The year is 2014. Serena Williams won her 18th Grand Slam, LeBron James returned home to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup. But the sports world was shaken to its core when a recording was leaked of Donald Sterling, the former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers making racist comments to his then-assistant V. Stiviano. The leak forced the NBA and its fans to confront racial tensions that have been lying under the surface of the NBA for years. Now 10 years later, FX’s limited series “Clipped” profiles how the lives of V. Stiviano, Doc Rivers, Shelly Sterling, Donald Sterling, and the rest of the Clippers organization had to reconcile with the consequences of the inaction of one of the most dysfunctional franchises in sports.
Viewers are transported into the Clippers’ locker room to witness the portrayals of the difficult conversations the players had to make when the Sterling tape was leaked. In an interview with the Hoopsology Podcast, J. Alphonse Nicholson who plays Chris Paul stated he knew the story had many uncomfortable moments but he felt the series was able to add lighter moments to the story.
“There’s a thin line, you know that you play with it. And I think we were able to kind of jump to both sides. So it’s like, hey, we’ll make you laugh. But yeah, we’ll make you cry and think a lot as well,” Nicholson said.
“Clipped” is based on the 30 for 30 podcast, “The Sterling Affairs” which is hosted by ESPN senior writer Ramona Shelburne. The critically acclaimed podcast received much interest in adapting it into a scripted television series. After vetting a variety of different writers, the responsibility to bring the story to life fell to Gina Welch who became, the showrunner, executive producer, and writer of several episodes.
While talking to the Hoopsology Podcast, Shelburne explained how being heavily involved in the creation of “Sterling Affairs” created anticipation to see her podcast come to life via a narrative told on television.
“It was kind of fun to sit back and just, you know, do what they needed me to do as a producer on this and as a consultant, but also just kind of let them do their Hollywood magic,” Shelburne stated.
