[27] Playing at the San Diego Sports Arena, the Clippers posted a record of 43–39 in their first season in California, leaving them two wins shy of the final playoff spot.

The 1981–82 season brought ultimately unwelcome changes to the franchise as Levin sold the team to Los Angeles–area real estate developer and attorney Donald Sterling for $12.5 million.

This time, thanks to the recent court decision that allowed Al Davis to move the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) to Los Angeles, it appeared Sterling would win his case.

Nixon suffered an ailing Achilles tendon in 1987–88 season, while number one draft pick rookie Danny Manning injured his anterior cruciate ligament during the 1988–89 campaign.

After one year on the job, Weiss was fired, Wilkins left in free agency, and veteran head coach Bill Fitch was brought in to guide a new roster of young and inexperienced players.

Anaheim, a suburb approximately thirty miles (48 km) south of Downtown Los Angeles in Orange County, expressed interest in obtaining an NBA franchise.

In another related Times article,[40] Odgen and Sterling were in talks to have the management company take care of the Clippers' day-to-day operations for a $4 million a year fee.

Also at the time, the Walt Disney Company, owners of the Ducks and Anaheim Angels baseball team during that period, were pursuing at least a partial ownership of the Clippers, with the key element being that its game telecasts would be part of a planned ESPN regional network for Southern California.

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 Brian Williams), the Fitch-coached teams during this particular era struggled mightily, although they did make the playoffs once during this time.

Two other players from the Fitch era suffered tragic circumstances of their own; Brian Williams (who played for the Clippers during the 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.

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).

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.

To improve upon the previous season, the Clippers acquired high-scoring and rebounding power forward Elton Brand from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for the draft rights to Tyson Chandler.

General Manager (and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member) Elgin Baylor won the NBA Executive of the Year award for leading the Clippers' playoff run.

According to the team's lead physician, Dr. Tony Daly, Livingston's prognosis for him to return to basketball activity was eight months (which was around the first week of the upcoming season) to a full calendar year.

In July 2008, they acquired Marcus Camby from the Denver Nuggets in return for a $10 million trade exception and the choice to exchange second round picks with the Clippers in 2010.

With an improved Gordon, stalwart Kaman, rookie Aminu, starting center Jordan, a re-energized Baron Davis, and the debut of Griffin, the Clippers had high hopes for the season.

On draft night, the team re-acquired Lamar Odom from the Dallas Mavericks as part of a four-team deal that also sent Mo Williams and Furkan Aldemir, their 2012 draftee, to the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets, respectively.

On January 16, the Clippers signed free agent small forward Hedo Türkoğlu, while also acquiring both Glen Davis and Danny Granger for the remainder of 2013–14 season.

On April 25, 2014, entertainment news website TMZ released a taped conversation in which team owner Donald Sterling—who had a history of accusations of racist behavior against African Americans and Latinos dating back to the 1990s—reprimanded V. Stiviano (of African American and Mexican heritage, who had reportedly been dating Sterling while he was estranged from wife) for posting an Instagram photo featuring her, former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson, and another woman.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated in a press conference regarding the decision that he will try to force Sterling to sell the Clippers, which would require the consent of three-quarters of the league's 29 other team owners.

[110] On June 28, 2017, Chris Paul was sent to the Houston Rockets in a sign-and-trade in exchange for Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell, Sam Dekker, Darrun Hilliard, DeAndre Liggins, Kyle Wiltjer, a future first-round pick, and cash considerations.

Austin Rivers was traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Marcin Gortat, while long-time Clipper DeAndre Jordan, who had been with the team since 2008, opted out of his contract and became a free agent.

Despite losing Leonard to injury during the 2021 playoffs, the Clippers defeated the top-seeded Utah Jazz in the semifinals, leading them to their first Western Conference finals appearance in franchise history.

In August 2021, the Clippers traded Patrick Beverley, Rajon Rondo, and a 2025 pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for Eric Bledsoe, who would be dealt in February 2022 with Justise Winslow and Keon Johnson for Norman Powell and Robert Covington.

Near the start of the 2023–24 season, the Clippers traded Marcus Morris Sr., Kenyon Martin Jr., Nicolas Batum and Robert Covington to the Philadelphia 76ers for P. J. Tucker, Filip Petrušev and former MVP James Harden.

[122][123] In the 2024–25 off-season, the Clippers, now with a new home arena and branding, lost Paul George and Russell Westbrook to the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets,[124][125] respectively, and re-signed James Harden.

The uniforms featured a royal blue base and red trim and were emblazoned with the team name in front; the "C" in the word "Clippers" was enlarged in the same manner as the logo.

[134] Before the 2000–01 season, the Clippers made slight changes to their uniform, adding the interlocking "LAC" logo on the neckline and gaining thicker contrasting stripes and bolder numerals.

For the 2017–18 season, the Clippers brought back the classic San Diego baby blue and orange scheme for their first City uniform, including the nautical flags which spell the acronym "LAC".