Big Ben was 7-0 and 250 pounds. He’d averaged 21 points – 14 rebounds and 5 blocked shots a game at Creighton U. Scheer took him with the third over-all pick in the June draft. Coupled with the 7-2 veteran James Donaldson, the Clippers were set at the center position.

As Don Chaney began his first full season at the coaching helm, training camp opened with a burst of hope and optimism. What a start that team had. They raced out of the gate with five straight wins. They averaged 116 points a game during that perfect start.

Derek Smith was one of the league’s top three scorers. He was drawing comparisons to a young Chicago Bull phenom named Michael Jordan. Smith, Marques Johnson and Norm Nixon formed an awesome 1-2-3 scoring punch.

Sadly the season of such high hopes crashed and burned within 10 days of that hopeful start. Derek Smith went down with a career-numbing knee injury. He’d play only two more games that season, and they’d be his final games in a Clippers uniform.

Smith went from super-stardom to journeyman in one seemingly innoucuous twist of the knee. It was a twist of fate that dashed the hopes of this season of such promise.

The final tally showed 32 wins and 50 losses, good enough for a tie for third in the competitive Pacific Division.

Marquess Johnson earned the NBA Comeback Player of the Year award while playing in his fifth All-Star game. When Smith got hurt, Coach Chaney moved Johnson into the backcourt and he over powered smaller guards all season long.

Vets Johnson and Nixon along with young Benoit Benjamin still gave fans reasons to believe in the future.