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.

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.

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.

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.