The day the Boston Celtics became the Buffalo Braves, now known as the Los Angeles Clippers

On July 8 in 1978, one of the weirdest chapters of the storied franchise’s history unfolded as the Celtics became the (then) Buffalo Braves (now, Los Angeles Clippers) and the Braves the Celtics.

Confused? You should be — it is perhaps the only time in the history of major North American professional sports that franchise owners swapped ownership of their respective franchises in a move that has largely been forgotten by fans, buried by the sands of time. Save when Los Angeles Lakers fans get angered by Boston fans suggesting the Lakers ought to eschew counting their titles from when the team was based in Minneapolis, anyway.

Boston’s owner at the time — Irv Levin — wanted to move to the west coast, but there was no way the NBA would approve a move for the Celtics to go there with him.

The Clips/Celtics charter swap goes back to the John Y. Brown 70's era when the then Buffalo Braves swapped with the Celtics ownership

— Duke (@csl_duke) December 11, 2013