In 1978, the Buffalo Braves attempted to mimic the successful westward migrations of the Philadelphia Warriors and Minneapolis Lakers. They left cold, rainy Buffalo for sunny San Diego and rebranded as the San Diego Clippers. However, while the weather may have been good, the Clippers were not. They posted a below .500 record every year in San Diego due to cheapskate owner Donald Sterling. They only lasted 6 years in San Diego before moving up north to LA to become the LA Clippers. Now, 40 years after the Clippers left, the San Diego Clippers are back.
The San Diego Clippers Return As G-League Team Rebrands
Clippers G-League Affiliate Relocates to San Diego
In May 2017, the Clippers began looking for a location for a G-League team to play. After some time searching, they settled on the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. Soon after, they formally announced the creation of the Agua Caliente Clippers.
A few years later, in July 2022, the Agua Caliente Clippers would be rebranded as the Ontario Clippers. Neither iteration of the Ontario-based Clippers was particularly successful. However, the then-Agua Caliente Clippers did have a good 2021-2022 season where they made it to the G-League conference finals. There, they ultimately fell to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Houston Rockets G-League affiliate. Other than that, both iterations were ultimately middling.
On March 11, it was announced that the Ontario Clippers would be ceasing play in Ontario and moving to San Diego to resurrect the long-defunct San Diego Clippers.
The @LAClippers have announced that their G League team, the @OntClippers, will relocate to Oceanside, California and rebrand as the San Diego Clippers, starting play at the brand new Frontwave Arena for the 2024-25 season.
Learn More: https://t.co/5n0rCFUVjP pic.twitter.com/MWpu5GdkZ5
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) March 11, 2024
Clippers Arena Details
The new San Diego Clippers will be playing in Oceanside, a suburb of San Diego. Their home arena will be the newly-constructed Frontwave Arena, a 7,600-seat arena projected to open in Summer 2024. The Frontwave arena will also be home to the San Diego Sockers of the Major Arena Soccer League.
The new San Diego Clippers will be using logos and branding that are modern updates of the logos and branding of the original 80s San Diego Clippers. The G-League Clippers will stay in the same conference and continue the same rivalries and schedule. They will just now be playing in San Diego instead of Ontario.
Pro Basketball Returns to San Diego
San Diego has had a rough go of it with pro sports in general. The Chargers weren’t there for a long, before leaving to seek fortune up north in LA. They had two separate NBA franchises leave them. First, it was the Rockets leaving for Houston and then it was the Clippers leaving for LA. The only real constant San Diego has had is the Padres, who were a very bad team for a lot of their existence.
However, pro basketball is now back in San Diego. While it may not be the NBA, it is still an exciting opportunity to watch NBA-caliber players like Xavier Moon, Jordan Miller, and Moussa Diabate, who are all on the current G-League Clippers roster. There is also the opportunity to see the future stars of basketball when the Ignite comes to town.
Finally, there’s just something great about having a pro team representing the city. It inspires a sense of civic pride and community. It’s one of the rare things that people of all ages and creeds can agree on supporting and having a good time watching.
It will take a while for the G-League Clippers to build up that fanbase, but I hope they can do it. After years of middling teams and moving around, the franchise deserves it. Furthermore, after years of teams leaving, the city of San Diego deserves another team to call their own and to represent them. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a new era for pro basketball in San Diego.
