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Buffalo Braves Team History

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Buffalo Braves




  • 1970
  • 1972
  • 1978
  • Buffalo Braves 1973

    Buffalo Braves Team Formation

    With a roster made up primarily of castoffs, the Buffalo Braves got off on the right foot by beating the Cleveland Cavilers 107-92 at Buffalo’s Historic Aud. on October 14th. However, the Braves would drop their next nine games as they took on established NBA teams on the way to finishing in the last place in the Atlantic Division with ...
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  • Bob McAdoo Buffalo Braves

    Drafted Bob McAdoo

    Bob McAdoo sought and won early eligibility in the 1972 NBA draft. He was selected in the first round (second overall) by the Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers). McAdoo quickly became one of the NBA’s premier players. He won the 1973 NBA Rookie of the Year Award and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. He earned ...
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  • Buffalo Braves 1970 - 1978

    Complicated Move to San Diego

    Irv Levin who owned the Celtics wanted to move the historic franchise to California. However, the NBA would not allow him to take the cornerstone franchise out of Boston. NBA Lawyer David Stern would propose a novel comprise in which Levin and Brown swapped franchise with Levin taking over the Braves and moving them to San Diego. The Braves would ...
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History of the Braves

The Buffalo Braves were a professional basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The team was founded in 1970 as part of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They played their home games at Memorial Auditorium until 1977 when they moved to San Diego and became the San Diego Clippers.

The first season of the Braves was a success as they finished with an impressive 48-34 record and qualified for their first playoff appearance since entering the NBA. Led by Hall of Fame center Bob McAdoo, who won his second consecutive scoring title that year, and All-Star guard Randy Smith, who led them in assists per game (7.4), steals per game (2), and total points scored for that season (1,874), they advanced all the way to Game 7 of Eastern Conference Finals against Julius Erving's Philadelphia 76ers before eventually losing out on advancing further into championship contention due to fatigue from playing so many games consecutively without much rest or practice time between series.

Unfortunately, this would be one of two times during their seven-season run that they'd make it past round 1 playoffs; however those early years established themselves firmly within league history books as being among some great teams such as Kareem Abdul Jabbar's Milwaukee Bucks & Bill Walton's Portland Trail Blazers which also happened around the same era - making it quite an exciting time overall!

Despite having had several talented players including future Hall-of-Famer Elmore Smith alongside other notable names like Gar Heard & Adrian Dantley throughout its short tenure; ultimately lack consistency both on the court performance-wise coupled with financial difficulties off the field caused the franchise to relocate after just seven seasons leaving behind memories what could have been if things had gone differently...





Established
1970

City
Buffalo – San Diego – Los Angeles

League History
1970 – Present / National Basketball Association

Team History
1984 – Present / Los Angeles Clippers
1978 – 1984 / San Diego Clippers
1970 – 1978 / Buffalo Braves

Nickname
Braves – The Buffalo Braves were given an expansion team in 1970, and named their team after the strong history of aboriginals in the area.

Championship
NBA Championships 0

Arena
1999 – Present / Staples Center
1984 – 1999 / Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena

*San Diego*
1978 – 1984 / San Diego Sports Arena

*Buffalo*
1970 – 1978 / Buffalo Memorial Auditorium

Owner
2014 – Present / Steve Balmer
1981 – 2014 / Donald Sterling
1978 – 1981 / Irv Levin
1976 – 1978 / John Y. Brown, Jr.
1970 – 1976 / Paul Snyder

Who is the greatest Buffalo Braves?
  • Add your greatest player

To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.

Retired Number

*Blue is this team’s history

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