Fans will relive a scandalous time in the NBA in the upcoming FX show Clipped. The limited series will highlight a turning point within the Los Angeles Clippers organization when Doc Rivers was hired as the team’s head coach in 2013. Upon his arrival, he didn’t see eye-to-eye with the Clipper’s longtime owner at the time, Donald Sterling. The following year, Donald was heard on tape making racist remarks to his then-mistress, Vanessa Stiviano.
What Racist Remarks Did Former Los Angeles Clippers Owner Donald Sterling Say?
In 2014, TMZ released audio of a conversation between Donald and his mistress Vanessa. In the recording, the disgraced businessman gave Vanessa a hard time for posting Instagram photos with Black men.
“You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that … and not to bring them to my games,” Donald said in the audio.
Days after the audio was released, NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Donald from the league.
“Mr. Sterling may not attend any NBA games or practices. He may not be present at any Clippers facility. He may not participate in any business or player personnel decisions involving the team,” Adam said in a press conference. “He will also be barred from attending NBA Board of Governors meetings or participating in any other league activity.”
As for the sale of the Clippers, Adam ensured he would “urge the Board of Governors to exercise its authority to force the sale of the team.”
Donald filed a lawsuit against the NBA and didn’t want to sell the team after buying it in 1981. However, his then-estranged wife, Shelly Sterling, sold the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in August 2014 for $2 billion.
How Did Doc Rivers React to Donald Sterling’s Racist Remarks?
The audio of Donald’s conversation was released in the midst of the NBA championship playoffs, which the Clippers were playing in. During game 4, the team wore their warm-up uniforms inside out to send the message that they were not representing Donald.
In 2020, Doc recalled the moment he found out about the audio.
“Andy Roser comes to me and says that TMZ has a tape that they may release, and it’s not good. Honestly, I thought it was some sex tape. And I hate to say that, but I thought with Donald’s history, I thought somehow it was some demented sex tape,” he said in the Quibi documentary Blackballed. “Seth, our PR director, calls and says, ‘The tape is bad. It’s really bad, and it’s nothing to do with sex. It’s race-related.’ My head is spinning, we have a meeting in like two hours, I’m pissed … I didn’t even know what to feel. Like, am I going to go downstairs and talk about winning?”
When Does ‘Clipped’ Premiere on FX?
The first two episodes of the series will air on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. A new episode will drop each Tuesday to follow.
The final episode drops on Tuesday, July 2.
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