Editing Los Angeles Clippers (section)

====Bill Fitch era====
On the court, the Clippers continued to make frequent roster changes throughout this particular period, which only resulted in one playoff appearance under Fitch. Along with Loy Vaught, a collection of young players (including [[Lamond Murray]], [[Eric Piatkowski]], and [[Lorenzen Wright]]), and journeyman veterans (among them [[Pooh Richardson]], [[Tony Massenburg]], [[Rodney Rogers]], [[Darrick Martin]], and [[Bison Dele|Brian Williams]]), the Fitch-coached teams during this particular era struggled mightily, although they did make the playoffs once during this time. The [[1996–97 Los Angeles Clippers season|1996–97 team]] made the [[1997 NBA playoffs|playoffs]] with a losing record (36–46) and were swept in the first round by the eventual Western Conference champions, the [[Utah Jazz]], three games to none.

Four members of the 1996–97 squad are now deceased. [[Malik Sealy]] died in a car accident in 2000, [[Kevin Duckworth]] died of heart disease in 2008, Lorenzen Wright went missing and was murdered in 2010, and [[Dwayne Schintzius]] died from cancer complications in 2012. Two other players from the Fitch era suffered tragic circumstances of their own; Brian Williams (who played for the Clippers during the [[1995–96 Los Angeles Clippers season|1995–96 season]], and later became known as Bison Dele) was believed to have been murdered by his brother while the two were vacationing in 2002 while in the South Pacific, and [[Rodney Rogers]] became paralyzed after a dirt bike crash in 2008 in his native North Carolina.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=3744237|title=Report: Former Wake Forest, NBA star Rogers paralyzed in ATV accident|publisher=ESPN|date=December 4, 2008|access-date=November 29, 2022|archive-date=November 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129101518/https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=3744237|url-status=live}}</ref>

In December, Vaught, the team's leading scorer for the past three seasons, had season-ending back surgery. Without Vaught, the Clippers finished 17–65, the third-worst record in the league. Fitch was fired after the 1997–98 season (and later sued the team to recover the remaining money on his contract), and was replaced by one of his proteges, former Celtics and Bucks coach [[Chris Ford]]. Meanwhile, Vaught's career as a Clipper was effectively finished, as he left as a free agent after that season, and signed with the [[Detroit Pistons]]; at the time of his departure, he was the franchise's all-time rebounds leader with 4,471 (a number that was later surpassed by [[Elton Brand]], with 4,710).<ref>{{cite web|title=Los Angeles Clippers Career Leaders|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAC/leaders_career.html|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|date=May 7, 2015|access-date=May 7, 2015|archive-date=June 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130612212334/http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAC/leaders_career.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Clippers won the first overall pick in the 1998 Draft Lottery and selected center [[Michael Olowokandi]] from [[University of the Pacific (United States)|University of the Pacific]]. The team had a 0–17 start and finished with a 9–41 record in the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season. They were led by second-year forward [[Maurice Taylor]], who averaged 16.8 points per game, and won the fourth overall pick in the following draft, which coincided with their move to the Staples Center. The Clippers would draft [[Lamar Odom]], and then hired former All-Star (and Los Angeles native) [[Dennis Johnson]] as an assistant coach, as well as Hall of Fame former Laker great [[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]] to help tutor Olowokandi during his second-year. Johnson remained an assistant coach until the middle of the [[2002–03 NBA season|2002–03 season]], when he took over as head coach. Abdul-Jabbar remained only one season, detailing a lack of improvement in Olowokandi, who is largely considered one of the biggest [[draft bust]]s in league history.

During the 1999 off-season, [[Rodney Rogers]] signed with the [[Phoenix Suns]]. The Clippers also sent [[Lamond Murray]] to the [[Cleveland Cavaliers]] for [[Derek Anderson (basketball)|Derek Anderson]] and [[Johnny Newman]]. However, Newman was then traded to the [[New Jersey Nets]] for [[Eric Murdock]] a month later without ever playing a game for the Clippers. The team finished with the worst record in the league (15–67) in the 1999–2000 season, while the Lakers had the best record that year (67–15), and won the NBA championship.