Children Of ‘The Queen Of Basketball’ Star Lucy Harris Reflect On Oscar-Nominated Doc About Their Mom: “Her Legacy Forever Lives On”
deadline.comFor the children of Lusia “Lucy” Harris, the woman at the center of The Queen of Basketball, the prospect of the upcoming Oscar ceremony brings a feeling of joy, along with a measure of sadness.“It’s bittersweet,” admits Christina Washington, one of Harris’s twin daughters.The short documentary directed by Ben Proudfoot finally gave Harris her due as one of the greatest to ever play the game of basketball – male or female.
Resisting a strong inclination toward modesty, Harris bashfully told Proudfoot about her historic accomplishments – winning three national championships in the 1970s for Delta State University in Mississippi; scoring the first points in Olympic Women’s Basketball competition history at the ‘76 Games in Montreal; becoming the first woman officially drafted by an NBA team, and induction into the basketball hall of fame.Harris got to attend the world premiere of The Queen of Basketball at the Tribeca Film Festival last year, and she knew it made the Oscar documentary shortlist in December 2021.
But on January 18, less than three weeks before the film went on to earn an Oscar nomination, Harris died unexpectedly at the age of 66.
Her children take comfort that millions are becoming aware of their mom through the documentary.“One of the things that I was most inspired by watching the film is knowing she had the opportunity to tell her own story, in her words, in her voice,” Crystal Stewart Washington tells Deadline. “And that’s something that I know a lot of people don’t have when they lose someone.
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