The Los Angeles Clippers

Photo Credit:

  https://1000logos.net/los-angeles

-clippers-logo/

researched and compiled by

Carrie Birdsong

1970 – 1978: Buffalo Braves

The franchise began in western New York as the Buffalo Braves, one of three NBA expansion franchises that began play in the 1970 – 71 season, along with the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers(1). They played their home games at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and another Buffalo team that would begin play that year, the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Buffalo Sabres(2).

After two bad seasons, the Braves’ fortunes started to change under coach Jack Ramsay and star forward/center Bob McAdoo(3). McAdoo led the NBA in scoring for three consecutive seasons and was named the league’s MVP in the 1974 – 75 season. The Braves qualified for the playoffs three times in a row, losing twice to the eventual Eastern Conference champions (the Boston Celtics in 1974 and 1976, and the Washington Bullets in 1975). Despite the team’s modest success in Buffalo, Braves owner Paul Snyder and the league found it impossible to schedule home games at the auditorium because of the Canisius Golden Griffins men’s basketball team, which had a pre-existing lease on the arena and priority on game dates over the Braves, with the next best dates in turn taken by the more successful Sabres(4). When the NBA was nearing a nadir and the league did not have its current prestige, the Griffins saw the Braves as a threat to their own success and purposely scheduled better dates at the arena to prevent the Braves from succeeding(5)(6). As a result, after a failed attempt to sell the team to an owner who intended to move it to South Florida, Snyder sold the team to Kentucky Colonels owner John Y. Brown Jr., who decimated the team’s roster, traded away all of its stars, and drove attendance down to the point where they could break their own lease on the arena(7).

Eventually, Brown met with Celtics owner Irv Levin in 1978 to trade franchise ownerships. Southern California resident then moved the Braves to San Diego, something the league would have never allowed him to do with the Celtics(8). Asked about the move, Levin nominated a shorter commute as a key reason(9).

1978 – 1984: San Diego Clippers

In 1978, San Diego welcomed the relocation of the Buffalo Braves franchise, as the city’s previous NBA franchise, the San Diego Rockets, had relocated to Houston seven years earlier in 1971. Another failed basketball franchise in the city had been the San Diego Conquistadors(9). San Diego team officials did not think “Braves” was a proper representative nickname for the club in San Diego, and a local naming contest ultimately decided on “Clippers”, about the city being known for the great sailing ships that passed through San Diego Bay(10). The first head coach of the Clippers was chosen to be Gene Shue, a respected tactician(11). He preferred a fast-playing style with many scoring opportunities(11). Only three players from the Braves started in the team: Randy Smith, Swen Nater, and Scott Lloyd(12). Other starting players included Kermit Washington, and Sydney Wicks(11). World B. Free was also brought in, in exchange for a future first-round pick for the Philadelphia 76ers(20).

The 1978 – 79 season started off poorly, with the Clippers’ first win coming only in their fourth game, against the Chicago Bulls(12). The team lost 12 of its 18 first games and dropped to the bottom of the Pacific Division(13). Player Kevin Kunnert argued they had the “killer instinct of a field mouse”(13). Nevertheless, within weeks, Free had become the leading scorer, as well as becoming a public icon(13). He finished second overall in NBA scoring average, with 28.9 per game (George Gervin of the San Antonio Spurs had a 29.6 average). Shue, meanwhile, tried to create a team spirit by creating a common social life(14). By the annual break for the All-Star game, however, the Clippers had improved, winning half of their 54 games, leading to a sixth ranking in the Western Conference(15). Aiming for one of the six playoff spots for the Conference, they managed to win eight games in a row, and then another five games consecutively(15). Playing at the San Diego Sports Arena, the Clippers posted a record of 43 – 39 in their first season in California, leaving them two wins shy of the final playoff spot. It was also the first season in Southern California for long-time announcer Ralph Lawler began his association with the franchise.

The 1979 – 80 season saw the Clippers begin to struggle, despite adding center Bill Walton, a San Diego native who was two years removed from winning an NBA Championship and the NBA Most Valuable Player Award with the Portland Trail Blazers. Walton missed 68 games in his first season in San Diego due to foot injuries (which he also suffered in his final years in Portland). San Diego finished 35 – 47, as Walton and other key players missed significant time due to injuries. Free again finished second in league scoring, with 30.2 points per game. Paul Silas replaced Shue as head coach the following season, and the Clippers finished 36 – 46, again missing the postseason. Walton missed the entire season due to foot injuries, while Free was traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for guard Phil Smith.

Los Angeles Clippers Links

1.     https://web.archive.org/web/20110703053330/
        http://www.nba.com/clippers/history-buffalo
        braves.html

2.     https://www.buffalorising.com/2008/07/
        remember-the-buffalo-braves/

3.     https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/
        article/0,33009,904058,00.html

4.     https://artvoice.com/2016/04/buffalo-braves-
        saga-not-lionize-paul-snyder/

5.     https://joycerey.com/blog/the-la-clippers-
        from-underdogs-to-championship-contenders/

6.     “Braves and Sabres End Dates Dispute”. The
        New York Times. January 31, 1976.

7.     https://www.ubbullrun.com/2014/7/31/5941383/
        worst-buffalo-sports-moments-the-death-of-the
        -buffalo-braves

8.     https://archive.nytimes.com/offthedribble.blogs.
        nytimes.com/2012/05/22/freaky-friday-n-b-a-
        style-when-the-clippers-were-the-celtics/

9.     Minas, Nick (2016). The Curse: The Colorful &
        Chaotic History of the LA Clippers. CreateSpace

        Independent Publishing Platform. p. 17. ISBN
        978-1-5391-4875-3

10.   https://www.nba.com/clippers/news/
        behind_the_name.html

11.   Minas, Mick (2016). The Curse: The Colorful
        & Chaotic History of the LA Clippers. CreateSpace
        Independent Publishing Platform. p. 18. ISBN
        978-1-5391-4875-3

12.   Minas, Mick (2016). The Curse: The Colorful &
        Chaotic History of the LA Clippers. CreateSpace
        Independent Publishing Platform. p. 20. ISBN
        978-1-5391-4875-3

13.   Minas, Mick (2016). The Curse: The Colorful &
        Chaotic History of the LA Clippers. CreateSpace
        Independent Publishing Platform. p. 21. ISBN
        978-1-5391-4875-3

14.   Minas, Nick (2016). The Curse: The Colorful &
        Chaotic History of the LA Clippers. CreateSpace
        Independent Publishing Platform. p. 22. ISBN
        978-1-5391-4875-3

15.   Minas, Nick (2016). The Curse: The Colorful &
        Chaotic History of LA Clippers. CreateSpace
        Independent Publishing Platform. p. 26. ISBN
        978-1-5391-4875-3

The Detroit Pistons

Photo Credit:
  https://logos-world.net/detroit-pistons-logo/

1937 – 1957: Fort Wayne (Zollner) Pistons

Fred Zollner owned the Zollner Corporation, a foundry that manufactured pistons, primarily for car, truck, and locomotive engines in Fort Wayne, Indiana (9). In 1937, Zollner sponsored a semi-professional company basketball team called the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons after he received a request from his workers(10). In 1941, the Zollner Pistons shed their work team roots and joined the National Basketball League (NBL)(1). The Zollner Pistons were NBL champions in 1944 and 1945(1). They also won the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1944, 1945 and 1946(11).

In 1948, the team became the Fort Wayne Pistons and jumped to the Basketball Association of America (BAA)(9). In 1949, Fred Zollner brokered the formation of the National Basketball Association from the BAA and the NBL at his kitchen table(9).

There are suggestions that Pistons players conspired with gamblers to shave points and throw various games during the 1953 – 54 and 1954 – 55 seasons. In particular, there are accusations that the team may have intentionally lost the 1955 NBA Finals to the Syracuse Nationals(12). In the decisive Game 7, the Pistons led 41 – 21 early in the second quarter before the Nationals rallied to win the game(13)(14). The Nationals won on a free throw by George King with 12 seconds left in the game(13)(14). The closing moments included a palming turnover by the Pistons’ George Yardley with 18 seconds left, a foul by Frank Brian with 12 seconds left that enabled King’s winning free throw, and a turnover by the Pistons’ Andy Phillip in the final seconds which cost them a chance to attempt the game-winning shot(13)(14). In the following season, the Pistons made it back to the NBA Finals. However, they were defeated by the Philadelphia Warriors in five games(15).

1957 – 1981: Decades of Struggles

Though the Pistons enjoyed a solid local following, Fort Wayne’s small size made it difficult for them to be profitable, especially as other early NBA teams based in smaller cities started folding or relocating to larger markets(1). After the 1956 – 57 season, Fred Zollner decided that Fort Wayne was too small to support an NBA team and announced the team would be playing elsewhere in the coming season. He ultimately settled on Detroit(1). Although it was the fifth largest city in the United States at the time, (16) Detroit had not seen professional basketball in a decade(1)(17)(18)(19). Zollner decided to keep the Pistons name, believing it made more sense given Detroit’s status as the center of the automobile industry(1)(9). George Yardley set the NBA single-season scoring record in the Pistons’ first season in Detroit, becoming the first player to score 2,000 points in a season(20)(21)

The Pistons played in Olympia Stadium (home of the Detroit Red Wings of the (NHL) the National Hockey League at the time) for their first four seasons, then moved to Cobo Arena beginning in the 1961 – 62 season(19)(22).

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Pistons were characterized by talented players including George Yardley, Bailey Howell, Dave DeBusschere, Dave Bing, and Bob Lanier, questionable trades, and frequent coaching changes(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). At one point, DeBusschere was the youngest player-coach in the history of the NBA(25). Then a trade during the 1968 – 69 season sent DeBusschere to the New York Knicks for Howard Komives and Walt Bellamy, both of whom had their best seasons behind them(25). DeBusschere became a key player in leading the Knicks to two NBA titles(25). Howell had previously been dealt to the Baltimore Bullets in 1964 and former Pistons guard Gene Shue, who was the head coach of the Bullets at the time, assessed the Pistons thusly: “Detroit has the worst management in the league.(28)(29). Howell would go on to win two championships as a member of the Boston Celtics. Yardley, Lanier, and Bing all ended their Pistons tenure being traded away, frustrated with the direction and opportunities with Detroit(30)(31)(32).

In 1974, Zollner sold the team to glass magnate Bill Davidson, who remained the team’s principal owner until he died in 2009(33)(34).

The team had a winning season in 1971, having spent the 1960s below .500, and then had a brief period of success, in the mid-1970s, qualifying for the playoffs in four straight seasons (1974, 1975, 1976, and 1977)(35)(36)(37)(38). Hope was then placed in Dick Vitale 1978, the former head coach at the University of Detroit, but he was fired the following season, and the team limped into the 1980s with a 16 – 66 record in 1979 – 80 (39). The 1979 – 80 team lost its last 14 games of the season which, when coupled with the seven losses at the start of the 1980 – 81 season, constituted a then-NBA record losing streak of 21 games(40).

Over time, Davidson became displeased with Cobo Arena but opted not to follow the Red Wings to the under-construction Joe Louis Arena next door. Instead, in 1978, he moved the team to the suburb of Pontiac, where they played in the 82,000-capacity Silverdome, a structure built for professional football (and the home of the Detroit Lions at the time)(22)(41).

1981 – 1994: The Isiah Thomas Era

The franchise’s fortunes finally began to turn in 1981, when they drafted point guard Isiah Thomas from Indiana University(24). In November 1981, the Pistons acquired Vinnie Johnson in a trade with the Seattle Supersonics(42). They later acquired center Bill Laimbeer in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers in February 1982(43). Another key move by the Pistons was the hiring of head coach Chuck Daly in 1983(44).

Initially, the Pistons had difficulty moving up the NBA ladder. In 1984, the Pistons lost a tough five-game series to the underdog New York Knicks, 3 – 2(45). In the 1985 playoffs, Detroit won its first-round series and faced the defending champion Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals. Though Boston prevailed in six games, Detroit’s surprise performance promised that a rivalry had begun(39). In the 1985 NBA draft, the team selected Joe Dumars 18th overall, a selection that proved to be very wise(46). They also acquired Rich Mahorn in a trade with the Washington Bullets(47). However, the team took a step backward, losing in the first round of the 1986 playoffs to the more athletic Atlanta Hawks(48). After the series, changes were made to make the team more defensive-minded(39).

Detroit Pistons Links

1.     Pretzer, Ryan (October 16, 2007). "Farewell, Fort
        Wayne". Pistons.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC.
        Archived from the original on April 15, 2022.
        Retrieved May 12, 2022.

2.     "History: Team by Team" (PDF). 2019–20 Official
        NBA Guide (PDF). NBA Properties, Inc. Archived
        (PDF) from the original on October 26, 2019.
        Retrieved May 12, 2022.

3.     "NBA.com/Stats–Detroit Pistons". Stats.NBA.com.
        NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Archived from the
        original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved
        December 2, 2022.

4.     Jump up to:a b "Detroit Pistons Unveil Newly
        Updated Primary Logo". Pistons.com. NBA Media
        Ventures, LLC. May 16, 2017. Archived from the
        original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved March 3,
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5.     "NBA LockerVision - Detroit Pistons - Association
        Edition - Story Guide". LockerVision.NBA.com.
        NBA Properties, Inc. Archived from the original
        on October 20, 2021. Retrieved November 2,
        2022. The Detroit Pistons Association Edition
        uniform is the traditional white-base uniform
        found in every team's uniform lineup. The
        Piston's core brand elements are brought to life
        using the team's classic red, white, and blue
        colorway along with the "Pistons" jersey
        wordmark and classic stripes on the side inserts.
        The shorts feature the team's primary and
        secondary logos, while also maintaining the stripe
        detail found on the jersey.

6.     "Detroit Pistons Reproduction and Usage
        Guideline Sheet". NBA Properties, Inc. Archived
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        August 10, 2016.

7.     "Detroit Pistons and United Wholesale Mortgage
        Announce Jersey Partnership". Pistons.com     
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        June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.

8.     "NBA is born - Aug 03, 1949". A&E Television
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9.     Jump up to:a b c d "Behind the Name – the
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10.   Cope, Myron (December 18, 1967). "THE
        BIG Z AND HIS MISFIRING PISTONS".
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11.     "World Professional Basketball Tournament".
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12.    Rosen, Charley (2001). The Wizard of Odds:
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19.    Jump up to:a b c Van Dusen, Ryan (March
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20.    Maxwell, John (December 26, 2007).
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23.    "Happy Anniversary". NBA.com. NBA
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26.    Dow, Bill (May 21, 2010). "How a
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30.    "Yardley Deal Confirmed; Doctors
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