Give Me the Ball

She fought the world to change it. And it cost her everything. Before equal pay was even a conversation. Before Title IX transformed women's sports. Before a female athlete could live openly without losing everything-there was Billie Jean King. This is the untold story behind the champion the world thought it knew. In 1973, ninety million people watched her defeat Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes." What they didn't see was the secret she was desperately hiding. The endorsements she would lose. The lawsuit that would expose her most private truth to a hostile world. The price she paid-again and again-for daring to demand equality. Give Me the Ball reveals the woman behind the legend: a working-class girl from Long Beach who became the most famous female athlete in the world, only to watch that fame turn into a weapon against her. This is the story of the Original Nine who risked everything to create professional women's tennis. Of a marriage that provided cover while hiding devastating truth. Of loving the wrong person at the wrong time-and having that love weaponized in a courtroom. It's about standing alone when everyone else turned away. About fighting for millions of women while losing yourself in the process. About the loneliness of leadership and the brutal cost of being first. You know her victories. You don't know what they cost. From the public courts where she wasn't welcome, to center stage at Wimbledon, to the courthouse where her private life became public scandal-this is the story of sacrifice that changed sports forever. A champion who revolutionized women's athletics. An activist who couldn't afford to be herself. A price paid in full-for a world that still wasn't ready. This is not just sports history. This is the story of what it takes to change the world when the world refuses to change. And why some battles are worth fighting, even when they destroy you. The revolution was televised. The price she paid was not.