by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
The Los Angeles Clippers are cursed. Being the little brother of the most prolific NBA franchise of the last 50 years will cast some negativity on you. But that isn’t even the worst thing about the Clippers. Being owned by Donald Sterling does not exactly build up any good karma. And that is coming from a Phoenix Suns fan; trust me, we had a trash owner for the entire “Seven Seconds or Less” era. I know I’m throwing out a lot of terminology and basketball references, but trust me when I say that Sterling is a dumpster fire of a person to play basketball for. There was a lot of good material for a TV show to play with regarding this story. But just like the Clippers, Clipped just quite doesn’t live up to its potential.
Back in 2014, the majority owner of the Los Angeles Clippers was Sterling (Ed O’Neill), and he was flanked by his longtime wife Shelly (Jacki Weaver). After acquiring semi-legendary coach, Doc Rivers (Laurence Fishburne), the team seems ready to contend for a championship. But everything gets flipped on its head when Donald’s assistant, V (Cleopatra Coleman), leaks a recording of him making some very racist remarks. Players are not sure if they should keep playing, the NBA steps in to require Sterling to sell the team, and V. finds herself facing attacks on every side.
Here is the truth: The Sterling’s scandal and sale of the Clippers is one of the most remarkable basketball stories of the 21st century. For such a long time, everyone in the NBA was aware that he was a racist slumlord who was more eccentric than a drunken sailor. So when the opportunity came around for the NBA to exorcise him from the league, they took the chance. It is an important story that could educate a lot of casual fans about how serious the situation was and how many players (no pun intended) there were involved in this event.
Perhaps the best strength of this show is how it balances all the sides of what’s happening. Living out River’s key phrase, Ubuntu, each side plot being as intriguing as possible makes us want to learn more about how the unfolding event played out. On one hand, we watch as V. is trying to use the notoriety of this event to create a career for herself. Donald and Shelly are trying to spin this story into something where they can still benefit, all while the players, coaches, and front office are fighting for their lives to stay above the fray of the news cycle. And great actors like O’Neill and Fishburne are able to carry the scenes they are in. O’Neill walks up to the line of pure insanity and jump stops right over it. You can tell he had an absolute blast filming this. Fishburne could lead me into a fire with his emulation of Rivers. He even makes a pretty good attempt at copying Rivers’ infamous smoker voice. But those two and Weaver are exactly the only positive casting decisions of this show.
The casting choices for Clippers players including Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, JJ Reddick, DeAndre Jordan, and Matt Barnes are absolutely abysmal. I understand that sometimes actors do not resemble real life figures as much as we might like, but I will be darned if you tell me these were the best possible choices. If you took the glasses off my face and stood me a hundred yards from these actors, I could tell you they look nothing like the real Lob City Clippers. Are they bad actors? Not at all, but it’s like that scene in Avatar: The Last Airbender when a little kid critiques real life Zuko for having his iconic scar on the wrong side of his face. When the players from this story are still very much in the public eye, it creates a terrible comparison that only exists to troll and meme the cast of this show to death. Do not even get me started on whoever they attempted to cast as Stephen Curry.
Look, the fact of the matter here is that the Celtics are the worst run franchise ever from 1992 to 2006. Just kidding, I only put that in here to see if our beloved editor, Robert, was still paying attention. (The Suns might not be the worst run now, but being stuck with Bradley Beal and no roster flexibility isn’t great!) Clipped is a well put together show that is destroyed by a meme culture that isn’t willing to see past some honestly poor casting choices. What makes it a shame is that the Los Angeles Lakers show, Winning Time, has some of the best player casting choices I have ever seen. Actors like Quincy Isaiah, Solomon Hughes, Adrien Brody, and Sean Patrick Small are perfect fits to play their respective NBA figures. It is rare that a show exists as the pure antithesis of another, but again, comparing the Lakers and the Clippers just makes Clipped even funnier.
Rating: Liked It
P.S. — If Robert caught that Celtics dig, I hope he throws a Suns burn back at me. That’ll keep it even.
Clipped is currently streaming on Hulu
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