In 1989 the Clippers drafted Danny Ferry, who noped his way out of that bullshit and went to play in Italy for two years. Meanwhile, Cavs GM Wayne "Uncle Ruckus" Embry decided Ron Harper was too "urban" for Cleveland and traded him (along with two first-rounders) for the rights to Ferry.

My best friend thought adding Harper to the good players already on the Clippers (Danny Manning, Charles Smith etc.) would make them into a "contender". He didn't really know much about the Clippers' organization, though (which was an obvious clusterfuck even in the late '80s), so I bet him $1 that the Clippers were not going to make a successful playoff run (we agreed that "contender" meant making a successful playoff run, although we didn't rigidly define what a "successful playoff run" was, exactly - we have had 0 disputes over this matter as far as the Clips are concerned) and he took it.

He lost, of course, and to my eternal delight we have renewed this bet each year. It has been like playing paper-rock-scissors and winning every single time. So no, this isn't the year the Clippers break their streak. Of course it isn't. I'll bet you $1.