4 out of 5 stars

“Love & Basketball” is a very popular sports movie, especially for basketball lovers. As the season for basketball approaches, this is the perfect movie to kick off the season and help satisfy the basketball fever.

Director and writer Gina Prince-Bythewood takes this typical basketball movie and makes it into an iconic storyline known by many.

The movie takes place in 1981 in L.A. The main character, Monica, moves in next door to a boy named Quincy. They meet at the young age of 11, and both have dreams and aspirations of playing in the NBA, like Quincy’s dad did.

As the two are young, they develop an interesting relationship dynamic. You can call it a love-hate relationship, but they are each other’s other half. Throughout the film, they have their up and downs, but they push each other harder to fulfill their dreams. After college, they lose track of each other, but their love for basketball brings them back together again with a realization of what they really want out of life and basketball.

Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps both star in this amazing film of love, for each other and for the game of basketball.

Overall, after watching this film, as I had watched it for the first time as a freshman in college and my roommate was a basketball player, I really appreciated the storyline and choices that were presented throughout the movie. It showed what a true athlete would do for the love of the game and to succeed, but in the end, the lessons taken away from the journey is what the true gift from the game is. This gift led the two characters to live a better life and realize what it was truly like to live life to the fullest.

I highly recommend this movie if you love basketball, or like a great story to follow in general. It’s intense and keeps you rooting for the characters throughout their trials and tribulations all the way to the credits.