Harold Lipton

{{short description|American lawyer and basketball team owner}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Harold Lipton

| image = Harold Lipton.png

| alt =

| caption = Harold Lipton, 1965

| birth_name = Harold Arlen Lipschitz

| birth_date = {{dob|1911|5|11}}

| birth_place = The Bronx, New York

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|12|30|1911|5|11}}

| death_place = Palm Springs, California

| other_names =

| occupation = Lawyer, businessman

| years_active =

| known_for =

| relatives = Peggy Lipton (daughter)
Rashida Jones (granddaughter)
Kidada Jones (granddaughter)

}}

Harold Arlen Lipton (born Lipschitz; May 18, 1911 – December 30, 1999) was an American lawyer and basketball executive. In the 1970s and 1980s, Lipton co-owned the Seattle SuperSonics, the San Diego Clippers, and the Boston Celtics with Irv Levin.{{cite news |title=Harold A. Lipton |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/161546916/?article=7402dcf6-c3f9-49a6-83a5-697843f5ff46&focus=0.51288724,0.34598053,0.6319809,0.52722293&xid=3355 |access-date=August 10, 2024 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=January 2, 2000 |page=42}}

Lipton was born in the Bronx, New York, to Belarusian Jewish immigrants Max Lipschitz, a hosier manufacturer from Slutsk, and Alice "Gussie" Goldfarb from Brest.New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794–1943 The family changed their surname to Lipton in the 1930s.

He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1934. He was general counsel and director of National General Corporation.

He married Rita Benson in 1941. He was the father of actress Peggy Lipton{{cite news |title=NBA Notes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/45836460/?match=1&terms=Harold%20Lipton%20celtic |access-date=August 10, 2024 |work=The Lowell Sun |date=March 24, 1977 |page=28}} and grandfather of actresses Rashida Jones and Kidada Jones.{{cite news |last1=Branch |first1=John |title=Clippers for Sale, and the Owner Who Was Desperate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/sports/basketball/clippers-for-sale-and-the-owner-who-was-desperate.html |access-date=August 11, 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=May 10, 2014}}