Sanaa Lathan Says She ‘Cried Every Time’ Reading Love & Basketball Script and Faced Tough Training on Set

Sanaa Lathan is looking back at her time filming the hit 2000 romantic sports drama Love & Basketball, and she says the journey was both emotional and physically exhausting.

During a recent panel discussion, Best Man Final Chapter star spoke honestly about how much the film meant to her and how hard she worked to bring her character, Monica Wright, to life. Monica is a talented and determined young basketball player who dreams of going pro while also dealing with love and family struggles.

The film was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starred Sanaa Lathan opposite Omar Epps, who played Monica’s childhood friend and love interest, Quincy McCall.

According to PEOPLE, speaking about the first time she read the script, Sanaa Lathan said she knew right away she wanted the role. “I read the script, and I was like — I gotta play this role. It was a page turner. I cried every time I read it,” she shared.

She explained that she came from a strong theater background and had worked with some of the best writers. She felt that the writing in Love & Basketball was just as powerful. The character of Monica felt real and deeply developed, and Lathan could tell that a lot of care had gone into creating her story.

While she felt confident about the acting side of the role, the sports part was a different story.

“The acting part was in the bag,” she said during the panel. But learning to play basketball at a high level for the movie was extremely challenging.

In fact, Sanaa Lathan revealed that she even had to audition while holding a basketball before she met director Gina Prince-Bythewood. She joked that the director may have first thought she could “ruin” the movie if she did not look believable as an athlete.

To prepare, Sanaa Lathan went through intense basketball training so she would look real on screen. She said audiences can easily tell when the sports action in a movie looks fake. “There is nothing worse than some bad basketball on film,” she explained.

One of the hardest scenes for her was a training moment filmed in silhouette, where she had to handle two basketballs at once. Even though her face was not clearly shown, she insisted on doing the scene herself. She practiced for hours to get it right.

Looking back, she admitted that filming those scenes was not fun — it was hard work.

Despite the tough process, Love & Basketball, which also featured Regina Hall, Gabrielle Union, and Tyra Banks, became a beloved classic. Over the years, the film has remained a cultural favorite, inspiring fans with its story about love, dreams, and determination.

Now, more than two decades later, Sanaa Lathan’s emotional memories from the set show just how much heart and effort went into making the film a success.