Sanaa Lathan Recalls Filming FinalLove & BasketballScene During an Actual WNBA Game: ‘We Had One Take’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Sanaa Lathan attends a WNBA game in Los Angeles on Aug. 15, 2024.Photo:Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty

Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty

WhenLove & BasketballdirectorGina Prince-Bythewoodshouted “action” while filming the final scene for the 2000 cult classic, actressSanaa Lathanhad only one chance to get it right on the basketball court.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the star ofThe Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eatreveals that she got “one take” to film the romantic sports comedy’s closing scene, in which her character, Monica Wright-McCall, takes the court at a WNBA game as a player for the Los Angeles Sparks.

“When we shot that last shot where Monica is in an actual game at the end of the movie where Quincy and her daughter are sitting courtside, that was an actual L.A. Sparks game,” Lathan, 52, recalls.

“We had one take,” she remembers of the scene featuring Sparks playerLisa Leslieas her teammate and Lakers legendMagic Johnsonas a fan.

‘Love & Basketball’ director Gina Prince-Bythewood with Sanaa Lathan in 1999.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

“I was so nervous because they allowed us to get the real stadium and the real players. One take, because it was in the middle of an actual game,” explains Lathan, who wore a No. 32 Sparks jersey with Wright-McCall emblazoned on it as an announcer introduced her for the on-screen game.

Prince-Bythewood, 55, recently reunited with Lathan when she invited her to the Aug. 15 WNBA game between the Sparks and New York Liberty.

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‘Love & Basketball’ director Gina Prince-Bythewood with Sanaa Lathan in 2000.Keith Bedford/Getty

Keith Bedford/Getty

The reunion came 25 years after filming their WNBA scene forLove & Basketball, which in recent years has achieved several milestones.

In 2021,Love & Basketballwas added to theCriterion Collection, and in 2023, the film was selected for the Library of Congress’National Film Registryfor its “cultural” and “aesthetic importance.”

For herLove & Basketballrole, Lathan won best actress at the BET Awards and the NAACP Image Awards in 2001. Since then, the actress has received a Tony nomination in 2004 for her role inA Raisin in the Sunand earned an Emmy nod in 2022 for her guest role in HBO’sSuccession.

Lathan made her directorial debut withOn the Come Upin 2022.

Now, she’s starring inThe Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat—alongsideAunjanue Ellis-TaylorandUzo Aduba— which is streaming on Hulu.

source: people.com