| abstract
| - However, Monica has to work hard to establish herself while Quincy was born with natural star potential. As the two struggle to reach their goals of playing professionally, they must also deal with their emotions for each other. The film spans roughly thirteen years of friendship between childhood sweethearts Monica Wright and Quincy McCall. Monica and her family moved to Los Angeles in 1981 from Atlanta, Georgia, and quickly became acquainted with their new neighbors the McCalls, a wealthy family due to the success of Quincy's father Zeke, the star shooting guard for the Los Angeles Clippers. Quincy and Monica are drawn to each other instantly, sharing a love of the game basketball. Quincy is shocked that a girl could ever love basketball as much as he did, and he is even more shocked when Monica plays so well. Although their first interaction results in Quincy angrily knocking Monica down during game point and accidentally scarring her face, they share their first kiss on the first day of school and end the "first quarter" of the story fighting in the grass. The second quarter of the story begins in 1988 when both Monica and Quincy are the respective leaders of their high school teams. Scouts have taken clear notice of Quincy, who many see as one of the top prospects in the country. His popularity was not just evident on the court as he is extremely popular with the other students and could have any girl in school that he wanted, but he is still good friends and neighbors with Monica. Monica, on the other hand struggles with her fiery emotions on the court, which often resulted in technical fouls at critical moments of games, getting benched, and eventually pushing away many potential scouting opportunities due to her lack of control. Aside from her emotions on the court, she also struggles with the emotions she secretly still harbors for Quincy and struggles to express them as he is always surrounded by other girls. Monica also has problems with her mother Camille, a stay at home wife and mother; ever since she was a little girl Monica has been pressured by Camille to give up basketball and "act like a lady", to the point that Camille would force her to wear dresses and skirts against her will. This has continued into her high school years with Camille still complaining that Monica is too much of a "tomboy" and needs to learn to be more feminine, which leaves Monica feeling hurt and resentful of her mother for not accepting her for who she is and refuses to embrace the domestic "house wife" work that her mother seems to enjoy so much. Through soul searching throughout the season, Monica learns to control her emotions and leads her team to the state championship game, but came up short leading them to a victory. She begins to recover from the defeat with the help of her older sister Lena, who gives her a makeover and even finds a college friend to take her to her spring dance. With nothing more than a new hair style and a dress, Monica shows up to the spring dance looking as beautiful as ever. Despite having a date of his own, Quincy notices her and immediately walks over to her to compliment her new appearance, but doesn't hesitate to comment on her date. They both show jealousy towards each others' dates and part ways. Later that night, they both speak outside her window and reveal to each other how their dates didn't meet their needs. She also lets him know that she has a letter from USC and insists on him to open it. After the letter reveals that Monica has been accepted, Quincy finally vocalized that USC was also his choice. As they move in to congratulate each other with a hug, Monica mistakes the gesture as a kiss and that leads to them finally acting on their feelings for one another by making love to each other. It was Monica's first time. The third quarter of the story follows Quincy and Monica to their freshman year at USC in 1988-89, where they are managing themselves as athletes, students, and a couple. Again, the same problems seem to present themselves, this time on a bigger stage. While Quincy finds instant success on the court, as well as more and more female admirers, Monica struggles for playing time, being the backup to USC's senior guard, Sidra O'Neal. To make matters worse, she falls on the bad side of the head coach Ellie Davis for showing off and her lack of defense. Monica's relationship with Quincy becomes more and more strained as Quincy struggles to deal with the media attention surrounding his father, who is trying to convince Quincy to finish college before going pro, and a paternity suit against him from a former lover. Quincy feels betrayed by his father for lying to him and threatens to leave school for the NBA early despite his father begging him not to sacrifice his education just to spite him. Zeke mentions that his mom was only nineteen when she was pregnant with Quincy and he wasn't ready for a family, but he stayed anyway. Monica finally earns the starting point guard spot at the end of the season, Quincy can't be happy for her because he blames her for not being there for him when he was having problems with his father. Monica is hurt deeply by Quincy, and the two go their separate ways. The fourth quarter of the story follows the characters through the early 1990s, a few years before the establishment of the WNBA. In 1993, Monica's prospects for professional basketball lie exclusively in the IWBA, the International Women's Basketball Association, while Quincy steps into the pros at home. Monica settles into her new life in Barcelona, where she struggles to cope with the everyday grind of playing overseas away from family and friends. She misses home, but can't imagine a life that didn't include basketball. (Sidra points out that their teammate at USC Big Toni quit the previous year and now works at a bookstore). She tries to adapt to her surroundings as a local sports celebrity and the focal point of the team's offense. She leads her team to a dominant victory in the championship game at the end of the season. Despite all her personal success, she starts to realize her love for basketball isn't the same as it was before. Having left USC after his freshman season, Quincy is now in his fifth year in the pros, trying to find a role with his new team, the Los Angeles Lakers. The moment he finally finds some playing time, he injures himself landing awkwardly after a slam-dunk, and tearing his ACL. His family rushes to the hospital to be with him, but his now divorced parents still have bad blood when they see each other. Monica hears about Quincy's injury, and flies home to see him. Monica goes to the hospital to visit Quincy, and is stunned to hear of Quincy's engagement and to meet his fiancée (Tyra Banks). After her meeting with Quincy, Monica soon realizes that her feelings for him still exist. Monica also clashes with her mother Camille again over old resentments, causing Camille to remark that she had to give up her own dreams after having children and resenting Monica for not appreciating the sacrifices she made for her family with Monica countering that Camille never made her feel loved or accepted because she kept trying to force her to give up her goals for a stereotypical "woman's role" in life that she didn't want. Over the next few months, Quincy undergoes rehabilitation while the day of his wedding draws closer. By this time, Monica has decided to give up basketball and work at a bank with her dad. When questioned by Quincy she states that it was no longer fun for her, Quincy does not understand, stating he never knew anyone who loved basketball as much as she did. After seeing how truly unhappy her daughter is without basketball or Quincy in her life, Camille finally relents and encourages Monica to fight for her dreams and the man she loves. Quincy and Monica meet up (this time as friends) and reminisce over their shared past. At this point, Quincy has recovered from his injury, and Monica finally steps up with an ultimatum. She challenges him to one final game on the court- but this time the stakes are higher: if he loses, he calls off the wedding and chooses Monica; if not, he marries his fiancée. Monica's reasoning is that the if he loses it would be because he let her win which would mean that deep down he really doesn't want to get married because he still loves her. Quincy agrees and beats her in the game, but can no longer be apart from Monica and chooses her. The phrase "double or nothing" brings a whole new meaning to the game. The film fast-forwards 2–3 years later in 1998 where Monica has finally gone pro in the WNBA (which was created by the NBA in 1996.) The movie ends with Quincy helping their baby daughter cheer on Monica during her game where the back of her jersey is seen with the name "Wright-McCall", showing that Monica and Quincy got married.
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