the league's vice president, Sterling was able to maintain his position as owner, by instead handing over operations duties of the franchise to Alan Rothenberg, who became the team's president. By February 1983, Stern called the Clippers a "first-class" franchise, and the ouster of Sterling was no longer pursued. Later in 1983, Larry Fleisher, then the general counsel of the National Basketball Players Association, stated ''in all my years of involvement with the NBA, no team ever provided as much difficulties for the players than the Clippers under Sterling." "He almost caused three strikes last season.'' The team's final two seasons in San Diego were not much better on the court despite Walton finally returning to the court, finishing 25–57 in 1982–83 and 30–52 in 1983–84. In 1984, Sterling, despite again being denied permission from the NBA to do so, moved the Clippers north to Los Angeles. The NBA subsequently fined Sterling $25 million for violating league rules and filed a lawsuit demanding the franchise be returned to San Diego. The league threatened to dissolve the franchise if ownership did not comply and return the team to San Diego. Sterling then filed another antitrust lawsuit against the league (for $100 million). This time, thanks to the court decision that allowed Al Davis to move the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) to Los Angeles, it appeared Sterling would win his case. The league soon agreed to drop their lawsuit in exchange for Sterling dropping his case, allowing him to keep the team in Los Angeles and decreasing his fine to $6 million. 1984–1989: Move to Los Angeles, and early struggles In 1984, despite the pending lawsuits between franchise ownership and the NBA following the move, the Clippers began play at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The Clippers finished their first season in Los Angeles 31–51 under head coach Jim Lynam. The Clippers' early days in Los Angeles were marred with many seasons of hapless performances. Despite fielding a squad of talented veterans, the organization suffered systematic injuries to many of its star players. The phenomenon was dubbed the "Clipper Triangle" by some sports writers. Derek Smith suffered a knee injury during the 1985–86 season, followed by Norm Nixon (knee) and Marques Johnson (spinal cord) the following season. The team's 12–70 finish in the 1987 season was the second-worst single-season record in NBA history at the time (and