The professional NBA (National Basketball Association) basketball team, the Los Angeles Clippers, is based in the California town of Los Angeles. Not always known as the Los Angeles Clippers, the team is very established as such now. The following fun facts are sure to get any basketball fan, or Los Angeles Clippers fan, a “slam dunk” of information. The Los Angeles Clippers and basketball history facts can be used: when you are bored in the car and want to play a game, for a homemade trivia game, or if you are just interested in learning on your own!
Fun Facts: Did You Know?
o Before the LA Clippers were the LA Clippers, the team held two other names and home locations? The team was called the Buffalo Braves from 1970-1978 and was located in Buffalo, New York. The team moved to San Diego and was the San Diego Clippers from 1978-1984. Only in 1984, did the team move to Los Angeles and become the famous Los Angeles Clippers!
o Paul Snyder was the original founder of the Los Angeles Clippers?
o For $20 million the San Diego Clippers became the Los Angeles Clippers? The owner of the San Diego Clippers sold the team to Donald T. Sterling, a high-end real estate developer and attorney.
o The Los Angeles Clippers were not the only professional NBA team based in the city of Los Angeles? The other team is the LA Lakers.
o One of the LA Lakers top players, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was hired as an assistant coach for the LA Clippers in 1998? He was hired to help one of the Clippers’ star players, Michael Olowokandi, by tutoring him in the sport. Mr. Abdul-Jabbar’s stint on the Clippers only lasted for the duration of one season.
o The LA Clippers officially announced in 2005 that they were going to build their own first-class practice facility? This facility would mark the first official NBA practice facility in the Los Angeles area!
o Basketball was first invented in 1891 in Springfield, MA? Dr. James Naismith is credited with inventing it while he worked at the YMCA.
o The LA Clippers has three people affiliated with the team in the Basketball Hall of Fame? They are: Bob McAdoo, Bill Walton, and Coach Dr. Jack Ramsay.
o Basketball hoops were not made of net in the beginning? They were created from fruit baskets.
o The LA team, the Los Angeles Clippers, is officially placed in the Western Conference of the NBA?
o The Los Angeles Clippers team has no retired numbers?
o Basketball was created for the first time with a soccer ball? The sport was developed for some gym students who were bored between the business of football season (fall) and baseball season (spring).
o The two LA teams, the Clippers of Los Angeles and the LA Lakers, are still competing against one another as they live in the same city?
These fun facts are a great conversation starter; a cool way to entertain your family in the car or your friends in the school cafeteria; and a great way for you to build your own personal knowledge about one of America’s favorite sports!
