Are the Clippers cursed or just *always* unlucky?

• ‍NBA probes if Clippers, Ballmer skirted salary cap rules via $28M (USD) Kawhi Leonard endorsement‍
• Explained: A definitive history of the NBA‍
• Ranked: Top 30 NBA Players of All-Time

It's hard living in the shadow of one of the most successful franchises in NBA history.

The Clippers of Los Angeles, formerly of Buffalo and San Diego, have been the second NBA team to the Los Angeles Lakers in the sprawling Southern California metropolis since 1984 when infamous owner Donald Sterling moved the team from San Diego to LA without league approval.

To say things haven't been great for the past 40 years doesn't quite capture, arguably, one of the worst and cursed teams in league history.

The Clippers have watched – from across town – as the Lakers won championships in 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010 and 2020.

As Magic Johnson was leading the Lakers to their first of back-back titles in 1987, the Clippers went 12-70 (their worst in franchise history).

Sterling, a real estate magnate, had bought the team for $12.5M in 1981 but was notoriously stingy, starving the ball club of investment and when luck did turn their way, the curse stuck.

Between 1984 and 2014 the Clippers went 1,065-1,685 (.387 win percentage) including the 1986–87 (12–70) season, 1998–99 (9–41 lockout), and 1999–2000 (15–67).

Two years before Sterling bought the team, the Clippers signed Portland Trail Blazers and NBA championship centre Bill Walton but he suffered constant foot injuries and rarely played. In 1988, the Clippers drafted Manning #1 overall out of Kansas, fresh off leading the Jayhawks to the NCAA Championship. He was seen as a franchise saviour for a historically downtrodden Clips. But Manning tore his ACL midway through his rookie season.

Manning came back and along with Harper, who had also blown out his knee just after joining the team, led the Clippers to the playoffs in 1992 and 1993 and was the club's first All-Star. But Sterling traded him mid-season in 1994 – before having to pay him as a free agent – for an aging Dominique Wilkins.

The Clippers were terrible in 80s, semi-decent in the early 90s, terrible in the late 90s and then a false dawn with the Young Guns in 2001: Lamar Odom, Darius Miles, Corey Maggette, Elton Brand and Quentin Richardson were hyped as the future. That team collapsed ... chemistry issues.

"Lob City" arrived in 2011 when prime Chris Paul linked up with emerging superstar Blake Griffin. The Clippers made the play-offs in 2012, '13 and '14 but then ... Donald Sterling happened.

Sterling was banned for life by the NBA in 2014 and was forced to sell the team after he told his visor-wearing partner V. Stiviano: “You can do anything, but don’t bring them to my games."

The "them" he was referring to were African-American players, specifically Magic Johnson.

“It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with Black people. Do you have to?” Sterling told Stiviano.

“You can bring them in; you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that … and not to bring them to my games.

“I’m just saying, in your lousy Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with Black people.”

Blatant racism.

Clippers players, led by Paul, Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan, staged silent protests (wearing warmups inside-out to hide the team logo before Game 4 against Golden State while coach Doc Rivers called the comments “unacceptable” and admitted players considered boycotting games.

Enter former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer 🥳. He bought the team for $2BN later that year and the fans were pumped. One of the richest men in the world was about to change everything! It looked like it had when the Clippers went up 3-1 against the Houston Rockets in the 2015 play-offs but they blew it, losing 4-3. In 2016, Paul and Griffin both got injured in the same playoff round.

In 2019, Kawhi Leonard, one of the best guards in league history, had just secured his second NBA title and Finals MVP with the Toronto Raptors. He became a free agent and EVERYONE wanted him – including the Lakers – but Ballmer won the race.

Prime Leonard, then 28, was expected to do what Paul, Griffin and the Young Guns could not. But he's only played in about half of the Clippers regular season games since he signed. He's missed about 200 of more than 430 games through injury and infamously "load management". Despite that, Ballmer re-signed him to a max extension in 2021.

To be fair, the Clips have made the playoffs every year since, except 2022. But either collapsed or choked.

• 2019: (8th seed) – Lost 1st Round (4-2 vs Warriors)
• 2020: (2nd seed) – Lost in Conference Semis (W vs DAL, L vs DEN)
• 2021: (4th seed) – Lost in Conference Finals (reached West Finals)
• 2023: (5th seed) – Lost 1st Round (4-1 vs Suns)
• 2024: (4th seed) – Lost 1st Round (4-2 vs Mavericks)
• 2025: (5th seed)– Lost 1st Round (4-3 vs Nuggets)

Which brings us to today. The NBA is investigating a salary-cap breach allegation the Clippers and Ballmer paid Leonard $28M USD for a "no-show job" via now bankrupt green fin-tech company Aspiration.

Podcast journalist Pablo Torre, with a stack of papers on his desk, revealed internal Aspiration documents showed Ballmer invested $50 million via his personal LLC on September 14, 2021, the year Leonard re-signed on four-year, $176.3 million max contract.

If the Clippers and Ballmer have been found to breach salary cap regulations it will cripple LA's second team for the rest of the decade.

The punish precedent is the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2000 when they circumvented the salary cap to secure No1 Draft pick Joe Smith.

• $3.5 million fine (a record at the time).
• Forfeiture of five first-round draft picks (2001–2005). The league later reinstated two, but the Wolves still lost three crucial first-rounders.
• Joe Smith’s contract voided, making him a free agent.
• Team executives suspended (including GM and NBA Hall of Famer Kevin McHale).

So here we are. Lob City has potentially dunked on itself again. The NBA is investigating what could change the league, especially given Ballmer is a great owner. He spent billion on a new stadium, invests liberally in the team and its facilities and wants the best players in a quest for the franchise's first championship.

We are now (again) waiting for the price.

🎎 Are the Clippers cursed or just unlucky?

• Star Injuries – Danny Manning, Bill Walton, Ron Harper, Elton Brand, Cliff Livingston, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, and Kawhi Leonard — nearly every Clippers star has faced brutal injuries.
• Playoff Collapses – Multiple blown 3–1 or 3–2 series leads.
• Timing & Luck – Just as they’d break through, something bizarre (injury, scandal, collapse) always seemed to derail them.

📍 Clippers Origins: Buffalo Braves (1970–1978)

• 1970 – Founded as the Buffalo Braves, an NBA expansion team.
• 1973–74 – Made first playoff appearance behind Bob McAdoo (NBA MVP in 1975).
• 1976 – Braves traded McAdoo, began to decline.
• 1978 – Owner John Y. Brown swapped franchises with Irv Levin, effectively relocating the Braves to San Diego.

📍 San Diego Clippers (1978–1984)

• 1978 – Team renamed San Diego Clippers, referencing the city’s sailing ships.
• 1979 – Signed Bill Walton (injury-plagued, played sparingly). Struggled with attendance and performance; never made the playoffs in San Diego.‍
• 1981 – Real estate mogul Donald Sterling bought the team for $12.5M.‍
• 1984 – Sterling moved the team to Los Angeles without league approval. NBA filed a lawsuit, but later settled.

Background: Who Was Donald Sterling?

• Donald Sterling bought the Clippers in 1981 for $12.5 million.
• During three decades, the franchise was often poorly run, underfunded, and one of the least successful in sports.
• Sterling developed a reputation for racially insensitive remarks and questionable business practices long before the scandal broke.

The Scandal Breaks (April 2014)

• In April 2014, TMZ released audio recordings of Sterling in conversation with his companion, V. Stiviano.
• In the recordings, Sterling told Stiviano not to bring Black people to Clippers games and specifically criticised her for posting photos with Earvin "Magic Johnson on Instagram.
• Quotes such as “You can do anything, but don’t bring them to my games” shocked the public.

The timing was critical: the Clippers were in the 2014 NBA Playoffs, and the NBA had been pushing diversity, inclusion, and global growth.

Reaction: Players, Coaches, and Fans

• Clippers players, led by Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan, staged silent protests (wearing warmups inside-out to hide the team logo before Game 4 against Golden State).
• Coach Doc Rivers called the comments “unacceptable” and admitted players considered boycotting games.
• Across the league, stars such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant condemned Sterling.
• Sponsors (CarMax, State Farm, Virgin America, etc.) withdrew or suspended partnerships with the Clippers.

The NBA’s Response

• New commissioner Adam Silver, only three months into the job, acted quickly:
  • April 29, 2014: Silver announced Sterling was banned for life from the NBA, fined the maximum $2.5 million, and urged owners to force a sale.
  • It was the harshest penalty in league history.

The Forced Sale

• Sterling refused to sell, threatening lawsuits and claiming his remarks were private.
• His estranged wife, Shelly Sterling, was co-owner through the family trust. She argued Sterling was mentally unfit to make decisions and moved to sell the team.
• After a legal battle, a California court ruled in Shelly’s favour.
• August 2014: Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer purchased the Clippers for $2 billion—a record at the time.

Broader Impact

• For the NBA: The case showed the league’s zero-tolerance stance on racism and preserved its reputation at a critical growth stage.
• For Sports Ownership: It set a precedent that owners’ off-court behaviour could cost them their franchises.
• For the Clippers: The sale transformed the franchise’s value and direction, with Ballmer investing heavily in branding, facilities, and fan engagement.

✅ In short: Sterling’s racist remarks, caught on tape, forced Adam Silver into decisive action. Within months, Sterling was banned for life, his wife sold the team to Steve Ballmer for $2B, and the NBA set a modern precedent on how to handle owner misconduct.

📍 Before Donald Sterling's scandal

1. Minnesota Timberwolves – Relocation Threat (1994)

• Owners Harvey Ratner and Marv Wolfenson tried to sell the team to a New Orleans group.
• The NBA blocked the sale, citing concerns about relocation and financial irregularities.
• Outcome: Glen Taylor bought the Wolves and kept them in Minnesota.
• ⚖️ Precedent: NBA owners could be forced to sell if the league deemed them harmful to stability, but this was about business, not personal conduct.

2. Golden State Warriors – Franklin Mieuli & Others

• Earlier NBA history saw owners nudged out due to financial mismanagement, but not public scandals.
• ⚖️ Precedent: Mostly about competence, not moral behaviour.

📍 After Donald Sterling

3. Atlanta Hawks – Bruce Levenson (2014)

• Shortly after Sterling, emails surfaced where owner Bruce Levenson made racially insensitive remarks about the Hawks’ fan base.
• Levenson quickly self-reported and announced he’d sell the team.
• Outcome: Sold in 2015 to Tony Ressler.
• ⚖️ Precedent: Sterling set the tone — owners realised they’d face league pressure to exit if caught in similar situations.

4. Dallas Mavericks – Mark Cuban (2018 investigation)

• A Sports Illustrated report exposed a toxic workplace culture (sexual harassment, misconduct) under Cuban’s watch.
• Cuban wasn’t forced to sell, but the NBA mandated reforms, hired outside investigators, and fined him $10M to women’s groups.
• ⚖️ Precedent: Showed that not every scandal ends in a forced sale; the league weighs the owner’s direct involvement.

5. Phoenix Suns – Robert Sarver (2021–2022)

• Accused of repeated racist language and workplace misconduct over years.
• NBA investigation suspended Sarver for 1 year and fined him $10M (Sept 2022).
• Massive backlash (players, sponsors, PayPal) pressured him to announce a sale.
• 2023: Sold Suns + Mercury to Mat Ishbia for $4B.
• ⚖️ Precedent: Sterling’s case directly shaped how the NBA and public responded; Sarver’s suspension was widely criticised as too lenient until sponsors/players forced the sale.