The Los Angeles Clippers are one of the few franchises in NBA history which haven't won a championship, let alone played in an NBA Finals.
However, that doesn't mean the Clippers haven't experienced some great moments since becoming a professional team back in 1970.
With that said, let's take a look at the five best moments in Clippers franchise history.
5. Acquiring Chris Paul
After the late David Stern vetoed the New Orleans Hornets’ plans to trade Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Clippers swooped in and acquired the Point God before the start of the 2011-12 lockout season.
The Hornets wound up trading Paul to the Clippers for Chris Kaman, Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ unprotected 2012 draft pick, which was Austin Rivers.
Paul, one of the best point guards in NBA history, averaged 18.8 points and 9.8 assists in 409 regular-season games with the Clippers. LAC made the playoffs every year with Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan leading the way, but the team never made it past the second round.
4. Getting rid of Donald Sterling
One of the worst owners in NBA history, Sterling made racist remarks that were leaked to the press in 2014. Every player, coach and employee on the Clippers was faced with the same question of how do you stand up in the face bigotry when the entire world is watching and everything is on the line.
The Clippers were playing the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs when this all went down.
Once Sterling was banned from the NBA, Steve Ballmer bought the Clippers and has since turned the organization into a first-class franchise.
3. Chris Paul game-winner vs. Spurs in Game 7 of 2015 playoffs
Paul hit a game-winning floater with one second remaining to lift the Clippers past the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of their opening-round playoff series.
Paul scored a team-high 27 points and dished out six assists, all while playing on a bad hammy. It's one of CP3's signature performances with the Clippers.
2. 31-point comeback vs. Warriors in Game 2 of 2018 playoffs
No All-Stars on the team, no problem for the Clippers, who erased a 31-point road deficit and defeated the mighty Warriors at Oracle Arena. It is the largest comeback in NBA playoff history.
Trailing 94-63 with 7:31 left in the third quarter, the Clippers outscored the Warriors 72-37 over the final 19 minutes of the game to miraculously steal Game 2. Lou Williams finished with 36 points and 11 assists, while Montrezl Harrell poured in 25 points and 10 rebounds.
After the game, Williams talked about how the Clippers were able to make history.
“We just continue to play hard,” Williams said. “We just play hard. I’ve always said to guys, just play as hard as you can, live with the results. We have those big deficits like that, I don’t really think we can come back and win the game.
“We just play as hard as we can to give ourselves an opportunity not to get embarrassed. When it gets to a place like this is okay, doable, that’s when your mindset kind of clicks.”
1. Signing Kawhi Leonard, acquiring Paul George
The summer of 2019 was a great one for the Clippers. The franchise not only signed Leonard in free agency, but the two-time Finals MVP also convinced George to request a trade back home from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Both George and Leonard are California natives and eager to lead the Clippers to their first-ever championship. Once the “bubble” games start on July 30, LAC will be one of the favorites to win it all.
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