Ten years ago, the NBA was growing.
That’s when a league known for its entertainment value featuring wealthy, internationally renowned athletes transformed into a collective, influential voice that led to the ouster of a franchise owner. compromised team and players understanding that they too had power.
Credit the enigmatic Donald Sterling for the revival. Already considered a misfit as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers for 33 years, real estate mogul Sterling became persona non grata when his personal assistant and mistress released audio recordings of him making racist comments that said in particular: “Don’t bring Black people to my games.
What followed was a scandal that has now been captured in a six-part Hulu series that premieres Tuesday. “Clipped” is a provocative account of a whirlwind four days that ultimately ended when the NBA forced Sterling to sell his team.
The underlying theme, however – beyond illuminating Sterling’s unscrupulous ways and attitudes, and the steadfast leadership of then-coach Doc Rivers – is that the unprecedented removal of an owner of the NBA was organized by the players in general and the Clippers in particular. This was the result of predominantly black players being so outraged that they spoke out in unison and vowed not to play in a postseason game. Until then, players were responsible for firing coaches – but this was different.
“For these NBA players, they have a platform and if they can express themselves, they express themselves,” said Rembert Browne, who was the author of the series. Her article with Wesley Morris in the now-defunct Grantland.com at the time of the scandal inspired “Clipped” showrunner Gina Welch to create the series.
“But one of the most compelling things is watching the team figure out what to do,” Browne said. “There’s a little caveat in those moments when you’re caught between this triangle: not wanting to make white people uncomfortable, but feeling very empowered to speak up in your blackness – but also not wanting to risking the stability of your company. your professional situation. This can be difficult.
It turned out that Sterling’s ouster was “the beginning of the player empowerment movement,” Browne added. “Players started to realize that they had a lot more freedom in terms of contracts, where they play and everything else.”
Among the “other things” was taking a stand against Sterling and, later, other social justice issues. Renowned actor Laurence Fishburne plays Rivers, who was forced to lead his players and coach them as well, as pressure mounted and emotions ran high.
A poignant moment in the series comes when Sterling, played by Ed O’Neill, shouts at Rivers, “I’m your owner.” And Rivers responds, “I don’t belong to you.” »
This exchange fuels the series.
“There’s an element of this show that is sometimes reminiscent of what it’s like to be black in the workplace,” Browne said. “You think about keeping your job, but you also think about representing, and that happens to all of us at work. That’s ultimately what happened to these guys.
Sterling might still own the Clippers if V. Stiviano, who sat courtside with him at home games with his wife, Shelly Sterling, on the other side, hadn’t gotten mad at Shelly Sterling tried to push her away.
Stiviano, who made a habit of recording Sterling without his knowledge, shared an exchange with TMZ, and it was explosive.
Sterling said: “In your f***ing Instagram, you don’t have to walk with black people. It really bothers me that you want to promote, broadcast that you associate with black people. Do you have to?”
Finally, Stiviano asks Sterling, “Did you know you have a whole black team playing for you?”
He replies: “Do I know? I support them and give them food, clothes, cars and houses. Who gives it to them? Does anyone else give it to them? Who makes the game? Am I making the game, or are they making the game?
Four days after the tapes were released, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver forced Sterling to sell the team and pay a $5 million fine. At that time, players were scrambling behind the scenes to find their collective voice.
Actor J. Alphonso Nicholson plays Chris Paul, the leader of the Clippers at the time. Nicholson said it was during the scandal that Paul “went from being just a basketball player to being an advocate for basketball players and what they go through.” That’s when he found his place.
Paul later became president of the National Basketball Players Association for nine years and led the union’s collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the league. His role included expanding the league’s pension plan and providing health care for retired players. It also expanded its advocacy for social justice and identified actors who could be voices on social justice issues. In 2014, Paul was instrumental in hiring Michelle Roberts, a black woman, as executive director of the Players Association, the first woman to head a major sports union.
“That’s the kind of impact the event had,” Nicholson said.
Despite the strain of playing under Sterling after the tapes were released, the Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors in a playoff game, then continued with their plan, which was to take the floor at the start of Game 5 and then go. speech in protest. The Warriors were going to do the same.
“I was all in. Like I had stopped the whole season,” Andre Iguodala, a Golden State forward, told ESPN. “Maybe it was too far away, but as far as that game that day, you can reschedule it. You need to fix this because there are some deep-rooted issues with him that needed to be addressed.
Unlike “Winning Time,” the dynamic but often overzealous HBO series that documented the glamorous days of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s, “Clipped” stays closer to the real events — with a touch of creative license — Browne said . Rivers and former Clippers forward Matt Barnes, among others, worked as quasi-consultants on the series.
“We were adamant that a lot of the preparation and making of the show was research, like we had to make sure that we were actually getting you to an accurate representation of 2014,” Browne said.
Sterling’s fight against racism began the year before, when NBA players stood in solidarity following the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. To react to Sterling was to act.
Nicholson said the series’ impact would extend beyond entertainment.
“I want people to understand that there are many other owners of teams in the NFL and NBA, and especially teams with majority black players, who literally feel like they own ownership of those players “, did he declare. “Obviously we know that these players are not slaves and that they make a good living, but it’s the mentality that ends up traumatizing these gentlemen and women as well, I’m sure, or anyone who works in these front offices.
“So it’s not something that we don’t know, but the series is going to bring a lot more clarity to a situation that I think has happened not only in Los Angeles, but in other places as well.” , Nicholson said. “It’s simply the history of our country, and racism is deeply ingrained in our country, so we need to know how it affects us on every level.”
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