The Queen of Basketball

Stories like these are why documentaries exist. They bring to light those who are truly remarkable people that deserve to be celebrated.

Lusia (Lucy) Harris Stewart comes across here as an eminently amiable woman as she regales us with a life story that saw her trail blaze not just for her race, but also for her sex. She was an accomplished basketball player who took the women's game to new heights in the 1970s before it was played at the Olympics. Using a combination of archive, phototgraphy and an engaging interview during which she describes her career - including a final against a team of nuns called the "Immaculates", and the choices it engendered as she realised that making a living from the sport would involve compromises she wasn't sure she wanted to make at her young age. She certainly exudes a star quality, this woman - but not in any glamorous or facile sense. Instead, she comes across as someone who doesn't think so very much of her own achievements on the court and it's that humility peppered with an abundance of charisma that makes her story well worth listening to for twenty minutes. This isn't so much a documentary as a richly painted interview but that said, there's a lot to be said for her candour, and that usually emanates more honestly from those who have done the most but see no need to shout about it from the rooftops.

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