The 1979–80 NBA season was the Clippers' 10th season in the NBA and their 2nd season in the city of San Diego.
Draft picks
Roster
{ | class="toccolours" style="font-size: 95%; width: 100%;" |- ! colspan="2" style="background-color: #87CEEB; color: #FF8C00; text-align: center;" | San Diego Clippers roster |- style="background-color: #FF8C00; color: #87CEEB; text-align: center;" ! Players !! Coaches |- | valign="top" | { | class="sortable" style="background:transparent; margin:0px; width:100%;" ! Pos. !! # !! Nat. !! Name !! Ht. !! Wt. !! From |-
Roster Notes
This is Marvin Barnes' second tour of duty with the franchise. He previously played for the Buffalo Braves back in 1977-1978.
Regular season
Game log
|- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 1 || October 12 || Lakers || L 102–103 || Lloyd Free (46) || Nick Weatherspoon (9)|| Lloyd Free (5) || San Diego Sports Arena 8,503 || 0–1 || |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" | 2 || October 14 || SuperSonics || W 98–93 || Lloyd Free (35) || Swen Nater (16)|| Tied (4) || San Diego Sports Arena 7,242 || 1–1 || |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 3 || October 16 || @ Trail Blazers || L 94–98|| Lloyd Free (24) || Swen Nater (16)|| Lloyd Free (4) || Memorial Coliseum 12,666 || 1–2 || |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" | 4 || October 18 || Bulls || W 111–107 || Lloyd Free (32) || Swen Nater (14) || Brian Taylor (7) || San Diego Sports Arena 6,844 || 2–2 || |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 5 || October 19 || @ SuperSonics || L 98–106 || Lloyd Free (41) || Swen Nater (18)|| Tied (4) || Kingdome 16,614 || 2–3 || |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 6 || October 22 || @ Jazz || L 109–110 || Lloyd Free (33) || Swen Nater (13)|| World B. Free (4) || Salt Palace 6,122 || 2–4 || |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" | 7 || October 23 || Nuggets || W 132–127 || Lloyd Free (32) || Swen Nater (12)|| Tied (7) || San Diego Sports Arena 6,660 || 3–4 || |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 8 || October 25 || Bucks || L 115–118 || Lloyd Free (30) || Swen Nater (15)|| Tied (5) || San Diego Sports Arena 6,617 || 3–5 || |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" | 9 || October 27 || SuperSonics || W 110–105 || Lloyd Free (33) || Nick Weatherspoon (9)|| Lloyd Free (9) || San Diego Sports Arena 7,224 || 4–5 || |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 10 || October 28 || Kings || L 101–106 || Joe Bryant (23) || Swen Nater (13)|| Lloyd Free (5) || San Diego Sports Arena 7,081 || 4–6 || |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 11 || October 31|| Spurs || L 123–130 || Lloyd Free (35) || Swen Nater (21)|| Lloyd Free (6) || San Diego Sports Arena 7,044 || 4–7 || |-