FX CLIPPED
(Disney+)

FX’s Clipped 🏀

From the production company that brought us Sons of Anarchy, Shōgun, and The Bear comes a sports drama miniseries that tackles the real-life story of the 2014 LA Clippers NBA team and the infamous case against their former owner, Donald Sterling.

The series pulls from ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast, The Sterling Affairs, which was reported by Ramona Shelbourne, dramatizing how those events unfolded behind the scenes from the perspective of Sterling’s wife, the Clippers players, Sterling’s infamous “assistant,”  and head coach Doc Rivers (Laurence Fishburne).

I’m a diehard basketball fan who consumes NBA gossip more than I’d like to admit, so I can remember how consequential these events were not only to the NBA Playoffs, where the Clippers were serious contenders, but also how monumental the decisions being made during that time felt culturally.

Clipped does a tremendous job of showing how heavy the burden of those decisions were during that time for the players and coaching staff, while doubling down on the incorrigible nature of an insanely oblivious owner.

After an investigation by the NBA, Sterling was fined $2.5 million, forced to sell his team, and banned from the NBA for life after his racist tirades were leaked to the public by his assistant, or “right hand arm man” and “silly rabbit” (her words, not mine)—V. Stiviano.

Stiviano is an integral part of this story, playing out the cliche sugar-daddy-seeking arm piece but also having some moments where you begin to realize why she was motivated to do what she did.

Shelly Sterling, on the other hand, Donald’s wife, is probably the one story in the series I could have gone without. There’s a great quote in the show that goes, “Some people are afraid that when people get more, they’ll have less,” and I felt like Shelly annoyingly personified that. It fit into the large overarching plot of the story, but I just got tired of the repetitive qualms she had in regards to issues that had been staring her in the face for the entire duration of their relationship.

What surprised me the most is how they were able to intertwine what Doc Rivers went through as a player for the Clippers organization during the ‘92 LA Riots with what was going on with his team in 2014.

It was such a thoughtful way of providing this story with a real-life, full-circle moment.

Speaking of moments, this is a random aside, but I had to note my favourite lines from the series, and if you watch enough basketball, this will make you crack up too, which is when Doc tells Chris Paul off by saying, “You keep bitching with your little State Farm moustache.” Even typing that out has me chuckling.

Another piece I thought the showrunners nailed was the characterization of the players on the team.

Chris Paul being the arrogant self-proclaimed leader, Blake Griffin delivering on the pompous star persona he had developed, and even Matt Barnes just scowling the entire time. It was damn near perfect and showed how the LA Clippers went from being one of the most beloved teams on the rise to damn near insufferable.

As the show says, “Some teams sell success; the Clippers sell hope.” and by the end, they had neither.

Clipped is a worthy retelling of a real-life sports scandal that is rightfully given the time it deserves to remind us of the human experience behind the tabloid headlines.

Enjoy!

8.1/10 🍿 🎥

Runtime: 50mins
Episodes: 6
Where: Streaming Tuesdays on Disney+

CLIPPED Review (2024) The Richmond Reviewer - June 21st, 2024.

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