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Missing the Can’t Miss NBA Draft: An LA Clippers Story

By Benjamin Criswell

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Brice Johnson (North Carolina) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twenty-five overall pick to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Brice Johnson (North Carolina) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twenty-five overall pick to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Brice Johnson (North Carolina) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twenty-five overall pick to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Brice Johnson (North Carolina) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twenty-five overall pick to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Your friendly reminder of all the great LA Clippers players that were traded too soon, all the careers that didn’t pan out, and of all the missed Hall of Famers from the NBA Draft.

Once upon a time, the San Diego Clippers selected a big haired point guard out of San Diego State in the tenth round of the 1981 draft. Originally, the point guard attended SDSU on a basketball scholarship. In his sophomore year, the stellar assist man walked-on to the baseball team. This player is the current record holder in career assists at SDSU and is the only WAC player ever to be named All-Conference in two sports.

The world might know him slightly better for mastering the art of opposite field hitting or as the pioneer of the 5.5 hole. While he played out his professional career in the city that drafted him, it was Padres who watched him break records. He is Tony Gwynn.

While Tony Gwynn’s role in Clipper history may be honorary at best, the trend of players not panning out, had predated, and would succeed Mr. Gwynn’s nostalgic hours as a member of the San Diego Clippers.