1978–79 San Diego Clippers season

1978–79 San Diego Clippers season
Head coach	Gene Shue
Arena	San Diego Sports Arena
Results
Record	43–39 (.524)
Place	Division: 5th (Pacific) Conference: 6th (Western)
Playoff finish	DNQ
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	XETV
Radio	KGB

The 1978–79 NBA season was the 9th season of the team formerly known as the Buffalo Braves in the NBA. They had moved from Buffalo, New York to San Diego, California and have rechristened themselves as the San Diego Clippers.

Draft picks

Main article: 1978 NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
2	41	Jerome Whitehead	C/PF	United States	Marquette
3	48	Mike Santos		United States	Utah State
3	51	Ricky Gallon		United States	Louisville
3	65	Marvin Dalph		United States	Arkansas
4	68	Jim Boylan		United States	Marquette
4	73	Larry Harris		United States	Pittsburgh
4	76	Leroy McDonald		United States	Wake Forest
5	90	David Thompson		United States	Florida State
6	112	Bob Miscevicious		United States	Providence
7	133	Stan Pietkiewicz	SG/SF	United States	Auburn
8	154	Felton Young		United States	Jacksonville
9	172	Bobby White		United States	Centenary (LA)

Roster

San Diego Clippers 1978–79 roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From F 32 Bigelow, Bob 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Penn G 24 Free, World B. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Guilford College C 44 Kunnert, Kevin 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 231 lb (105 kg) Iowa C 45 Lloyd, Scott 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Arizona State C 31 Nater, Swen 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) UCLA G 11 Norman, Connie 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 176 lb (80 kg) Arizona F 40 Olive, John 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Villanova F 22 Pietkiewicz, Stan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Auburn G 9 Smith, Randy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Buffalo State G 14 Taylor, Brian 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Princeton F 42 Washington, Kermit 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) American University F 12 Weatherspoon, Nick 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 197 lb (89 kg) Illinois C 33 Whitehead, Jerome 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Marquette F 21 Wicks, Sidney 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) UCLA G 20 Williams, Freeman 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Portland State	Head coach Gene Shue Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

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Roster Notes

• This is Kevin Kunnert's second tour of duty with the franchise. He previously played for the Buffalo Braves back in 1973–1974.

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Seattle SuperSonics	52	30	.634	–	31–10	21–20	11–9
x-Phoenix Suns	50	32	.610	2	32–9	18–23	11–9
x-Los Angeles Lakers	47	35	.573	5	31–10	16–25	11–9
x-Portland Trail Blazers	45	37	.549	7	33–8	12–29	8–12
San Diego Clippers	43	39	.524	9	29–12	14–27	11–9
Golden State Warriors	38	44	.463	14	23–18	15–26	8–12

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Seattle SuperSonics	52	30	.634	–
2	y-Kansas City Kings	48	34	.585	4
3	x-Phoenix Suns	50	32	.610	2
4	x-Denver Nuggets	47	35	.573	5
5	x-Los Angeles Lakers	47	35	.573	5
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	45	37	.549	7
7	San Diego Clippers	43	39	.524	9
8	Indiana Pacers	38	44	.463	14
9	Milwaukee Bucks	38	44	.463	14
10	Golden State Warriors	38	44	.463	14
11	Chicago Bulls	31	51	.378	21

Notes

• z, y – division champions
• x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1978–79 NBA records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NOJ	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	1–3	2–2
Boston	2–2	—	1–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–2	3–1	2–2	0–4	1–3	0–4	1–3	2–2	0–4
Chicago	1–3	2–1	—	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	4–0	0–3	0–4	0–4	1–3
Cleveland	1–3	2–2	3–1	—	1–2	1–3	2–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–4	0–4	0–4	2–2	2–2	0–4
Denver	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–1	—	2–2	4–0	1–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–1	0–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	2–2	3–1	1–3
Detroit	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	—	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	0–4	2–2	1–3	1–3	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–2	0–3	1–3
Golden State	3–1	1–2	1–3	1–2	0–4	3–1	—	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–2
Houston	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	—	0–4	3–1	2–1	2–2	3–1	4–0	4–0	0–4	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–1	2–2	2–2
Indiana	3–1	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	4–0	—	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–2	2–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	1–3	0–4	1–3
Kansas City	2–2	3–1	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	3–1	—	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–1	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	3–0
Los Angeles	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–2	4–0	2–2	—	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–0	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2
Milwaukee	0–3	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	—	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3
New Jersey	2–2	3–1	2–2	1–3	0–4	4–0	3–1	1–3	2–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	—	3–1	1–3	2–2	3–0	2–2	0–4	2–2	0–4	1–3
New Orleans	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	0–4	1–2	1–3	2–2	1–3	1–3	—	2–2	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	0–4	0–3	0–4
New York	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–2	1–3	3–1	1–3	0–4	2–2	1–2	0–3	3–1	3–1	2–2	—	2–2	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–2	2–2	1–3
Philadelphia	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	3–0	3–1	1–3	4–0	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	—	1–3	1–2	3–1	3–1	1–3	3–1
Phoenix	1–2	4–0	3–1	4–0	1–3	4–0	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–3	3–1	4–0	3–1	—	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–3
Portland	2–2	3–1	0–4	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–1	1–3	—	2–1	2–2	1–3	3–1
San Antonio	1–3	4–0	3–0	4–0	1–3	3–1	3–1	1–3	1–3	3–1	2–2	3–1	4–0	2–2	3–1	1–3	1–3	1–2	—	4–0	2–2	1–3
San Diego	1–3	3–1	4–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–2	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–2	4–0	2–2	1–3	2–2	2–2	0–4	—	2–2	0–3
Seattle	3–1	2–2	4–0	2–2	1–3	3–0	1–3	2–2	4–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	4–0	3–0	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	—	2–2
Washington	2–2	4–0	3–1	4–0	3–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	0–3	2–2	3–1	3–1	4–0	3–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	3–0	2–2	—

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Awards and records

• Lloyd Free, All-NBA Second Team

Transactions

The Clippers were involved in the following transactions during the 1978–79 season.

Trades

August 4, 1978	To San Diego Clippers Kermit Washington, Kevin Kunnert, Sidney Wicks & draft rights to Freeman Williams	To Boston Celtics Nate Archibald, Marvin Barnes, Billy Knight & future draft choices.
October 12, 1978	To San Diego Clippers Lloyd Free	To Philadelphia 76ers 1984 first-round draft pick
October 26, 1978	To San Diego Clippers Future draft choice	To Chicago Bulls Scott Lloyd
February 15, 1979	To San Diego Clippers Signing of Brian Taylor as a veteran free agent	To Denver Nuggets Two 1979 second-round draft picks as compensation (This was actually received on June 14, 1979)

Free agents

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team

Subtractions

Player	Left	New team