1979–80 San Diego Clippers season

1979–80 San Diego Clippers season
Head coach	Gene Shue
Arena	San Diego Sports Arena
Results
Record	36–46 (.439)
Place	Division: 5th (Pacific) Conference: 7th (Western)
Playoff finish	DNQ
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	KFMB-TV
Radio	KFMB

The 1979-80 NBA season was the Clippers' 10th season in the NBA and their 2nd season in the city of San Diego.

Draft picks

Main article: 1979 NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
3	55	Tom Channel		United States	Boston University
4	77	Lionel Garrett		United States	Southern
5	99	Greg Joyner		United States	Middle Tennessee State
6	119	Bob Bender	PG	United States	Duke
7	139	Jene Grey		United States	LeMoyne
8	158	Renaldo Lawrence		United States	Appalachian State
9	176	Mike Dodd		United States	San Diego State
10	194	Greg Hunter		United States	Loyola Marymount

Roster

San Diego Clippers 1979-1980 roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From F 27 Barnes, Marvin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Providence F 23 Bryant, Joe 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 G 30 Carrington, Bob 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Boston College G 43 Lee, Greg 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) UCLA C 4 Malovic, Steve 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) San Diego C 31 Nater, Swen 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) UCLA 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 7 Smith, Bingo 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 212 lb (96 kg) Tulsa G 14 Taylor, Brian 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Princeton C 32 Walton, Bill 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) UCLA F 12 Weatherspoon, Nick 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 197 lb (89 kg) Illinois 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

Roster Notes

• This is Marvin Barnes' second tour of duty with the franchise. He previously played for the Buffalo Braves back in 1977-1978.

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	60	22	.732	–	37–4	23–18	19–11
x-Seattle SuperSonics	56	26	.683	4	33–8	23–18	18–12
x-Phoenix Suns	55	27	.671	5	37–5	18–22	19–11
x-Portland Trail Blazers	38	44	.463	22	26–15	12–29	13–17
San Diego Clippers	35	47	.427	25	24–17	11–30	13–17
Golden State Warriors	24	58	.293	36	15–26	9–32	8–22

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	60	22	.732	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	49	33	.598	11
3	x-Seattle SuperSonics	56	26	.683	4
4	x-Phoenix Suns	55	27	.671	5
5	x-Kansas City Kings	47	35	.573	13
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	38	44	.463	22
7	San Diego Clippers	35	47	.427	25
8	Chicago Bulls	30	52	.366	30
9	Denver Nuggets	30	52	.366	30
10	Utah Jazz	24	58	.293	36
11	Golden State Warriors	24	58	.293	36

Notes

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

Record vs. opponents

1979-80 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–4	1–1	4–2	1–1	6–0	2–0	2–4	4–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	4–2	4–2	4–2	1–1	2–0	5–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	3–3
Boston	4–2	—	2–0	4–2	2–0	6–0	2–0	6–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	5–1	5–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	4–2	2–0	0–2	2–0	4–2
Chicago	1–1	0–2	—	2–0	2–4	1–1	4–2	1–1	0–2	3–3	1–5	1–5	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–5	3–3	0–2	4–2	2–4	2–4	0–2
Cleveland	2–4	2–4	0–2	—	1–1	6–0	2–0	2–4	2–4	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–5	1–1	0–2	4–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–3
Denver	1–1	0–2	4–2	1–1	—	1–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–6	1–5	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–5	2–4	1–1	3–3	1–5	3–3	1–1
Detroit	0–6	0–6	1–1	0–6	1–1	—	1–1	1–5	1–5	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–4	2–4	1–5	0–2	0–2	2–4	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–4
Golden State	0–2	0–2	2–4	0–2	3–3	1–1	—	1–1	1–1	3–3	1–5	0–6	2–0	0–2	0–2	2–4	2–4	0–2	3–3	0–6	3–3	0–2
Houston	4–2	0–6	1–1	4–2	1–1	5–1	1–1	—	4–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–3	3–3	2–4	1–1	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–4
Indiana	2–4	2–4	2–0	4–2	1–1	5–1	1–1	2–4	—	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–4	4–2	1–5	0–2	2–0	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2
Kansas City	2–0	1–1	3–3	0–2	6–0	2–0	3–3	2–0	1–1	—	2–4	3–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–5	1–5	1–1	5–1	3–3	6–0	2–0
Los Angeles	1–1	2–0	5–1	1–1	5–1	2–0	5–1	2–0	2–0	4–2	—	3–3	2–0	2–0	1–1	3–3	2–4	2–0	5–1	4–2	6–0	1–1
Milwaukee	1–1	0–2	5–1	2–0	3–3	1–1	6–0	1–1	2–0	3–3	3–3	—	1–1	1–1	0–2	4–2	5–1	0–2	4–2	2–4	4–2	1–1
New Jersey	2–4	1–5	1–1	3–3	1–1	4–2	0–2	3–3	4–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	—	2–4	1–5	1–1	0–2	3–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–3
New York	2–4	1–5	2–0	3–3	1–1	4–2	2–0	3–3	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2	—	0–6	2–0	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–3
Philadelphia	2–4	3–3	1–1	5–1	2–0	5–1	2–0	4–2	5–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	5–1	6–0	—	1–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–1
Phoenix	1–1	1–1	5–1	1–1	5–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	2–0	5–1	3–3	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	—	6–0	1–1	2–4	4–2	6–0	2–0
Portland	0–2	0–2	3–3	2–0	4–2	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	5–1	4–2	1–5	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–6	—	1–1	4–2	1–5	3–3	1–1
San Antonio	1–5	2–4	2–0	2–4	1–1	4–2	2–0	3–3	4–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	3–3	2–4	2–4	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	1–1	1–1	4–2
San Diego	1–1	0–2	2–4	1–1	3–3	2–0	3–3	0–2	1–1	1–5	1–5	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–2	2–4	0–2	—	3–3	5–1	1–1
Seattle	2–0	2–0	4–2	2–0	5–1	2–0	6–0	1–1	2–0	3–3	2–4	4–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–4	5–1	1–1	3–3	—	5–1	1–1
Utah	0–2	0–2	4–2	1–1	3–3	1–1	3–3	0–2	1–1	0–6	0–6	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–6	3–3	1–1	1–5	1–5	—	0–2
Washington	3–3	2–4	2–0	3–3	1–1	4–2	2–0	4–2	2–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	3–3	1–5	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–1	1–1	2–0	—

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, records and milestones

Awards

All-Star

• World B. Free selected as a reserve guard for the Western Conference All-Stars. Free will be the first and only San Diego Clipper All-Star.

Records

• Swen Nater sets a franchise record of total rebounds in a single season with 1,216. This record will not be broken until 35 years later by DeAndre Jordan with 1,226 rebounds.

Transactions

The Clippers were involved in the following transactions during the 1979–80 season.

Trades

September 18, 1979	To San Diego Clippers Signing of Bill Walton as a veteran free agent	To Portland Trailblazers Kermit Washington, Kevin Kunnert, Randy Smith, cash & future draft picks awarded as compensation.
October 6, 1979	To San Diego Clippers Joe Bryant	To Philadelphia 76ers 1986 first-round draft pick
October 27, 1979	To San Diego Clippers Bingo Smith	To Cleveland Cavaliers 1980 third-round draft pick
November 21, 1979	To San Diego Clippers Steve Malovic	To Washington Bullets 1982 second-round draft pick

Free agents

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team

Subtractions

Player	Left	New team