‘Clipped’ revisits Donald Sterling racism scandal that rocked LA Clippers, entire NBA

LOS ANGELES — A new limited-series on FX will take a look at former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and the scandal that led to his expulsion from the NBA.

“Clipped” stars Ed O’Neill as Sterling and Laurence Fishburne as Doc Rivers, who took over as Clippers coach in 2013 right before the scandal that forced Sterling to sell the team.

“You don’t run into guys like that every day,” said O’Neill, referring to the controversial Sterling. “I was very hesitant about saying yes.”

The series goes back 10 years and takes a long look at Sterling’s catastrophic, racist implosion, the near-collapse of his marriage and the headline-making ouster from the team he owned for more than 30 years.

“I was not surprised to hear that the owner of a sports team made some racial remarks,” said Fishburne, harking back to the days of the scandal.

Fishburne described Rivers as a man trying to win an NBA championship while navigating a turbulent sea of racism, sexism and white privilege.

“(He’s) a coach who’s trying to contain it all and just create a situation where his players can play the best they can, be the best team, be the best teammates and the best men that they can be,” he said.

Sterling’s reign over the Clippers came to an ugly end in 2014 when audio of him making racist comments hit the media. That audio was recorded by his mistress, V. Stiviano, played by Cleopatra Coleman.

“It’s such a thoughtful commentary on a lot of major themes in society like racism and misogyny and infidelity, all of it,” Coleman told Eyewitness News.

“Clipped” debuts on FX June 4.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of FX, Hulu and this station.