The new Hulu/FX series Clipped chronicles the controversial fall from grace of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. As depicted in the first two episodes of the new series that is now streaming exclusively on Hulu, Sterling and his wife Rochelle or “Shelly” amassed a real estate empire in Los Angeles, which allowed them to purchase the NBA franchise in 1981. Donald and Shelly Sterling got married back in 1955 but as the series portrays, it was far from a perfect marriage. Sterling engaged in extra-marital affairs with a woman named Alexandra Castro even before V. Stiviano entered the picture.

Sterling had been good friends with Jerry Buss, the celebrated and larger-than-life owner of the “Showtime” Lakers, and was even depicted in the recent HBO original series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. The first two episodes of Clipped premiere exclusively on Hulu on June 4, 2024, with the remaining four episodes released weekly on Tuesdays until the series finale airs on July 2, 2024. The cast of Clipped is led by Ed O’Neill as Sterling, Jacki Weaver as Shelly, and Cleopatra Coleman as V. Stiviano. Clipped follows the 2013–14 NBA season during which newly acquired head coach Doc Rivers turned Sterling’s sinking franchise around.

Sterling Received A Lifetime Ban & Was Fined $2.5 Million By The NBA

Sterling sparked outrage across the NBA

As depicted in Clipped, V. Stiviano started to secretly record her conversations with Donald Sterling and had a variety of labeled voice memos stored on her personal phone. Sterling had given her many “gifts” including a brand new red Ferrari and a duplex in Los Angeles that was listed at $1.8 million. Stiviano has recorded Sterling’s disapproving reaction to her posting a photo on Instagram of her and former NBA star Magic Johnson. Sterling was heard on the recording saying to Stiviano, “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people.” This naturally sparked outrage across the NBA from players and executives.

After the tape was released, the NBA took swift action against Sterling and enforced a lifetime ban. They also gave him a financial penalty of $2.5 million, which is the maximum fine that the NBA is permitted to give. On the day that the recording was leaked, the Clippers were set to play the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. The players contemplated boycotting the game altogether but decided against it. They did, however, wear their warm-up attire inside out to cancel the Clippers logo. NBA legend LeBron James made a public statement that, “There’s no room for Donald Sterling in the NBA.”

Shelly Sterling Sold The Clippers To Steve Ballmer For $2 Billion

Donald avoided having the issue go to a vote among other NBA owners

Donald Sterling was unwilling to sell the Clippers even after the tape was released and essentially the entire NBA called for his removal. Even the lifetime ban wasn’t enough to convince Stelring to play ball, which forced Shelly, who was a co-owner of the team with him, to take matters into her own hands. Under the lifetime ban, Sterling was prohibited from even entering the Clippers arena. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made it clear that if Sterling did not willingly sell the Clippers, the issue would have to go to a vote with the other 29 NBA owners. Silver would have needed 22 of the owners to vote on Sterling’s removal.

Sterling boldly spoke with Anderson Cooper on CNN to issue an apology and to attempt to demonstrate that he was not a racist. This only angered Silver further, who then set a date for the hearing between NBA owners to vote on the removal of Sterling on June 3, 2014. Before that could happen, however, Donald finally permitted Shelly to start negotiating the sale of the team and eventually sold it to the Clippers’ current owner Steve Blamer for $2 billion. As of June 2024, the Clippers franchise is worth an estimated $4.5–5 billion.

Sterling Unsuccessfully Sued Shelly, Adam Silver & The NBA For Damages

Sterling claimed he did not authorize Shelly to sell the team

Even after the sale of the Clippers to Blamer, Sterling was far from finished. He sued Shelly, Adam Silver, and the NBA for damages, claiming that he had never given Shelly authorization to sell the team in the first place. Sterling, a former attorney, alleged that Shelly, Adam Silver, and the NBA worked together to defraud him in order to complete the sale of the Clippers to Blamer. While he did everything in his power to try and prevent the sale from happening, Shelly was able to complete the deal with Ballmer on August 12, 2014, placing Sterling officially out of the NBA for good.

A judge eventually dismissed Sterling’s lawsuit against Shelly, Adam Silver, and the NBA in 2016. Under the new ownership of Balmer, Doc Rivers would stay on as head coach until 2020, leading the Clippers to the NBA playoffs in three out of his seven seasons. While the V. Stiviano controversy was undoubtedly the biggest of his career, Sterling has already had a history that was speckled with foul play. In 1982, he was fined heavily for making a comment that implied he would be willing to intentionally tank his team in order to secure a high draft pick. Today, at age 90, Sterling’s net worth is estimated to be about $4 billion.

Sterling’s Son Scott Died Of An Accidental Overdose In 2012

It’s unclear in the series how that might have affected Sterling

The marriage of Donald and Shelly Sterling nearly ended on several occasions even before the V. Stiviano controversy and the forced selling of the team. Sterling filed for divorce from Shelly in 2015 but eventually rescinded the motion, with sources saying that the two apparently reconciled their differences. Sterling cut off all contact with V. Stiviano following the controversy, who has reportedly been living a quiet life out of the public eye.

One key detail that had not been addressed in the first two episodes of Clipped was the tragic passing of Donald and Shelly’s son, Scott, who died at the age of 32 from an accidental overdose on New Year’s Eve in 2012. It’s uncertain how Scott’s death may have affected Sterling based on his characterization in the series alone, as the focus tends to be more on V. Stiviano’s obsession with fame and the aftermath of the leaked tape controversy. It was reported that Sterling was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease back in 2014 as well, but there have been no public updates since.