Love & Basketball (2000)

Love and Death (1975), Love & Money (1982), Love and Other Catastrophes (1996), Love & Other Drugs (2010), Love and Hip Hop Sex Tape (2014), Love & Friendship (2016), Love and Monsters (2020), and Love & Murder: Atlanta Playboy (2023). If the titles of these movies prove anything, it’s that love can be paired with a lot of things. This is especially true when it comes to Love & Basketball (2000). Gina Prince-Bythewood’s romantic sports pic follows the relationship between young Monica (Kyla Pratt) and young Quincy (Glenndon Chatman), and adult Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and adult Quincy (Omar Epps). Divided into four quarters, the R-rated flick relays the various stages of love as it bounces from 1981 and 1988 to 1993 and the 21st century. Whether playing ball at Crenshaw High School, the University of Southern California, or professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers and the WNBA, Quincy and Monica continually court each other for a high stakes game of one-on-one. As such, we get to see Ms. Lathan’s bare breast as her man goes for a slam-dunk in the sack. And yes, she’s wearing a pearl necklace during the skintastic act! Perhaps that’s why the film scored at both the box office and in spank banks. The movie also includes Alfre Woodard, Debbi Morgan, Gabrielle Union, Regina Hall, and supermodel Tyra Banks. No wonder why it picked up six Black Reel Awards and two NAACP Image Awards. If that’s not impressive enough, it gave Mr. Skin a statuette in his pants!