‘Clipped’ shows how NBA’s Donald Sterling fouled out
Ed O’Neill has played characters that were not always easy to like whether it be the befuddled Al Bundy or the cantankerous Jay Pritchett on “Modern Life.” His latest role that fits that bill is pl… The FX series "Clipped" is set to launch on Hulu on June 4. The series is about the former owner of the LA Clippers, Donald Sterling, who faced the wrath of the NBA for his racist remarks. The FX series, which focuses on the collision between the dysfunctional basketball organization and an even less functional marriage that were both impacted by the recording. The production starts with noted cage coach Doc Rivers (Laurence Fishburne) arriving to take over the Clippers in 2013, but Sterling is the main obstacle. The show also includes a court-side power struggle between Sterling’s personal assistant V. Stiviano (Cleopatra Coleman) and his wife and business partner of 60 years, Shelly Weaver. The comedy of “Clipped” is said to be a production that examines the costs of living, working and trying to thrive under the power of a racist buffoon.
Pubblicato : 10 mesi fa di Rick Bentley in Sports
Ed O’Neill has played characters that were not always easy to like whether it be the befuddled Al Bundy or the cantankerous Jay Pritchett on “Modern Life.” His latest role that fits that bill is playing Donald Sterling, the former owner of the LA Clippers, who felt the wrath of the NBA for his racist remarks. That is shown in the FX series “Clipped” set to launch June 4 on the streaming service Hulu.
Some actors would try to find a small spark of humanity for the role, but O’Neill doesn’t find that necessary.
“I don’t think about that. Basically, I responded to the script and Gina’s [Welch] writing,” O’Neill says. “I think I found everything I needed in the script, in the story. I go one scene at a time.”
O’Neill was living in Los Angeles when he and the world learned the racist remarks by Sterling were captured on tape. The limited series charts the collision between the dysfunctional basketball organization and an even less functional marriage that were both impacted by the recording.
The production starts with noted cage coach Doc Rivers (Laurence Fishburne) arriving to take over the Clippers in 2013. With a promising roster of big personalities, Rivers has the building blocks to win the franchise’s first championship. His biggest obstacle is Sterling who is a well-known erratic bully.
Meanwhile, a courtside power struggle escalates between Sterling’s ambitious personal assistant V. Stiviano (Cleopatra Coleman) and his wife and business partner of 60 years, Shelly (Jacki Weaver).
Sterling’s end with the NBA was triggered when TMZ published a recording of him urging his assistant to stop posting pictures of herself on social media with famous Black men. On the recording, Sterling is heard saying, “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with Black people.”
Welch, who is also an executive producer, describes “Clipped” as being a production that examines the costs of living, working and trying to thrive under the power of “a racist incompetent buffoon who’s abusing the power.”
“I think that the absurdity and the humor in the show, that sort of essential part of the tone of the show, really grew out of the ridiculousness of the power structures that the show was about,” Welch says. “It is ridiculous this sort of a made-up idea that Donald Sterling is superior to Doc Rivers and yet, the power structures enforce that hierarchy.
“And so, to me, the comedy of the show is sort of laughing at how kind of illogical and sort of fantastical these power structures are.”
What O’Neill gathered was Sterling was a product of some racism himself as a young man and believes that impacted him negatively. O’Neill doesn’t see that as an excuse but as a foundation for playing the role.
Just like O’Neill, Fishburne took all his cues to playing Rivers from the scripts written by Welch.
“When I got the first six scripts from Gina, her approach to both the racism and the sexism in the culture of the Clippers was absolutely respectful, it was honest, it was fearless,” Fishburne says. “And it’s one of the reasons that I wanted to do this show anyway is because it’s very rare when you run across material where people are willing to deal with issues like racism and sexism in an honest and frank way. And these scripts really did that.”
Fishburne was also able to call on a personal experience to help him play Rovers. They had met years before the plans started to make the series when Fishburne hosted a small Labor Day gathering at his home.
One of the other guests was a sports fanatic and Fishburne enjoyed listening to the pair talking about sports. Observing them filled in the last elements for playing the role.
The limited series also stars J. Alphonse Nicholson as Chris Paul, Kelly AuCoin as Sterling’s right-hand Andy Roeser, Rich Sommers as the Clippers’ PR man Seth Burton, Corbin Bernsen as Pierce O’Donnell, Clifton Davis as NBA great Elgin Baylor and Harriet Sansom Harris as Justine.
They help tell the story of one of the darkest moments in NBA history. Welch isn’t worried about a negative reaction from the NBA because the way the league dealt with the issue ended up being a major turning point. Part of her lack of concern comes from how the NBA allowed the production company to use team logos.
Welch adds,” We did extensive research on all of these players, we are all fans of them. I think that to the extent that there is a sort of conflict between the characters, that is part of the centerpiece of the storyline in the first episode.
“The purpose of that storytelling is really to show the condition of the team when Doc shows up to coach, that there’s a downstream effect from this toxic ownership that is affecting the teammates’ ability to really support each other.”
Temi: Basketball, NBA