ESPN basketball analyst and former NBA player Austin Rivers — who is also the son of former Los Angeles Clippers coach and player Doc Rivers — isn’t exactly a fan of the casting decisions made for the Hulu series “Clipped.” In a video from his “Off Guard” podcast shared on Instagram Monday, Austin Rivers said the actor who played Warriors point guard Steph Curry is “like third baseman for the Padres.” He added, “Who the hell is that guy?”
The actors who played NBA stars Chris Paul and Klay Thompson didn’t impress Rivers, either. “That’s just ridiculous,” Rivers exclaimed. “There’s no effort in this.”
Of acting great Laurence Fishburne, who was cast as his father, Rivers offered, “First off, Laurence Fishburne is a legend, and he’s a great actor. The body of my father is just a little bit different. I’m not saying he’s 100% in shape, but he’s built a little different than Laurence Fishburne. We could’ve done a little AI or something there.”
Some fans agreed with Rivers’ take. One commented in what may be a bit of a shot, “This is the best thing austin rivers has ever done.” But others took the opportunity to openly disagree. A second person wrote, “The show is good. Nobody expected clones of the people involved. Just whining for content and clinging to whatever your daddy does.”
The FX series, which tells the story of Donald Sterling’s downfall after the release of an audio clip revealing racist remarks he made, debuted on Hulu on June 4. The scandal made headlines in 2014, after Sterling’s assistant and affair partner V. Stiviano leaked tape in which he laid into her after she posted a photo with Lakers legend Magic Johnson.
In the audio, Sterling said, “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with Black people. Do you have to? 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.”
In the same tape, he later told Stiviano, “I’m just saying that it’s too bad you can’t admire him privately, and during your entire f–king life – your whole life — admire him, bring him here, feed him, f–k him, I don’t care. You can do anything. But don’t put him on Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don’t bring him to my games. OK?”
The comments took the NBA by storm. Sterling ultimately sold the Clippers and was forced out of the league. But this was hardly the first time he had been accused of racism, and the comments weren’t exactly a surprise — in 2006, the Department of Justice sued Sterling for housing discrimination and alleged Sterling wouldn’t rent apartments he owned to Black or Hispanic people, or to people wo had children.
You can watch the clip from Austin Rivers’ podcast in the video above.
