Origins of Los Angeles Sports Teams, Part Two: Basketball

May 16, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of the Staples Center exterior, home of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers since 1999. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

When I began this series detailing how the major sports teams in Los Angeles came to existence, I knew right away that a project like this absolutely could not be done without including L.A.’s two basketball organizations that belong in the National Basketball Association, for this simple reason…

One of those organizations, the Los Angeles Lakers, have been one of the iconic sports franchises in America’s second largest city – of not the iconic franchise – for over three decades, winning 11 NBA championships in L.A. and bringing the diverse communities of the Southland together; whether one is from Beverly Hills, the San Fernando Valley, East L.A. or Watts, the Lakers have united Los Angeles in ways that almost nothing else has.

Although you may find the rapidly growing number of Clippers fans disagreeing with that statement.

Enough with the preliminaries – here’s how Los Angeles’ two NBA teams came to be:

LOS ANGELES LAKERS

First Game:  October 19, 1960 vs. the Cincinnati Royals in Cincinnati, OH. Lakers lost, 140-123.

First Home Game/First Win:  October 24, 1960 vs. the New York Knicks in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Lakers won, 120-118.

These Lakers first began as a franchise in Minneapolis, MN in 1947, hence the team’s name, Minnesota being the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”.

April 5, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Blake (5), power forward Pau Gasol (16), shooting guard Kobe Bryant (24) and center Dwight Howard (12) during a stoppage in play against the Memphis Grizzlies in the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Although they had one of the biggest stars of the 1950s in George Mikan and had won five NBA titles, the team was losing money and, after it nearly moved to Kansas City in 1957, Bob Short purchased the Lakers and kept them in Minneapolis.

Their financial struggles and dwindling attendance continued, however, and Short was forced to look for a new home for his team.

He – along with everyone else – noticed how prosperous baseball’s Dodgers had become after moving to Los Angeles from Brooklyn, and after considering San Francisco, Short officially moved the Lakers west in 1960, becoming the first NBA team on the Pacific coast and setting up shop in the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

Not to mention becoming neighbors of the Dodgers who were playing in the Coliseum next door.

Short made two other significant changes that year, drafting a young guard from West Virginia named Jerry West, who did nothing more than become the first L.A. Laker star along with Elgin Baylor, becoming so popular that when the current NBA logo was made, West became the basketball player likeness on that logo.

The other change was hiring someone named Francis “Chick” Hearn to broadcast the games. His “Chickisms” became legendary throughout Southern California, particularly this one:

“This game’s in the refrigerator! The door is closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cold, the butter’s getting hard and the jello’s jiggling!”

In fact, if it were not for Vin Scully, Chick Hearn would have been the greatest sports announcer who ever lived. But we’ll settle for him being the greatest basketball announcer, as he called over 3,000 consecutive games before his death in 2002.

Led by Fred Schaus, at 36-43 the Lakers’ record that first year wasn’t terrific, but it was good enough for second place in the Pacific Division and a berth in the playoffs, where they went on a hot streak only to lose in the Western Conference Finals in seven games, losing Game Seven to the St. Louis Hawks by a mere two points.

It was only the beginning, as far more glorious times were yet to come.

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS

First Game/First Win:  October 27, 1984, vs. the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City, UT. Clippers won, 103-94.

First Home Game:  November 1, 1984 vs. the New York Knicks in the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Clippers won, 107-105.

Don’t let those two early wins fool you; this was a sad basketball franchise from it’s beginnings as the Buffalo Braves in 1970. They came west NOT to L.A., but to San Diego in 1978, changing their name to the Clippers, where they were doomed to be the step children in the Lakers’ shadow as in their six years there, they had but one winning season.

Donald Sterling, a real estate mogul in L.A. with properties all over the area that are worth billions, bought the Clippers from Irv Levin in 1982 for $12.5 million. After seeing some pathetic attendance in San Diego, with the team averaging just 4,500 a game, Sterling asked the NBA if he could move his team to Los Angeles.

The league said yes, and the Clippers came north in 1984, settling in the Sports Arena and, with the Lakers being in the middle of their Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Magic Johnson “Showtime” dynasty, becoming even more of a red-headed stepchild than they were in San Diego.

Mar 23, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) dribbles the ball during the game against the Brooklyn Nets at the Staples Center. The Clippers defeated the Nets 101-95. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Why someone would move their basketball team to the same town as one that was dominating the NBA was beyond most fans, as the Clippers finished 31-51 in their first year in L.A., firing coach Jim Lynam two-thirds into the season and replacing him with Don Nelson, which of course didn’t work as they finished in 5th place in the division.

In fact, the Clippers have lost as many as 70 games in a season while in Los Angeles, the organization running things so badly that Sports Illustrated once called them “The Worst Franchise In Professional Sports”.

It was not until the past couple of years, when they drafted Blake Griffin and acquired Chris Paul through free agency, that these Clippers finally became legitimate, finally sweeping the Lakers in this year’s season series 4-0, winning a franchise-record 56 games and their first division title in 2012-13.

Can they keep up the momentum? We’ll see.

PART THREE OF THIS SERIES WILL APPEAR ON THIS SITE ON THURSDAY, JUNE 6th,  FEATURING THE ORIGINS OF THE  L.A. AREA’S TWO HOCKEY TEAMS, THE ANAHEIM DUCKS AND THE TEAM THAT’S GOING FOR THEIR SECOND STRAIGHT STANLEY CUP , THE LOS ANGELES KINGS…SO WATCH FOR IT!