The Los Angeles Clippers (referred to as the LA Clippers) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference of the league. The Clippers play their home games at the Staples Center, an arena they share with the Los Angeles Lakers, as well as the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL.

The franchise was founded in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves, and was one of three expansion teams that joined the NBA that year, along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. The Braves saw some success and made the playoffs three times, led by the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP) Bob McAdoo. Conflicts with the Canisius Golden Griffins over the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and the sale of the franchise led to their move from Buffalo, New York to San Diego, California.

In 1978, upon relocating, the franchise changed its name to San Diego Clippers, in reference to the sailing ships that can be seen in San Diego Bay. The franchise had limited success on the court in its six years in San Diego despite the acquisition of star center Bill Walton, who missed almost three full seasons due to an injury upon arrival. In 1981, the franchise was acquired by Los Angeles-based real estate mogul Donald Sterling.

In 1984, the franchise was controversially relocated to Los Angeles by Sterling without NBA approval. Despite fines and a lawsuit filed against the ownership of the franchise by the NBA seeking to return the franchise to San Diego, the team was eventually allowed to remain in Los Angeles, where they failed to see significant success in the regular season or playoffs. They were often seen as an example of a perennial loser in American professional sports, making unfavorable comparisons to their historically successful city rivals, the Lakers.

Between 2008 and 2017, the organization improved by adding players like Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul. This lineup led to the Clippers being a consistent playoff team and they were nicknamed "Lob City". In the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, the franchise won its division titles. They appeared in the playoffs seven times from 2012 to 2019, matching the number of appearances for the franchise from 1970 to 2011.

In 2019, the Clippers signed two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Kawhi Leonard and changed a record number of draft selections to the NBA's perennial All-Star Paul George.