LeBron James is a legend on the court. He is still playing the sport at 40 years old, and he has put up an average of 24.4 points per game this season with over 10 triple-doubles. After 22 seasons in the game, he does not seem to be in any hurry to exit. But have all those field goals, free throws, and rebounds helped prepare him for a different kind of career? Intriguingly, somebody finally asked the NBA player about what’s next.
To date, LeBron has been in several movies acting opposite some of the arguably best contemporary comedic actors today. For example, if you have a Netflix subscription, you can catch him alongside Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in Trainwreck. For those with an HBO MAX subscription, see him opposite Don Cheadle in Space Jam: A New Legacy. LeBron has even hosted Saturday Night Live, so he’s not wholly inexperienced in Hollywood.
However, this basketball legend has only ever played himself, and I’ve wondered if he could take on the acting challenge of becoming another character. Recently, LeBron sat down with the THR and gave his thoughts on the matter.
I think that all will boil down to the creative writing and to the role. If the role is appropriate and I feel like I can nail it, then I wouldn’t mind doing that at all. I feel like I could turn and be someone else that’s not LeBron James. In Trainwreck, my name was not LeBron James. But it was a version of me, my typical self, [just] playing Bill Hader’s best friend during that movie.
In my opinion, LeBron has some on-screen chops. In Trainwreck, in particular, he shows flashes of his comedic abilities. He plays well opposite Bill Hader, especially during the ‘advice’ scene. I rewatched it and it had me laughing out loud again when he asked to ‘split the bill', which is 'better for [their] friendship.’
I agree with the NBA star that this character is already a heightened version of himself, and he seems to grasp what’s funny about the script and doesn’t take himself too seriously, and he might be just one of those athletes who is just (unintentionally) funny. However, I feel that LeBron will need the right kind of roles to step into someone else’s size 15 shoes. The athlete does seem open to it, though:
But, yeah, I would love to explore, and if the scripts start to roll in and there’s an opportunity for me to do some acting and I have the time — obviously, post-career — I don’t mind looking at it and seeing if I can make it happen, for sure.
It seems like an acting career might be in the All-Stars' future, but who knows how far off that is, as I am sure he is going to want to stay in the league for a few more years. Especially now that he and Bronny are on the same team as a dynamic father-son duo. My guess is that a sports movie about them is going to happen in the not-too-distant future. Whether or not it will be one of the best sports movies made is yet to be seen.
We all know that Michael Jordon may be considered the GOAT of the NBA game, but LeBron is certainly a contemporary on that list. Still, he may be in the conversation as being one of the greatest basketball players of all time, but I think he has a really long way to go as an actor. If I’m being honest, he will likely never be one of the greats on screen, but I’d still like to see if he could be good.
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