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The Clippers began in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves. They were one of three franchises that joined the NBA in the 1970-71 season, the others were the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers. They joined the NBA in the 1970-71 season, the others were the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers. The Braves, in their eight seasons in Buffalo, played their home games at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, sharing the arena with another new franchise, the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, who also debuted in 1970. The team's first head coach was Hall of Famer Dolph Schayes, the franchise's first star players were Bob Kauffman and Don May, who were acquired in the expansion draft. As typical of first-year expansion teams, the Braves finished with a 22-60 record, seven games ahead of expansion-mate Cleveland, who finished their season at 15-67. Kauffman, who averaged 4.3 points per game the previous year with the Chicago Bulls, led Buffalo in scoring with 20.4 points per game and earned a spot on the 1971 NBA Eastern Conference All-Star team. The 1979-80 season wasn't much better, as the Clippers began to struggle, but not before they brought in San Diego native, center Bill Walton, who was two years removed from an NBA championship with the Trail Blazers. Walton wasn't much of an impact unfortunately, due to missing 68 games because of foot injuries, which he also suffered in his final years in Portland. San Diego managed to finish with a record of 37-45, despite the fact that many of their key players missed games due to injuries. Free continued his great scoring, again finishing second in league scoring, with 30.2 PPG. Paul Silas replaced Shue the following season, and the Clippers finished with a 36-46 record, once again missing the postseason. Walton missed the entire season once again due to chronic foot injuries. Free was traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for guard Phil Smith. The 1981-82 season brought more changes to the Clipper franchise as Irv Levin sold the team to Los Angeles-area real estate developer and attorney Donald Sterling for $20 million. The Clippers' poor play in their final years in San Diego resulted in poor attendance with the team averaging only 4,500 fans per game. Sterling subsequently lobbied the NBA to relocate the team to his native Los Angeles. The Clippers' popularity has skyrocketed over the past two years due to their ability to trump the Lakers record over the past few seasons. With no place to go but up, the enthusiasm of the Clippers' fans has rejuvenated a cause thought to be lost. Although the Los Angeles Lakers have won 14 championships (including the Minneapolis Lakers championships), the Clippers advancing to the semi-finals of the playoffs is thought to be on par of past Lakers success amongst certain populations of Los Angeles basketball fans. Their newfound fan base has led to recent sellouts of the Staples Center and includes movie star Billy Crystal and television star Frankie Muniz.
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