The cinematic portrait of Lusia Harris-Stewart, the late women’s basketball legend who grew up in Minter City, has won the Academy Award for Best Short Documentary.
“The Queen of Basketball,” directed by Ben Proudfoot, took the Oscar in awards announced Sunday night in Los Angeles.
The 22-minute documentary, narrated by Harris-Stewart herself, tells the story of the Amanda Elzy High School product who, as the lone African American on the team, led Delta State to three consecutive national championships. She would later score the first basket in women’s Olympic history and was the first and only woman officially drafted into the NBA.
Harris-Stewart, who suffered for years with multiple health problems, died in January at the age of 66.
The story of Lucy Harris had been largely forgotten until Proudfoot produced the documentary for The New York Times in 2021.
After completing her college career, and one year removed from winning a silver medal at the Summer Olympics in Montreal, Harris was drafted by the New Orleans Jazz in 1977. She opted, though, not to try out for the team, saying she thought it was a publicity stunt. She acknowledged in the film also struggling with her mental health.
Following the end of her playing career, she was an assistant women’s basketball coach at Delta State and Texas Southern University. She also taught at schools throughout the Mississippi Delta before settling at jobs at Amanda Elzy and Greenwood high schools. She retired in 2003 due to her health.
