''Love & Basketball'' is a 2000 American romantic

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film written and directed by

Gina Prince-Bythewood Gina Maria Prince-Bythewood (born June 10, 1969) is an American film director and screenwriter. She is known for directing the films ''Love & Basketball'' (2000), ''Disappearing Acts'' (2000), '' The Secret Life of Bees'' (2008), ''Beyond the Lig ...

in her feature film directorial debut. The film is produced by

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

and Sam Kit and stars

Sanaa Lathan Sanaa McCoy Lathan (born September 19, 1971) is an American actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. Her career began after she appeared in the shows In the House (TV series), ''In the House'', ''Famil ...

and

Omar Epps Omar Hashim Epps (born July 20, 1973) is an American actor, rapper, and producer. He has been awarded nine NAACP Image Awards, two Teen Choice Awards, one MTV Movie Award, one Black Reel Award, and one Screen Actors Guild Award. Epps's film role ...

. It tells the story of Quincy McCall (Epps) and Monica Wright (Lathan), two next-door neighbors in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, who are pursuing their respective

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

careers before eventually falling for each other. ''Love & Basketball'' was released on April 21, 2000 in the United States. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed at the performances of Lathan and Epps, Prince-Bythewood's direction and script, and the emotional weight of the film. Nevertheless, it grossed $27.7 million worldwide on a production budget of $14–20 million. Over the years, the film has developed a dedicated following, cementing its place in

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

, and establishing itself as a

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

Plot

Since childhood, Monica Wright and Quincy McCall have wanted to be professional basketball stars. However, as a girl, Monica has to work hard to establish herself, while as a boy, Quincy's natural star potential is recognized and encouraged early on. As the two struggle to reach their goals of playing professionally, they must also deal with their emotions for each other. The first quarter of the story takes place in 1981, when Monica's family moved to

from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, moving into the house next door to Quincy's. Quincy's father Zeke is the star shooting guard for the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

. Quincy and Monica are drawn to each other instantly, sharing a love of basketball. Quincy is shocked that a girl could ever love basketball as much as he did, and he is even more shocked when Monica beats him during their first ever game of one on one. He angrily knocks her down during game point, and accidentally cuts her face. Their mothers intervene and soon Quincy and Monica have made up. Monica proves tougher than Quincy ever could've imagined in another person, and he draws closer to her, asking her to be his girlfriend. Monica accepts and they share their first kiss, but it isn't long before they insult each other and are rolling around on the grass fighting, with Monica clearly winning. The second quarter of the story begins in 1988, when Monica and Quincy are the respective leaders of the

Crenshaw High School Crenshaw High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located on 11th Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The school first opened in 1968 and currently enrolls arou ...

men's and women's basketball teams. Scouts have taken clear notice of Quincy, who many see as one of the top prospects in the country. He is extremely popular with the other students, could have any girl in school that he wanted to, and dates one of the prettiest girls in school, but is still good friends and neighbors with Monica. Monica, on the other hand, struggles with her fiery emotions on the court, often resulting in technical fouls at critical moments of games, damaging potential scouting opportunities such as UCLA. She also secretly still harbors feelings for Quincy, but struggles to express them as he is always surrounded by other girls. Monica also struggles with her mother, Camille, who pressures her to give up basketball and "act like a lady." Through soul searching, Monica learns to control her emotions and leads her team to the state championship game. When she and her team come up short, Monica is devastated. Monica begins to recover from the championship loss with the help of her older sister, Lena, who gives her a makeover. Lena even finds Monica a college friend to take her to her spring dance. Despite taking Shawnna Easton, Quincy notices Monica and compliments her appearance. Later that night, they both speak outside her window and reveal to each other how their dates didn't turn out as they'd hoped. Monica asks Quincy to open her letter from

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

; which reveals she has been accepted. Quincy has accepted an offer from USC as well, and they celebrate with a kiss. This leads to them finally acting on their feelings, making love that night. The third quarter begins during their freshman year at USC, Monica and Quincy are managing themselves as athletes, students, and a couple. While Quincy finds instant success on the court, Monica struggles for playing time behind senior guard Sidra O'Neal. Monica frequently has run-ins with her head coach Ellie Davis while her relationship in Quincy becomes more and more strained. Quincy struggles to deal with the media attention, while clashing against his father's efforts to convince Quincy to finish college before going pro. Monica finally earns the starting point guard spot at the end of the season. When Quincy discovers his father's infidelity he asks Monica to break her curfew to stay with him and she refuses. The next day Quincy blatantly cheats on Monica and makes sure she sees him, and the couple breaks up. The fourth quarter follows the plot to 1993, a few years before the establishment of the WNBA. Monica is playing professional basketball with an International Women's Basketball Association (IBWA) team in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Monica misses home, but can't imagine a life that doesn't include basketball. While Monica leads her team to a dominant victory in the championship game, she starts to realize that her love for basketball isn't the same as it was before. Having left USC after his freshman season, Quincy is now engaged and in his fifth year in the pros, trying to find a role with his new team, the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. He's had a difficult season, but finally finds some playing time when his coach subs him to replace

Nick Van Exel Nickey Maxwell Van Exel (born November 27, 1971) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Van Exel played for six NBA teams from 1 ...

. Immediately, Quincy bricks a three point shot, but makes up for it on the very next play with a showtime steal-dunk. But just as quickly as it seems he has turned his bad streak around, he suffers a devastating knee injury when he lands awkwardly after the play, tearing his ACL. His family rushes to the hospital to be with him, but his now divorced parents still have friction when they see each other. Monica hears about Quincy's injury, and flies home to see him. While visiting Quincy in the hospital, she learns that he is engaged to be married when his fiancée visits his room. Monica has returned home and also falls into the usual squabbles with her mother Camille over old resentments. Camille tells Monica that she had to give up her own dreams after having children and she resents Monica for not appreciating the sacrifices she made for her family. Monica counter-argues that Camille never made her feel loved and accepted, because she kept trying to force her to give up her goals for a stereotypical "woman's role" in life that she didn't want. Quincy completes physical therapy, while his wedding draws closer. Monica has quit basketball to work at a bank. Seeing how unhappy Monica is, Camille encourages her to fight for her career and the man she loves. Quincy and Monica meet and reminisce before Monica challenges him to a game of one-on-one, with high stakes; if he loses, he calls off the wedding and chooses Monica. Quincy agrees and wins, but can no longer be apart from Monica and chooses her instead. By 1998, Monica is playing in the new WNBA (as part of the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

) with her husband Quincy and their toddler daughter cheering. In a

post-credits scene A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...

, Quincy and Monica's daughter is shown playing basketball at a playground.

Cast

Cast and crew adapted from

AllRovi RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publi ...

. *

as Monica Wright-McCall **

Kyla Pratt Kyla Amore Pratt (born September 16, 1986) is an American actress. She provided the voice of Penny Proud in the first animated series for Disney Channel called ''The Proud Family'', and Breanna Latrice Barnes in UPN's '' One on One''. After play ...

as young Monica *

as Quincy McCall ** Glenndon Chatman as young Quincy *

Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard (; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards (tying the record for the most acting Emmys won by an African-American performer, along with Regina King), ...

as Camille Wright, Monica's mom *

Dennis Haysbert Dennis Dexter Haysbert (born June 2, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the '' Major League'' film trilogy, Secret Service agent Tim Collin in the political thriller film '' Absolute Power'' ...

as Zeke McCall, Quincy's father *

Debbi Morgan Deborah Ann Morgan (born September 20, 1956) is an American film and television actress. She played the role of Angie Baxter–Hubbard on the ABC soap opera ''All My Children'' for which she was the first African-American to win the Daytime Emm ...

as Nona McCall, Quincy's mother *

Harry J. Lennix Harry Joseph Lennix III (born November 16, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Terrence "Dresser" Williams in the Robert Townsend (actor), Robert Townsend film ''The Five Heartbeats'' (1991) and as List of Dollhouse characte ...

as Nathan Wright, Monica's father *

Boris Kodjoe Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe (; born March 8, 1973) is a German actor, producer, and former model best known for his roles as Kelby in the 2002 film ''Brown Sugar'', the sports-courier agent Damon Carter on the Showtime drama ser ...

as Jason *

Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films ''She's All That' ...

as Shawnee *

Monica Calhoun Monica Calhoun (born July 29, 1971) is an American film and television actress. Calhoun is best known for her roles in the films ''Bagdad Cafe'', ''The Players Club'', '' The Salon'', '' The Best Man'', and its sequel ''The Best Man Holiday''. Ca ...

as Kerry *

Regina Hall Regina Lee Hall (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her role as Brenda Meeks in the comedy horror ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has since appeared in the television series '' Ally McBeal' ...

as Lena Wright, Monica's sister ** Naykia Harris as young Lena * Erika Ringor as Sidra O'Neal *

Christine Dunford Christine Dunford is an American actress from the Bronx, New York. Life and career Christine Dunford was born in the Bronx. She graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1979, the year that she played a featured role in the school's ...

as Coach Davis *

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...

as Kyra, Quincy's fiancée *

Al Foster Aloysius Tyrone Foster (born January 18, 1943) is an American jazz drummer. Foster's professional career began in the mid-60s, when he played and recorded with hard bop and swing musicians including Blue Mitchell and Illinois Jacquet. Foster pl ...

as Coach Hiserman

Soundtrack

''Love & Basketball'' is the soundtrack to the film, released April 18, 2000, on

Overbrook Entertainment Overbrook Entertainment is an American production company based in Culver City, California. It was founded by partners Will Smith and James Lassiter in 1998, around the same time production for ''Wild Wild West'' (1999) was started. The name "Ove ...

and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

. Production for the album came from several recording artists, including

Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group ...

Angie Stone Angela Laverne Brown (born December 18, 1961) known professionally as Angie Stone, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as member of the hip hop trio The Sequence. In the early 1990s ...

, Zapp, and

Steve "Silk" Hurley Steve W. "Silk" Hurley (born November 9, 1962), also known as J. M. Silk (for "Jack Master Silk"), is an American club DJ, house music producer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 1988, he had four top-10 singles on the US Dance chart, including the ...

. In the US, the album peaked at number 45 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 15 on

R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated Jan ...

. Stacia Proefrock of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album a three-of-five star review, saying, "Songs like

Meshell Ndegeocello Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (; born August 29, 1968), is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on so ...

's 'Fool of Me' help punctuate this story of childhood friends who love each other almost as much as they love the game of basketball. Other highlights of the soundtrack include songs from

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first ...

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...

, and

Rufus Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin ''rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include: Given name Politicians * Rufus Ada George (born 1940), Nigerian politician * Rufus Al ...

Production

In writing the semi-autobiographical film, Prince-Bythewood said her goal was "to do a black ''

When Harry Met Sally ''When Harry Met Sally...'' is a 1989 American romantic comedy-drama film written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner. It stars Billy Crystal as Harry and Meg Ryan as Sally. The story follows the title characters from the time they meet ...

''." She has credited executive producer

with being a big reason the film was able to get made with her directing her own script.

, who wound up playing Quincy's high school love interest, originally auditioned for the lead role of Monica. Prior to playing Monica,

had never played basketball. Unbeknownst to Prince-Bythewood, stars Lathan and

had started dating prior to the film's production. This was the second film to feature both Epps and

; prior to this, they played teammates on a fictitious version of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in the 1994 baseball movie ''

Major League II ''Major League II'' is a 1994 American sports comedy film and sequel to the 1989 film '' Major League'' and it is the second installment in the ''Major League'' film series. The film stars most of the same cast from the original, including Charl ...

''.

Reception

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 85% based on 113 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Confident directing and acting deliver an insightful look at young athletes." At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Film reviewer Lisa Schwarzbaum of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' gave ''Love & Basketball'' an A− review. She enjoyed how the film portrayed women's sports in general and says "The speed and wiliness of the game itself ensure that movies about men who shoot hoops are exciting, but the novelty of watching women bring their own physical grace to the contest is a turn-on." Rachel Deahl of

gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars. In her review she complimented Epps and Lathan on their performances, and said, "''Love & Basketball'' serves as a somber reminder of how few films exist (much less love stories, much less ones that focus on the female perspective) about multi-dimensional African-American characters outside the ghetto." Film critic Desson Howe of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''s Entertainment Guide wrote, "''Love and Basketball'' had moments of such tenderness and sophistication, complimented by such romantic dreaminess between lead performers Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan. First-time filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood's film joins such films as '' The Best Man'' and ''

The Wood ''The Wood'' is a 1999 American coming-of-age comedy drama film directed by Rick Famuyiwa and starring Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones and Taye Diggs. It was written by Famuyiwa and Todd Boyd. Plot Roland is getting married and is currently missing. ...

'', which look for the class, not the crass, in African American life." ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' film critic Jonathan Foreman gave the film a mixed review; he appreciated how the film "effectively conveys the excitement of basketball from a player's point of view", but says it's filled with fake-sounding dialogue you only find in the cheesiest TV movies."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, film critic of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', says "The film is not as taut as it could have been, but I prefer its emotional perception to the pumped-up sports clichés I was sort of expecting. It's about the pressures of being a star athlete; the whole life, not the game highlights. I'm not sure I quite believe the final shot, though. I think the girl suits up for the sequel." Ebert gave the film three out of four stars. Robert Wilonsky of the ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...

'' gave the film a negative review, saying, " tis a film built upon transitions so weak and obvious it's astonishing the entire thing doesn't collapse on itself. You want to root for it, as you would any rookie underdog, but it offers nothing to cheer for." He also elaborates on the acting, stating "Omar Epps possesses a chiseled body and a blank stare ..Lathan is only slightly better, but she's stuck in a hollow role."

Box office

''Love & Basketball'' was released in North America on April 21, 2000 to 1,237 theaters. It grossed $3,176,000 its first day and ending its North American weekend with $8,139,180, which was the second-highest grossing movie of the April 21–23, 2000 weekend, only behind '' U-571''. ''Love & Basketball'' grossed $27,459,615 in the United States, which is ninth all-time for a basketball film and thirty-seventh all-time for a sports drama. The film grossed $27,728,118 worldwide; $268,503 (1%) was grossed outside of the United States.

Home video

''Love & Basketball'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in the United States on after its theatrical release. It was released by

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on September 21, 2021.

Awards

;

BET Awards The BET Awards is an American award show that was established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which are presented annua ...

, - , 2001 , Sanaa Lathan , Best Actress , ;

Black Reel Awards The Black Reel Awards, or BRAs, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) to recognize excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the Afr ...

, - , rowspan="6" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, ''Love & Basketball'' , Best Film , , - , ''Love & Basketball'' , Best Film Poster , , - , ''Love & Basketball'' , Best Soundtrack , , - , Sanaa Lathan , Theatrical – Best Actress , , - , Gina Prince-Bythewood , Theatrical – Best Director , , - , "Fool of Me" (

) , Best Song , ;

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

, - , 2000 , ''Love & Basketball'' , Sundance Film Category , ;

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...

, - , rowspan="3" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, ''Love & Basketball'' , Best First Feature , , - , Gina Prince-Bythewood , Best First Screenplay , , - , Sanaa Lathan , Best Female Lead , ;

Key Art Awards The Clio Entertainment Awards (formerly the Key Art Awards) is an awards program by Clio that recognizes "excellence in marketing and communications" across the entertainment industry—i.e., the industries of film, television, live entertainment ...

, - , 2001 , D. Stevens , Best Drama Poster , ;

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

, - , rowspan="5" , 2001 , Film , Outstanding Motion Picture , , - , Omar Epps , Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture , , - , Sanaa Lathan , Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture , , - , Alfre Woodard , Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture , , - , Kyla Pratt , Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress ,

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Love and Basketball 2000 films 2000 romantic drama films 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks films American basketball films American coming-of-age films American independent films 2000 independent films Films about women's sports Films set in Los Angeles Films set in Barcelona Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in Barcelona Films about race and ethnicity Films directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood Films scored by Terence Blanchard Films set in 1981 Films set in 1988 Films set in 1989 Films set in 1993 Films set in 1998 New Line Cinema films African-American romantic drama films 2000 directorial debut films Films set in the 1980s Films set in the 1990s 2000s English-language films 2000s American films