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'Clipped' dramatizes the 2014 leak of former L.A. Clippers owner's racist comments
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Ten years ago, the NBA issued a lifetime ban from basketball to LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling after his racist remarks were leaked to the press. A new FX limited series called "Clipped" tells the story behind that fallout. And, says NPR TV critic Eric Deggans, the show is also a tale of race, striving and the inevitability of compromise.
ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: As "Clipped" opens, a boisterous Laurence Fishburne is playing Coach Doc Rivers, a former NBA All-Star arriving in Los Angeles in 2013. He hopes to lead the team he once played for to a championship, but the complacency of some long-tenured staffers is a problem.
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LAURENCE FISHBURNE: (As Doc Rivers) The Clippers have never won a championship. How many times you made it the second round of the playoffs - just the second round?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Two.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) About twice.
FISHBURNE: (As Doc Rivers) That's crazy. No offense, but you guys are the worst organization in sports.
DEGGANS: Turns out, that's not Rivers' biggest challenge. His real problem is erratic owner Donald Sterling, played as an irascible crank by "Modern Family" alum Ed O'Neill. Sterling is a real estate mogul who treats the team and its players like his personal playthings. He ties up business meetings with stream of consciousness ramblings over the phone.
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ED O'NEILL: (As Donald Sterling, singing) God shed his grace on thee.
FISHBURNE: (As Doc Rivers) How long does he usually go on?
O'NEILL: (As Donald Sterling) That's what this country's all about.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Like 20 minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character) Sometimes an hour.
CLEOPATRA COLEMAN: (As V. Stiviano) Sometimes all day.
DEGGANS: And it gets worse when Sterling's in person. He barges into the locker room after a game, mistakenly suggesting that star Blake Griffin, whose mother is white and father's Afro Haitian, is actually Latina.
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O'NEILL: (As Donald Sterling) Look at this guy. Look at this mug on this guy. This could be the next Antonio Banderas.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As character) Antonio Banderas?
FISHBURNE: (As Doc Rivers) He thinks Blake's Latino.
DEGGANS: But "Clipped" really takes off when a recording of the owner's racist comments are made public by gossip site TMZ. Sterling argues with his assistant, who often acted like his girlfriend, urging her to stop posting pictures socializing with Black people.
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O'NEILL: (As Donald Sterling) You're supposed to be a delicate white or delicate Latina girl.
COLEMAN: (As V. Stiviano) I am a mixed girl, and you're in love with me. I'm Black and Mexican, whether you like it or not, and you want me to have hate towards Black people.
O'NEILL: (As Donald Sterling) I don't want you to have hate. That's what people - they turn things around. I want you to love them privately.
DEGGANS: Suddenly, everyone connected with Sterling and the team must decide how to react, and their decisions speak to the power of money and privilege in society. The series' secret weapon is Australian actress Jacki Weaver, who provides a layered performance as Sterling's wife of 60 years, Shelly. At first, she appears good-natured and long-suffering, struggling to handle her husband's dalliances before revealing she has more power than many realize.
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JACKI WEAVER: (As Shelly Sterling) We bought the Clippers together. Every property we acquired, we got together, but it's Donald's first name on all of our buildings. It's Donald they call the owner of our team.
DEGGANS: But it's Coach Rivers' story which captures the thorny issues the mostly Black team faced. They're torn between playing for a championship or ending their chances by expressing their rage and boycotting the team. The coach's friend and confidant in all this is LeVar Burton, playing himself. He tells Rivers how tough it is for famous Black men to express rage and why he keeps the chains from his role in "Roots" on display in his house.
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LEVAR BURTON: (As LeVar Burton) I keep my chains on the wall in the living room. I want my guests to know while I am unquestionably their friend, I am also absolutely filled with rage.
DEGGANS: Moments like this elevate "Clipped's" story, though its ultimate message about the ubiquity of compromise and the enduring power of wealth might be a bit tough to swallow. I'm Eric Deggans.
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