Laurence Fishburne, who stars as Glen ‘Doc’ Rivers in the FX series Clipped, had no idea who the former Los Angeles Clippers head coach was before he was cast to play him.
Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday, Fishburne revealed his genuine reaction to being offered the role of Rivers in the docuseries — he had never heard of him.
“I had no idea who Doc Rivers was,” says Fishburne. “I told you, I’m not a sports fan.”
Baffled by the notion that Fishburne had no idea who Rivers was until some short time ago, Patrick asked the award-winning actor if having no idea who Rivers was played to his advantage.
“Of course it is; it’s totally easier,” he said. “I have no preconceived notion; I brought no preconceived idea about who the man was to it. Had no opinion about anything because I didn’t know anything about his history.”
Having mutual friends with Rivers, now the Milwaukee Bucks’ head coach, Fishburne managed to get his phone number. After a brief chat, Fishburne invited Rivers to a Labor Day party, presumably last September, as the latter prepared for his short stint at ESPN. There, alongside his friend Wynton Marsalis, they found themselves immediately engaged in a debate about the recently deceased Celtics legend, Bill Russell, and his place among the basketball greats.
“I got to watch these two debate for two hours about the great Bill Russell,” said Fishburne. “So, you can imagine, it was very passionate, it was very intelligent, and it was very in-depth because they were talking about specific games and moments in games. So, through that experience, I was really able to observe Doc being his very, very natural self without any of the constraints of his position as a coach during this whole thing that happened with the Clippers.”
Rivers’ son Austin has been particularly vocal about his criticism of the casting in Clipped, which covers the 2014 scandal that ousted Donald Sterling from Los Angeles Clippers ownership. He took issue with the portrayal of his father, including comments on Fishburne’s physical resemblance.
While that may be a fair point, and despite not initially knowing Doc Rivers, Fishburne has dedicated himself to researching and portraying the coach’s signature raspy voice and leadership style.
