INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Clippers’ days as the biggest losers in professional sports are long gone, and this NBA All-Star weekend was supposed to be a time to celebrate it.

The team that spent its first four decades of existence as a punch line and a purgatory has now had 14 consecutive winning seasons with a succession of basketball greats wearing its uniform. After decades of playing in dingy gyms from Buffalo to San Diego to downtown Los Angeles, the Clippers now hold court in a lavish, futuristic new arena built by the richest owner in professional sports, Steve Ballmer.

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