Buffalo Braves
The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball franchise based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves played in the Atlantic Division of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1970 until 1978. In 1978, Braves owner John Y. Brown swapped franchises with then-Boston Celtics owner Irv Levin, who then moved the team to San Diego, California, where it was renamed the San Diego Clippers (following another move, in 1984, it became the Los Angeles Clippers).
History
Play begins
The Braves were one of three NBA expansion franchises that began play in the 1970–71 season (the others being the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers). They played their home games at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, sharing the arena with another new franchise, the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Buffalo Sabres, who also debuted in 1970. In addition, from 1971–75, the Braves played a total of 16 home games at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto in the hopes of expanding their fan base beyond Western New York and into the Greater Toronto Area (a similar strategy was employed by the National Football League (NFL)'s Buffalo Bills from 2008 until 2013). The NBA had two previous teams in Western New York, the Rochester Royals and the Syracuse Nationals.
