I'm not sure if it was good or bad - the book was engaging, but the author's tone and the division by individual seasons gave it the feel of an annotated almanac at times. The author makes extensive use of footnotes, which first brought Bill Simmons' "The Basketball Book" to mind, but the footnotes aren't as amusing, and generally just add a few non-essential facts or stats. Some of the phrasings were awkward ("quarter time," instead of "at the end of the first quarter"; or the backstory about a player's dream of being a "basketballer"), some phrases were just overused ("it hit nothing but the bottom of the net"). Minor complaints, but definitely noticeable after 20 seasons of use.
All in all, this was a fascinating read, even if at times it feels like a disaster epic; you could have a healthy debate about whether the Clippers are a tragedy or a comedy. After reading this, I'm still not sure - but I am more of a Clippers fan than I was a few days ago, and have a new appreciation for the long suffering of Clippers fans.
February 10, 2017
The Los Angeles Clippers have had a very entertaining history both on and off the court. While they have never won an NBA championship, they have been in the news for various reasons and their performance on the court had a long history of losing until their recent success with star players Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. This history is completely captured in this very entertaining book by Mike Minas.
From their beginning in San Diego and the first player who was supposed to be the franchise savior, Bill Walton, to the current crop of players and controversies, there isn’t a significant Clipper event that Minas misses. Whether it was significant injuries (and there are a LOT in Clipper history), the many sagas of former owner Donald Sterling or the disruption the team faced during the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, Minas writes about them with knowledge and humor.
Whether or not the reader is a Clipper fan, this is a book that will be enjoyed by any basketball fan, especially if one wants to learn the reason behind the terrible luck and performance of this franchise.
From their beginning in San Diego and the first player who was supposed to be the franchise savior, Bill Walton, to the current crop of players and controversies, there isn’t a significant Clipper event that Minas misses. Whether it was significant injuries (and there are a LOT in Clipper history), the many sagas of former owner Donald Sterling or the disruption the team faced during the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, Minas writes about them with knowledge and humor.
Whether or not the reader is a Clipper fan, this is a book that will be enjoyed by any basketball fan, especially if one wants to learn the reason behind the terrible luck and performance of this franchise.
July 24, 2021
Wow, this franchise really is cursed
Dad and I always joke about how the Clippers are cursed and destined to lose. But unlike dad, who's content to accept it as a fact of the universe, I was curious to learn more about exactly *why* the Clippers are like that, and this book helpfully attempted to provide answers. It turns out that "cursed" barely begins to cover it! From rocky beginnings to questionable owners to players always getting hurt at the worst possible time, this history reads like Murphy's Law! Indeed, so much goes wrong it's almost sad! The only point against it is that sometimes the passages got a bit overly technical when describing games /plays which made it feel a bit dry.
Dad and I always joke about how the Clippers are cursed and destined to lose. But unlike dad, who's content to accept it as a fact of the universe, I was curious to learn more about exactly *why* the Clippers are like that, and this book helpfully attempted to provide answers. It turns out that "cursed" barely begins to cover it! From rocky beginnings to questionable owners to players always getting hurt at the worst possible time, this history reads like Murphy's Law! Indeed, so much goes wrong it's almost sad! The only point against it is that sometimes the passages got a bit overly technical when describing games /plays which made it feel a bit dry.
July 14, 2020
Nema košarke na televiziji pa čitam i dalje knjige. Povijest San Diego / LA Clippersa vjerojatno najgore vođene franšize u profesionalnom sportu uopće. Knjiga se ne čita tako lako kao Unfinished Business ali zauzvrat puna zanimljivih priča o beskonačnom nizu loših odluka, neobjašnjivih propusta, tvrdoglavosti, sujeti i potpunoj nesposobnosti vlasnika da vodi klub.
Još jedna knjiga koja spominje Stojka Vrankoviča koji je odigrao dvije sezone i za to vrijeme postigao 80 ubačaja iz igre. Ugovor od 8 miliona dolara odnosno 100000 dolara za svaki ubačaj iz igre. Respect Stojko.
Još jedna knjiga koja spominje Stojka Vrankoviča koji je odigrao dvije sezone i za to vrijeme postigao 80 ubačaja iz igre. Ugovor od 8 miliona dolara odnosno 100000 dolara za svaki ubačaj iz igre. Respect Stojko.
July 8, 2021
I always heard about 'the curse of the Clippers' but had no idea it was as bad as it was.
The book was quite entertaining and detailed and I was engrossed, whenever I was able to dig into it. I love these kinds of books and wish there was one about every NBA team.
There were a lot of (what seemed to be) semi-hyperbolic statements like "this was the worst/ greatest/ most mind-boggling ___ in Clippers/league history." I noticed it but it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book.
The ending felt a tad abrupt to me. But overall, still an awesome book.
The book was quite entertaining and detailed and I was engrossed, whenever I was able to dig into it. I love these kinds of books and wish there was one about every NBA team.
There were a lot of (what seemed to be) semi-hyperbolic statements like "this was the worst/ greatest/ most mind-boggling ___ in Clippers/league history." I noticed it but it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book.
The ending felt a tad abrupt to me. But overall, still an awesome book.
January 23, 2020
Where to start with the awesome book.
Minas has done an awesome job tracking the history of LA least favourite team.
The curse is an interesting story that traces every season the clippers have had. It talks about the highs of some awesome draft picks and the lows of season ending injuries. And the sorry to say ridiculousness of the clipper organisation.
Minas as some classic lines that I am still giggling about.
And well worth the read.
Minas has done an awesome job tracking the history of LA least favourite team.
The curse is an interesting story that traces every season the clippers have had. It talks about the highs of some awesome draft picks and the lows of season ending injuries. And the sorry to say ridiculousness of the clipper organisation.
Minas as some classic lines that I am still giggling about.
And well worth the read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2021
Great history of the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers. Minas does a wonderful job chronicling the beginnings of the franchise to the present. It’s so unbelievable how a franchise can be so snakebitten and at the same time be so inept (much of the credit goes to their racist buffoon owner Donald Sterling). Being a Clippers fan since their San Diego days, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it for anyone interested in NBA history.
July 22, 2025
What an awesome romp through the sordid history of the NBA’s unluckiest* team.
*had Donald Sterling as owner
There’s a ton of cool anecdotes as you move through the different eras and stars who had the misfortune of donning a Clippers jersey prior to Ballmer taking over. It’s a mix of funny and sad. Often downright insane. They just didn’t learn and couldn’t stop Clippering (Clipping?). I hope they do an expanded second edition after the Harden-Kawhi era ends.
*had Donald Sterling as owner
There’s a ton of cool anecdotes as you move through the different eras and stars who had the misfortune of donning a Clippers jersey prior to Ballmer taking over. It’s a mix of funny and sad. Often downright insane. They just didn’t learn and couldn’t stop Clippering (Clipping?). I hope they do an expanded second edition after the Harden-Kawhi era ends.
March 7, 2021
A thorough and thoroughly entertaining review of the history of the most bizarre team in professional sports history. Mick Minas provides a big book, but his style makes for a very quick read. The end is a little strange, and it seemed a little more natural to end at the final exit of Donald Sterling, however, the reader feels like they have the entire story.
August 2, 2017
Holy hand grenade! If you think your franchise has a history of being awful, this book will probably have you walking away feeling better about your local franchise. Unless you're the Browns or Lions, sorry.
December 18, 2023
An excellent book on a surprisingly engaging topic. My only quibble is that the author doesn’t spend any time/effort/words to put the Clippers’ struggles in the context of the enormous changes to NBA basketball over the past 4 1/2 decades.
May 21, 2024
More fun than I expected, more thorough than it needed to be. A humorous, brutal, uncompromising look at the worst franchise in sports. Captures its turnaround just in time, though I wish there was a postscript that included the Kawhi-PG Era and the impending move to the Intuit Dome.
April 28, 2018
So great
The behind the scenes look of my favorite basketball team. Even if you're not a basketball fan you'll enjoy this book.
The behind the scenes look of my favorite basketball team. Even if you're not a basketball fan you'll enjoy this book.
October 1, 2020
Nice history of the woefully Clippers
Enjoyed reading about the earlier history
Makes me really reconsider Elgin Baylor’s work as a GM.
Very good and well worth the read
Enjoyed reading about the earlier history
Makes me really reconsider Elgin Baylor’s work as a GM.
Very good and well worth the read
August 31, 2022
The curse of the bad similes.
January 6, 2023
If you're a long time Clippers fan (or an NBA fan in general) this book is for you.
October 31, 2024
After 30+ years of suffering a racist, bigoted owner, this team really deserves a Larry O'B from their new owner's Microsoft billions.
May 11, 2022
Very good - fast reading, through, and concise. As an NBA-freakzoid I found the history of the Clippers fascinating and the behind the scenes play-outs awesome.
October 12, 2018
I consider myself a basketball fan. The memories this book brings back was amazing. The San Diego/LA Clippers had and continue to have a very interesting history. The stories of the Sterling and his dealings with players and coaches is truly amazing and hard to believe. The guy was a weiner... a rich one at that. After reading the book I will follow the team a little more closely and those players that had some affiliation with the Clippers. If you are a basketball fan, I recommend the book.
October 13, 2020
If you're a fan of the LA Clippers, this is a reminder of everything the team went through on their path to their eventual championship win (it has to happen sometime, right ?). If you're an NBA fan, or just a sports fan, this book is your way to see how real Murphy's Law is.
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