Omar Epps Sanaa Lathan Star in Movie `Love And Basketball'

Jet, May 8, 2000

Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan portray childhood best buddies who find that they must learn to balance their passion for each other and for the game of basketball when their friendship evolves into romance in the just-released, New Line Cinema movie, Love and Basketball.

Lathan is Monica Wright, a determined and aggressive young woman who aspires to become a professional basketball player, even if it means breaking new ground to become the first female to play for the NBA. Since she was a kid, Monica has lived and breathed basketball while tenaciously holding on to her dream of making it to the big time.

Epps is Quincy McCall, Monica's next-door neighbor and good buddy since childhood. Like Monica, Quincy also lives and breathes basketball and aspires to be an NBA star like his dad, Zeke McCall, played by Dennis Haysbert ("Now And Again" and Waiting To Exhale).

Monica and Quincy share a close bond that transforms into romance in high school and while attending the same college. As they find themselves having to deal with personal challenges as individuals and as a couple, Monica and Quincy are forced to realize that there's more to life than hitting the courts. They must go one-on-one with each other's hearts.

The movie also stars Alfre Woodard, who portrays Camille Wright, Monica's homemaker mother, who encourages her daughter to act more ladylike and to understand that there is life beyond basketball. Harry J. Lennix (Titus and Get On The Bus) portrays Nathan Wright, a banker who is Monica's father and Camille's husband.

Debbi Morgan (Eve's Bayou) plays Nona McCall, the mother of Quincy and frustrated wife of Zeke, who is at her wit's end with her husband's frequent, late night "meetings," which leave her feeling alone, unhappy and suspicious.

The movie, written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, also stars Kyla Pratt as the young Monica, Glenndon Chatman as the young Quincy, Tyra Banks, Regina Hall, Monica Calhoun, Terry Cummings, Erika Ringor and Shat Jackson. The romantic drama is produced by Spike Lee and Sam Kitt.

"It's a great stow about how you can have it all-your career and your passion and your love," says Lathan.

Epps also believes the movie's storyline is powerful and is especially pleased with the way his character changes.

"The film is very grounded in that respect," he says. "It's about learning and adapting-and about how nothing is going to happen exactly the way you want. For Quincy, it turns out that what really makes him happy is love."

Woodard, who was asked by Spike Lee, who directed her in Crooklyn, to read the script, agrees that the storyline is wonderful.

"I loved the way it moved and I loved what it was about," explains Woodard. "I was a jock growing up in Oklahoma, and one of the things I think is wonderful about sports for women, especially young girls, is that once you realize your physical strength, your quickness and your ability to reason on the move, nothing that society is saying to you can hold you back."

Haysbert admitted that at first he was not excited about bringing another philandering husband to the silver screen as he did in Waiting To Exhale, but he had a change of heart after reading the script.

"Then I saw the emphasis was going to be on the father-son relationship," reveals Haysbert. "That was something that was close to my heart."

Lathan, known for her role in the box-office smash The Best Man, had to learn the game in order to bring Monica to life on the court. WNBA Coach Colleen Matsuhara, one of the film's technical advisors, became Lathan's coach.

"I started playing with my brother and his friends. Then when I got to a level where I needed a coach, they got me a coach, and I was in training a few hours each day for four months. After a while, I started thinking, `Am I going to do a movie or try out for the WNBA?'"

Epps, who is no stranger to hooping and often played "park ball," also had to brush up on his game.

"I worked at it two hours for about two months. It's really about the practice that you do off the court, how you just get natural with the ball. But after being on the court, I don't want to play in the park anymore, because that's not basketball-it's about elbows and knees."

Director-screenwriter Prince-Bythewood, whose writing credits include "A Different World," "South Central," and "Felicity," wanted to make a movie about love and show that women do have what it takes to succeed in sports.

"There's been such a stigma attached to women's sports. It really wasn't until the WNBA and [last] year with the Women's World Cup Soccer Team that women were taken seriously," notes Prince-Bythewood. "Some people just don't think women can play ball. I wanted to put it out there that we can, and I used that as a backdrop for a love story about two people trying to achieve their dreams without losing each other."