Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps probably never imagined that nearly two decades ago they were making history by starring in the romantic comedy movie Love & Basketball, which is now considered a classic within the culture. Love & Basketball was released in the spring of 2000 and it tells the story of Quincy McCall (Epps) and Monica Wright (Lathan), two childhood neighbors who bond over their shared love of basketball before falling for each other. The film became a cult classic for going against the standard in gender roles and showcasing black love.

The relationship between the main characters in the film was highly lauded, with McCall and Wright becoming a favorite on-screen couple of fans around the world. Lathan has made many feel the power of love in many other movies, however, when it comes to her own personal life, things are kind of different. There have been questions surrounding her single marital status for such a long time, rumors after rumors have swirled linking her with men she was not even dating. The ace actress has now voiced out on the subject and wants the world to know what’s really important to her.

Sanaa Lathan Is Quite Content About Being Single Even Though She Still Wants To Get Married

As is often the case with successful romantic movies, fans always want the on-screen couple to fall and remain in love like they did on-screen and live together, happily ever after, almost as if they need the inspiration to make them believe even more in the existence of true love, but what happens in the movies is mere make-believe and far from what’s obtainable in real life, though fans know this, many still can not help but wish. Sadly, their wish on Lathan’s chemistry with Omar Epps did not work out and since then, many have been on the lookout for who The Perfect Man might be for the actress and so far, none seems to have quite won that title.

Her perceived prolonged singleness has led many to wonder why the ace actress is still single. Society often views women as incomplete when they are unmarried and without kids, but Lathan, like many other single yet successful women in Hollywood has challenged this notion.

As far back as 2015, Sanaa Lathan spoke about her single status to USA Today saying that she was quite content about being single and was proud of all of the success she had achieved in her career thus far. She further explained that it was not like people did not want to be with her but that she was in a good place enjoying her success. However, she also did not frown upon the idea of getting married as she said that it would be great if she found someone to walk through life with and that life would not be any less great if she still did not happen to find such a person and that she has great friends and family that she could enjoy life with.

The Actress Is Devoted to Creating Her Own Nappily Ever After, and She Doesn’t Need a Husband To Do It

More elaborately in October 2019, during her appearance on CultureCon in Brooklyn, New York, the actress told journalist Taylor Rooks that she was prioritizing investing in herself rather than on a life partner. When Rooks pointed how society was “obsessed” with black women getting married, Lathan concurred by falsifying society’s definition of a successful woman as the one who gets chosen by a man, using fairytales like Cinderella and Snow White as examples. The actress further declared “I’ma choose me first.”

.@justsanaa chats with @TaylorRooks about her self love journey and she incorporates it into her busy schedule #CultureCon pic.twitter.com/GyCMy9IE3p

— The Creative Collective NYC (@THECC_NYC) October 12, 2019

Sanaa Lathan also pointed out the high rate of divorce in the country and how she would not invest herself into something that had only a 50 percent chance of survival. She, however, did point out that she does believe in love and would like to be with someone but that she was prioritizing loving herself as it would make her “attract a better quality of situation.” Lathan also made it clear that she wanted a man who would “want her shinning” and not be threatened by her success and that she is ready to reciprocate.

Sanaa Lathan Did Date Love & Basketball Co-star Omar Epps But It Didn’t End up in Marriage

There was obvious chemistry between Lathan and Epps in the movie and after the movie had been released, it was confirmed that the duo actually was an item in real life. However, their relationship was kept a secret, at the time, the only one who knew was the film’s director Prince-Bythewood who only knew after they had already been cast to play the roles. The director later revealed to BuzzFeed in 2015 how she had been scared of how their real-life relationship could affect shooting in a case where they split while filming was not done. She confessed to enjoying the sweetness between them but would have been skeptical to accept them for the roles if she knew prior that they were dating in real life.

Atypical of Lathan, she kept details of the relationship from the media, and as a result, the timeline of their relationship is not certain. Fans speculate however that they might have lasted not more than 2 years. Epps would go on to marry his former girlfriend Keisha Epps. Lathan and Epps do remain friends, they linked up to celebrate Love & Basketball’s 15th anniversary in 2015 at the 2015 LA Film Festival.

What We Know About Her Relationship with French Montana

Later in 2015, the actress was rumored to be dating New York rapper French Montana. The rumors came after several photos of the two hanging out surfaced online. Atypical of Lathan, she never confirmed the rumors. During her visit to 92.3 L.A.’s Big Boy in the Morning radio show in the fall of 2015, she was asked about her relationship status with the rapper and she did not deny it, adding fuel to the rumors as she did agree that she was seeing someone at the time but did not tell if it was French Montanna.

While it is highly likely that the two were romantically involved, the tabloids seemed to have gone too far when rumors began swirling that Lathan was pregnant with Montana’s child. Lathan quickly denied the claims and so did Montanna who further spoke about their relationship in his 2016 appearance on The Real.

Lathan Has Been Rumored To Have Dated Other Men But None of Them Ended up in Marriage

The American Assassin star has been linked with a few other men, but many of them were rumors, and others were simply never confirmed by either party involved. She was said to have dated retired footballer Terrell Owens in 2006. She was then linked with actor and singer Tyrese Gibson, and were said to have dated from 2008 to 2014. Lathan has also been linked with the former footballers Adewale Ogunleye and Colin Kaepernick.

Lathan and Denzel Washington reportedly started a relationship back in 2003, when the pair were filming the movie Out of Time. Sources at the time claimed that Sanaa and the married Denzel carried on a full-blown relationship while on set. However, this was never fully confirmed and remains a rumor.

The actress was reportedly engaged to Steve Rifkind, the founder, and chairman of Loud Records, as well as SRC Records. The couple would eventually part ways in 2011.

The American actress has admitted that she loves her single life and likes to live to the fullest without compromising anything.

ncG1vNJzZmiglZ60qcDLoqWeZpOkunDDx6hkoqtdqK6vrcBmo5qsmJa7bq3NnWSdp5WoerS0xGafmq6VYq5utNSsmZqmlGK8s3nAp7Bmo5mZwHA%3D