The 1988âÂÂ89 Los Angeles Clippers season was the 19th season for the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association, and their fifth season in Los Angeles, California. The Clippers won the NBA draft lottery, and selected power forward Danny Manning from the University of Kansas with the first overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft; the team also selected shooting guard Hersey Hawkins out of Bradley University with the sixth overall pick, but soon traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for rookie power forward, and top draft pick Charles D. Smith from the University of Pittsburgh, and acquired rookie point guard, and top draft pick Gary Grant out of the University of Michigan from the Seattle SuperSonics.
With the addition of Manning, Smith and Grant, the Clippers played around .500 in winning percentage with a 6âÂÂ6 start to the regular season, but soon struggled losing 11 of their next 13 games. In January, Manning suffered a right knee injury after only just 26 games, and was out for the remainder of the season, as the team suffered a dreadful 19-game losing streak between December and February, which included a winless month in January. Head coach Gene Shue was fired after a 10âÂÂ28 start to the season, and was replaced with assistant coach Don Casey. The Clippers held an 11âÂÂ37 record at the All-Star break, and posted a 13-game losing streak between February and March, losing 32 of 33 games between December 30, 1988, and March 7, 1989. The Clippers finished in last place in the Pacific Division with a 21âÂÂ61 record.
Second-year forward Ken Norman showed improvement, averaging 18.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and finished tied in fourth place in Most Improved Player voting. In addition, Manning averaged 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, while Benoit Benjamin provided the team with 16.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game, and Smith provided with 16.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Meanwhile, Quintin Dailey contributed 16.1 points and 1.3 steals per game, Grant contributed 11.9 points, 7.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game, and second-year forward Reggie Williams averaged 10.2 points and 1.3 steals per game. Norm Nixon averaged 6.8 points and 6.4 assists per game in 53 games, while rookie point guard, and second-round draft pick Tom Garrick contributed 6.4 points and 3.4 assists per game, and second-year forward Joe Wolf provided with 5.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
The Clippers finished 24th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 286,614 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena during the regular season, which was the second-lowest in the league. Following the season, Dailey signed as a free agent with the Seattle SuperSonics, and Nixon retired. For the season, the Clippers changed the jersey number colors on their road uniforms from blue to white; these uniforms only lasted for just one season.
The Clippers were involved in the following transactions during the 1988âÂÂ89 season.
Player Transactions Citation: