Bob Kauffman

What's the worst franchise in NBA history? Sure, the Clippers are a popular answer. They've been in California for 47 years, and never even sniffed the NBA finals. (Plus the whole Donald Sterling ownership... BARF!)

But what about the Buffalo Braves? Yes, for eight years in the 1970s, Buffalo actually had an NBA team, a perennial loser that never won a single playoff series. Even when they lucked out into a future Hall of Famer, Moses Malone, they traded him after two games.

They did have an All-Star... Handsomely-mustached Bob Kauffman, who was somehow drafted third overall from tiny Guilford College by Seattle, eventually ending up with expansion Buffalo. In four years with the Braves, he made the All-Star team three times... probably because the NBA mandated that each team had at least one selection. Most importantly for us, he is that rare Jew to receive that honor. (You can count them on one hand, most notably Bob's coach at Buffalo, Dolph Schayes.)

Kauffman was eventually traded, played one season in Atlanta, and retired. As for the Braves, in 1978 their owner swapped franchises with Boston's Irv Levin. Levin, a Hollywood producer, wanted to move his team to California, and he could never do so with the historic Celtics. So he took ownership of the Braves and moved them to San Diego...

Where they became the Clippers.

Verdict: **Borderline Jew**.

_September 12, 2025_