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20 Years of ‘Love & Basketball’ Gave Us a Blueprint for Female Success
The iconic film turned the Hollywood damsel in distress trope on its head
I didn’t play team basketball when I was growing up, but not because I didn’t try. I snuck out the house and secretly hooped because my mom, just like Monica’s mom in Love & Basketball, wasn’t too keen on me playing sports. Still, that didn’t stop me. When I didn’t make my high school girls’ basketball team in Chicago, I became one of the three female managers of that team. Because of that, I sort of knew the ball side of Gina Prince-Bythewood’s groundbreaking film Love & Basketball.
The film was released in the late spring 2000, just before the summer tentpoles. It starred Sanaa Lathan as Monica and Omar Epps as Quincy, or Q, two best friends — and later, lovers — who aspired to become pro basketball players. I am sure it was the only film to star a Black female athlete and be written and directed by a Black woman. Even now, that’s a feat. The film, cosigned by Spike Lee who served as a producer, cost only $8 million to make but earned $27 million worldwide. It was considered a Black success. It was also one of those films that defined a generation. But, for me, it felt more personal.
Love & Basketball is so much more than just a classic film… it’s a glimpse into my own life trying to find a work-love balance even half as good as that dope-ass soundtrack.
As a girl who has no sisters and not many female cousins, I related to the character of Monica because I too grew up playing ball with the boys. Not just basketball, but a lot of baseball and softball too. In my South Side Chicago neighborhood, when only the boys played baseball, for instance, I would serve as umpire. Sometimes the guys, not from my block, would question my calls, mainly the strikes, because I was a girl. But my guys, the dudes I grew up with, they held me down. They let the other guys know that what I said was good and their support felt great. So, when I finally saw Love & Basketball, I understood Q and Monica’s dynamic — minus the romance part.
