Reportedly considered for Monica: Serena Williams (unavailable), Marion Jones (on tape) and finalist Naisha Butler; Gabrielle Union auditioned for Monica

In the discussion (7)

Approx. transcript time · 00:17:49Read transcript

Casting What-Ifs is spoiled early: the director reportedly tried about 700 people for Monica and, per her quote, required auditioners to meet her on the court as well as read.
Serena Williams was reportedly read for the part but unavailable, and Marion Jones read on tape, which the hosts say would not have aged well.
A Huffington Post oral history from five years earlier is cited as the source.
By the director's account it came down to Sanaa Lathan, who had never touched a basketball, and Georgia Tech star Naisha Butler, who could not act; each got two months of coaching, and Lathan improved but could not hang in a game.
The director is quoted that her husband asked whether it was a basketball movie or a love story; she decided it was a love story because you can fake a jump shot but not a close-up.
Returning to casting after the break, Gabrielle Union is described as a point guard for whom Monica was a dream role; with no acting experience she did not get it and was cast as the high school groupie who goes to the dance with Q.
A joke follows about Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union's kids inheriting point-guard DNA.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 00:37:01Read transcript

Roger Ebert, said to have had an up-and-down 2020 on the show, gave the film three out of four stars.
Ebert is quoted: the film is not as taut as it could have been, but he preferred its emotional perception to the pumped-up sports cliches he expected; it is about the pressures of being a star athlete, not game highlights.
Reviews overall are described as surprisingly lukewarm in spots, with some critics getting it and others not.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Last 10 minutes through the WNBA ending; going-pro argument; benching after the pull-up three; taking the charge

In the discussion (16)

Approx. transcript time · 00:37:47Read transcript

Six rewatchable scenes are offered, starting with the opening kids' game set to Candy Girl: the hat coming off, the boys' reaction, Quincy talking himself into playing, the foul and her touching the scar.
The soundtrack is praised (New Edition, Maxwell, Guy, Roger Troutman and more); Black-movie soundtracks of the era were often better than the movies and people rushed to buy the CDs.
The film opens with Al Green's Love and Happiness; Spotify playlists collect the soundtrack, including Simply Red's Holding Back the Years and the MTV Unplugged remake of This Woman's Work.
Monica getting the USC letter and going through the window to Quincy is the second pick; the championship game is mentioned as a possible rewatch too.
Monica taking the charge at USC to win the game and the locker-room and weightlifting scenes make the team feel real, compared to women's teams known at Holy Cross.
The response adds that the scenes show how competitive women can be, as A League of Their Own did, with the tension between Monica and Sidra, the senior whose job she is after, as a nice subplot.
The six-minute overseas stretch in Barcelona is a pick: it looks glamorous, but the underlying theme is that playing abroad with a coach yelling in Spanish was the only option for women's basketball; the other participant agrees it belongs.
Sidra's line that the Italians love Black women is described by the hosts as a common topic among Black women traveling in Europe, dubbed the Josephine Baker syndrome, both truism and stereotype.
The kitchen scene where Monica's mother slaps her is called probably the best-acted scene in the movie, paying off the mother character.
The mother-daughter tension is praised as real and making the turnaround rewarding; mothers and daughters are joked to be natural enemies.
The famous ending is the sixth pick: the one-on-one for his heart, Lathan's acting, Omar removing the brace, the You Make a Fool of Me song, the loss for Monica, and the jump to the WNBA game with her hyphenated jersey; called a great last 10 minutes.
The final game is judged solid though not Ray Allen versus Denzel in He Got Game; they pulled it off.
A beef on game point: Quincy shoves Monica down and dunks on her, called a microcosm of their relationship; the counterview is that he had hit rock bottom and needed a win, and in 2020 he would probably just shoot a three.
The second participant picks the argument over Quincy going pro, capturing the pressure on successful women to choose between a relationship and a career.
Monica being benched for showboating after the pull-up three is another pick, a teachable moment that starts her evolution as a teammate, along with her taking the charge, a selfless payoff.
The final stated choice is the last 10 minutes, from the basketball game to the WNBA ending; the packed Staples Center crowd raises doubts that early WNBA games drew like that.

Soundtrack; 11-year-old Quincy's 'you want to be my girl'; Dennis Haysbert; the casting; Black high school cheerleaders; the USC coach's haircut; Monica's life-you-want line; roommates watching the dorm drama; the college party scene; gender conversations; the ex-player's struggle; Zeke's meeting excuse

In the discussion (14)

Approx. transcript time · 00:53:58Read transcript

The soundtrack is epic.
Eleven-year-old Quincy asking 'you want to be my girl' is adorable; boys at the time usually asked 'will you go with me.'
Dennis Haysbert is one participant's what's-aged-best: Heat, Waiting to Exhale, Major League, then President David Palmer on 24, said to have paved the way for Obama, then the Allstate commercials.
Haysbert's roles often lean toward the no-good man, but here he is a caring father and bad husband, and Q's disillusion with his parents' marriage is a nuanced thread.
The casting overall aged well: Omar Epps reinventing himself every five years (House, ER), Lathan steady, Gabrielle Union, Monica Calhoun, and Kyla Pratt as young Monica.
The high school cheerleaders and their chants are saluted as the real Black high school cheerleader experience, compared with the sanitized All American version.
The film balances present-day themes with nostalgia, especially through the New Edition opening.
The USC coach's late-80s women's basketball coach haircut and shoulder pads are a perfect personification of coaches of the time.
Monica's line outside her house that as a kid you see the life you want and never think it will not turn out that way is called pointed, a good yearbook quote.
During the love triangle, the roommates playing video games and enjoying the drama, with a shout-out to Charles O'Bannon, is classic college.
The party scene where the relationship first explodes, with alcohol and an available girl, is a familiar college breakup.
The subtle conversations about gender, including the choice between personal and professional life and the lack of visibility for women, aged incredibly well in the hosts' view.
The complication of being an ex-player, shown through Haysbert's character trying to build a life after playing, aged extraordinarily well.
Zeke's 'tell mom I have a meeting, I'll be home later' affair excuse is offered for both best and worst: the worst excuse ever, from the worst cheater ever.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Hidden high school basketball cuts; Quincy's smirk before the love scene; the scar fall on the lawn; Quincy as a boyfriend

In the discussion (7)

Approx. transcript time · 01:03:50Read transcript

The cuts hiding Lathan's high school basketball jump out as a nitpick.
A participant's wife is upset that Quincy seems to laugh at Monica's body before the Maxwell-scored love scene; the other participant had not noticed but concedes he smirks.
Monica getting the scar by landing on the lawn after a shove seems implausible.
The rant about Q as a boyfriend: his unreasonable reaction to her curfew, immediately hooking up with someone else, and keeping her in the friend box until she sleeps with him.
The rant concludes it is less believable now than 20 years ago that they should end up together, noting he called her when Magic retired.
In defense: he is a bad boyfriend who probably cheats and repeats his dad, but realistic for a hyped NBA player's son.
The reply is that Monica spent much of the movie capitulating to his ego, and his claim she would never have to choose is doubted; rewatching left disappointment that she ended up with him.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Debbi Morgan as Quincy's mom

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:10:54Read transcript

Q's mom is played by Debbie Morgan, recognizable from soaps and from The White Shadow, where her character gave Thorpe VD.
The other participant grew up watching her on All My Children, sees that in this dramatic, flashy athlete's-wife role, says she nailed it and agrees with the pick.

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Coach Davis

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:11:56Read transcript

Coach Davis could have dialed it back about 15 percent in a couple of scenes, including her 'when I'm riding you, that means I like you' speech.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Monica's USC teammates

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 01:12:27Read transcript

Candidates in a fertile category include Gabrielle Union early and a Chick Hearn cameo; Alfre Woodard is probably ineligible with too many scenes.
The first nominee is Sidra, strong in about four scenes and perhaps also worthy of That Guy.
Gabrielle Union's first-scene line about licking the sweat off Q is recalled as a running tease between friends.
Charles O'Bannon and Terry Cummings as the bartender are noted as sneaked-in cameos.
The counter-pick is the teammates, who sold the team bond visually with few lines; a Tar Heels friend was supposedly slated to be in the movie.
The award goes to the entire team, hailed as possibly history's first team Dion Waiters Award.

Recasting Couch

Angela Bassett as Quincy's mom

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 01:15:35Read transcript

Lisa Bonet is proposed as Q's mom for more star power, noted as 33 at the time and able to play 38; the other participant vetoes it.
A second actress (name garbled in the transcript) and Angela Bassett are offered for Q's mom; Bassett is accepted as better, with Waiting to Exhale as proof she could play a wronged strong woman.
Nia Long is floated for Regina Hall's role as the sister, despite admiration for Hall.
For Monica, Regina King and Jada Pinkett Smith are offered; Jada is questioned as too small, and the pushback is that Lathan's newness let her be Monica while King already carried history.
Lathan's earlier roles are recalled as The Wood, The Best Man and a small part in Life; King had already made her turn in earlier films; the disagreement is left standing.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Haysbert's hesitation to play another cheater; Omar Epps's repeat Quincy role; the Maxwell song rights fight; Lathan quitting basketball

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 01:19:27Read transcript

Dennis Haysbert was hesitant to play another cheater after Waiting to Exhale, but told Jet he took it for the father-son relationship.
It was the second time Omar Epps played a Quincy who went by Q and the second time he dated Tyra Banks on screen.
The director wanted Maxwell's This Woman's Work despite the cost, kept it in for Sundance without the rights, and lobbied the studio head until he paid.
A parallel regret: not fighting to keep the expensive original score for the 30 for 30 The Two Escobars.
Lathan never played basketball again, which is called sad given how hard she worked; she seems traumatized by the filming.

Apex Mountain

Sanaa Lathan; Barcelona professional women's basketball; early WNBA optimism

In the discussion (8)

Approx. transcript time · 01:21:54Read transcript

Sanaa Lathan is a yes, with a big stock buy after this movie leading to good roles.
Asked about Oscar potential, the 2000 Best Actress nominees are listed (Julia Roberts winning, Joan Allen, Laura Linney and others); the year is called loaded and Linney is said to have deserved it.
A possible original screenplay nomination is raised, joked about as ignored by the Oscars committee; the five nominees are listed and Billy Elliot is said not to have aged well.
Omar Epps is called a no; the other participant makes the yes case from his longevity, escape from typecasting, and TV resurgence, saying he could put up a fight.
USC basketball is a no.
Barcelona professional women's basketball is a yes, and the other participant agrees.
The early WNBA seeming optimistic about the league's future is an emphatic yes; the film explained why the league was pushed: the players had nowhere to play.
Dick Vitale is later floated as a possible Apex candidate that should have been brought in.

Picking Nits

Clippers in L.A. in 1981; one-and-done in 1989; first-team All-American; hospital stay for an ACL; open windows; adults living at home; the Magic Johnson points boast

In the discussion (8)

Approx. transcript time · 01:25:31Read transcript

Monica is a senior at Crenshaw in 1988 and meets Quincy in 1981, but his dad plays for the Clippers, who did not reach L.A. until 1984; San Diego Clippers items appear in his room.
Quincy going pro after one year in 1989 is too ambitious, since one-and-done did not really arrive until the mid-90s after the Fab Five.
Monica making first-team all-American is doubted given she seemed a three-star recruit and the era was loaded; second team would be more believable.
Quincy staying in the hospital for days after an ACL tear is questioned; the reply is that medicine was less advanced then.
A nit about how he fell is withdrawn after a Tony Allen Celtics precedent of tearing an ACL after hanging on the rim.
In an upper-middle-class neighborhood everyone leaves windows open, including a trophy-filled bedroom of an NBA player's son.
Quincy, a mid-20s NBA player about to marry, stays in his mom's house, and Monica still living at home is also odd.
Young Quincy answering 'maybe' when asked if his dad scored more than Magic Johnson is a good catch.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie

"She's a ho because she's sending you her coochie through the mail"; "Are they cursing their mamas in Spain?"; "Honest tramp-ass ho"; "Just enough savings to keep your fine ass in Gucci and gold"

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 01:31:36Read transcript

The line about her sending him her coochie through the mail is a favorite.
'Are they cursing their mamas in Spain?' is enjoyed, and the hospital exchange about breasts in the physical is cited as another Quincy flaw.
The lick-the-sweat-off-Q line is mentioned again.
Monica calling Gabrielle Union's character an honest tramp-ass ho is another pick.
Zeke's argument with Q's mom about keeping her 'fine ass in Gucci and gold', ending with her throwing a heavy bracelet at Haysbert's head, is also enjoyed.
Quincy telling Monica to go be with Dick Vitale is called a good one and a big win for Vitale.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Keep it as is

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:33:35Read transcript

The answer is probably, but don't; the movie is timeless.
The director has reportedly refused requests for a sequel picking up with their kids, which is welcomed.
A 2020 series about their high-school-age kid, with Monica perhaps a WNBA star, is floated and could work; it would earn a first-episode look if the director wrote it.
A 2015 quote has Lathan open to a sequel given a good script, as with The Best Man Holiday; an Epps quote says he and the director discussed it and you don't touch a classic.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Tanya Randall's fate; Zeke's NBA career; Quincy's NBA stat line; Kyra's reaction to the canceled wedding

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:35:29Read transcript

Tanya Randall got pregnant, Monica took her scholarship, and her career is judged over.
Zeke's career is reconstructed from USC, Bucks and Clippers jerseys: a physical two guard or small forward, perhaps 14 and 6 or 12 and 7, later a veteran seventh man.
Quincy's scouting report is an undersized, ball-hogging shooting guard drafted too high; his career line is guessed at 3.7 points a game with one good Lakers game after Magic retired.
Tyra Banks's character, after the wedding is canceled two weeks out, is imagined getting revenge by dating his teammates, working down the roster after a run at AC Green.

Who Won the Movie?

Sanaa Lathan

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:39:34Read transcript

Sanaa Lathan won the movie, and the other participant agrees.
Beyond the performance, the reasoning is that she showed the nuances of being a woman, a female athlete and a Black female athlete, and spoke to women with an unconventional passion, such as a girl in Detroit wanting to be a sports journalist.
The second voter calls the character timeless and a role model for a daughter, and says she won the movie.

Podcast choices

Speaker not identified: Sanaa Lathan
Speaker not identified: Sanaa Lathan

More from the conversation

A Ringer ad promotes the new podcast The Wire: Way Down in the Hole, hosted by Van Lathan and Jemele Hill.

Approx. transcript time · 00:00:46Read transcript

Jemele Hill is introduced for her first Rewatchables and says she had been jealous since the show covered Tommy Boy, one of her favorite movies.

Approx. transcript time · 00:02:39Read transcript

The episode marks the film's 20-year anniversary; it is called possibly the best sports movie of the last 20 years and timeless enough to watch with a daughter.

Approx. transcript time · 00:03:10Read transcript

Asked whether it is a rom-com or a sports movie, the answer is more rom-com, with messages about gender equity in sports and the WNBA holding up well.

Approx. transcript time · 00:04:00Read transcript

The technical-foul scene where Monica says men get a pat on the ass while she is told to act like a lady is cited by the hosts as a conversation not seen in sports movies before.

Approx. transcript time · 00:05:37Read transcript

The hosts say the film treats gender inside a Black family, including Monica's contrast with her more traditional mother, played by Alfre Woodard.

Approx. transcript time · 00:06:40Read transcript

Sports-movie eras are traced from the Rocky blueprint through post-Hoosiers comedies to Jerry Maguire, a movie about people set in sports that this film resembles.

Approx. transcript time · 00:07:47Read transcript

The hosts say race is never overt in the film, following the heavy Boyz n the Hood and Menace II Society era and a turn toward Black characters in normal situations after Love Jones and The Wood.

Approx. transcript time · 00:09:24Read transcript

The hosts place the setting around Baldwin Hills and the Crenshaw Mall, described as a Black middle- and upper-class Los Angeles area.

Approx. transcript time · 00:10:26Read transcript

Cast connections are listed across The Wood, The Best Man, Brown Sugar, Higher Learning, Major League 2 and Almost Christmas, including Epps and Lathan reportedly dating while hiding it from the director.

Approx. transcript time · 00:11:31Read transcript

The hosts call the interconnected casting an indictment of how few roles Hollywood gave Black actors then, citing Nia Long too; Boris Kodjoe's break is recalled as Soul Food.

Approx. transcript time · 00:12:25Read transcript

Players Club is named a guilty-pleasure favorite and pitched to Bill; the director is noted as a Black woman and basketball fan.

Approx. transcript time · 00:13:44Read transcript

Omar Epps's 90s run is traced through Juice, Higher Learning, Major League 2, ER and Scream 2, alternating high school and adult roles; the leads were about 27 and 29 playing high schoolers.

Approx. transcript time · 00:14:43Read transcript

Other possible Quincy actors in 2000 are floated, such as Morris Chestnut, Larenz Tate, Taye Diggs and Wood Harris; a Matt Damon interview is recalled about the same few actors competing for every role in the 90s.

Approx. transcript time · 00:15:21Read transcript

Spike Lee is said to have backed the script and produced through 40 Acres and a Mule.

Approx. transcript time · 00:17:26Read transcript

A SportsCenter appearance with the director and Lathan promoting Shots Fired is recalled, where Lathan described two months of training.

Approx. transcript time · 00:19:14Read transcript

Lathan looks more believable as a player than Epps; high school scenes hide her with quick cuts, compared with Summer Catch, and by the final one-on-one she is believable.

Approx. transcript time · 00:20:22Read transcript

Lathan reportedly never touched a ball again because the director was never satisfied with her basketball, mirroring Monica's USC coach.

Approx. transcript time · 00:21:45Read transcript

Monica pulling up for a three on the break is called ahead of its time, before the Warriors and Steph Curry.

Approx. transcript time · 00:22:08Read transcript

The director is quoted that ball was everything to her and she never saw that woman or girl on screen; A League of Their Own is cited as the main precedent.

Approx. transcript time · 00:23:29Read transcript

Lathan is quoted on the film becoming beloved across generations; an aside recalls a tweet about stopping an Insecure episode with a daughter.

Approx. transcript time · 00:24:14Read transcript

A participant identified with Monica as a neighborhood tomboy quarterback imitating Tony Rice, with a mother confused by the roughhousing.

Approx. transcript time · 00:25:39Read transcript

Monica's line that no red carpet awaits her is tied by the hosts to women athletes knowing their careers will end; they say the theme of being seen persists.

Approx. transcript time · 00:27:07Read transcript

Young Monica's hair and dress scenes are praised for capturing girls balancing tomboy and girl identities; the adult bank job and taking off her heels on the grass show the tomboy never goes away.

Approx. transcript time · 00:28:25Read transcript

Tyra Banks's flight-attendant character catering to Quincy is read by the hosts as a deliberate contrast with Monica.

Approx. transcript time · 00:31:02Read transcript

Epps is quoted calling it a fairy-tale love story built on friendship; the grow-up-together structure and the window scene with the pillow and blanket are praised, as is starting in childhood.

Approx. transcript time · 00:32:24Read transcript

The romance is kept sweet apart from the virginity scene; Zeke's hotel-lobby warning and weak defense of his own infidelity are called a losing argument, though realistic.

Approx. transcript time · 00:34:32Read transcript

A question about making Quincy's dad a Clipper is held for later; the film is said to have made $27 million domestically, ninth all time for a hoops film.

Approx. transcript time · 00:36:44Read transcript

Reviews are described as lukewarm in spots, with first-time viewers missing nuance; a participant recalls writing about loving it at the time while at ESPN.

Approx. transcript time · 00:37:31Read transcript

World Central Kitchen fundraising appeal across Ringer podcasts, with a $250,000 goal and a $100,000 personal donation.

Approx. transcript time · 01:08:55Read transcript

Sign-off thanks Jemele Hill, who replies, wishes her luck with The Wire podcast, promises a Players Club episode, plugs Jemele Hill Is Unbothered, and teases Ferris Bueller for Monday.

Approx. transcript time · 01:40:41Read transcript