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The women’s game shines in Basketball: A Love Story

By Erica Ayala

ESPN Films presents Basketball: A Love Story, a Dan Klores film.
ESPN Films presents Basketball: A Love Story, a Dan Klores film. /
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TEMPE, AZ – AUGUST 21: Diana Taurasi #3 of the Phoenix Mercury speaks with the media after the game against the Dallas Wings in Round One of the 2018 WNBA Playoffs on August 21, 2018 at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ – AUGUST 21: Diana Taurasi #3 of the Phoenix Mercury speaks with the media after the game against the Dallas Wings in Round One of the 2018 WNBA Playoffs on August 21, 2018 at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Since his time growing up in Brooklyn, Klores has learned basketball is a game played on his block, but it is also much more. From his opening segment, Klores acknowledges the international and intergenerational aspects of the game.

Klores has created an ode to basketball in his latest film Basketball: A Love Story. It is told just as one discovers the game, in pieces. He moves us back through time and forwards again. He highlights rivalries and startup leagues, he asks players and contributors who they emulated as children playing on the pavement or with a sock and a contorted wire hanger.

Taurasi’s halter top story, Rebecca Lobo emulating Larry Bird, Cheryl Miller being benched by Pat Summitt are just some of the women’s basketball stories Klores tells. Through humor, heartache, sexism, and more, the game is shown for exactly what it was, what it is, and what it can be.

“I think the fact that [the women’s history] is included is it’s not only it’s not a nice thing to do but the right thing to do. I mean it really does show that Dan has a grasp of the many segments of the game you know that have contributed to its growth globally,” concluded Val Ackerman.

While he hopes lovers of basketball will appreciate the film, he wants to make it clear this is NOT a chronological history, it is not a film with a clear beginning and end, “otherwise, it’s memorization,” he insisted.

However, Klores has entertained the pushback he may get, “I’m afraid that they’ll be lazy people that say this is uneven and all of that,” he admitted.

The confession was swiftly followed with, “But you know what? I made the movie I wanted to make, so f*ck anyone [that does].”

Basketball: A Love Story will be aired in segments beginning tonight 7-11 p.m. The remainder of the series will be played October 16, from 7-11 p.m., October 23, from 7-11 p.m., October 30, from 8 p.m-12 a.m., and November 13, from 8 p.m-12 a.m. (all times ET.) The full series is available now via ESPN+.

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