LeBron James (Space Jam: A New Legacy)

LeBron James "Listen, guys, I'm a ballplayer. You know, and athletes acting, that never goes well. I'm sorry, guys. This is all just, it's just not me." Gender: Male Type: Manipulative Athlete The impersonator of LeBron James Species: Human Portrayed by: Himself John Eric Bentley (MultiVersus) Status: Alive Media of origin: Looney Tunes First appearance: December 30, 1984

Note: This is only talking about LeBron as the main character of Space Jam: A New Legacy. Not the real-life version of LeBron since both of them are completely different things.

LeBron James is the main character of the critically panned 2021 film Space Jam: A New Legacy. This version of LeBron happens to be a fictionalized version of himself.

Still a basketball player, he wanted his son to be a basketball player despite having dreams of being a video game developer. Due to being invited to the WB studio, LeBron and his son were sent to the Serververse due to a conflict between each other. Now LeBron has to win a basketball game to get his son back.

Sadly, the fictional version of LeBron was poorly scripted in this film and was considered one of the worst film characters of 2021.

Why This Fictional LeBron is No King

1. First and foremost, he lacks the charm, charisma and likability of the "fictional" version of Michael Jordan, the previous basketball player who teamed up with Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes in the previous Space Jam film, and to some extent, LeBron's own real-life counterpart.
2. His acting in the movie is mediocre and pathetic, even when compared to Jordan's acting in the first film. You see, he sounds like he knew that this movie was not going to be what he expected it to be. Just look at his acting in the film and you will see how awkward he is. On the topic of this, his screams are even worse because they either sound too silly (almost as if he sounded like Crash Bandicoot getting drunk) or too deep. Even his voice performance of Gwangi in Smallfoot, another film produced by Warner Animation Group (which Zendaya, Lola Bunny's voice actress also starred in) is better than this.
3. LeBron is pretty unlikable for the most part towards his son Dom and the Tunes. He wants to do certain things his way.
   • For Dom, LeBron wanted him to be a basketball player yet he got dissatisfied over Dom wanting to make video games. It has gone to the point where both started an argument and stormed out of an office at the Warner Bros. studio.
   • As for the Looney Tunes characters, he wanted Bugs to get certain players like Superman and The Iron Giant in the basketball team yet as soon as Bugs got the Tunes, LeBron was angry at Bugs. It got even worse when they started to train for the basketball game.
   • He did act like a Gary Stu at the Warner Bros. Studios, and there’s too many posters of other movies that Warner Bros. distributed, such as The Shining, The Matrix, The Lego Movie, SCOOB!, The Color Purple, Aquaman, Batman, Harry Potter, Ready Player One, Inception, Justice League, Interstellar, It, and even The Conjuring.
4. His story arc does not make any sense. Yes, LeBron does help the Tunes out yet the reason being is that the arc is so generic. The only reason behind his story arc is because the AI is bad. Is that all there is?
5. He is shown to be manipulative towards Dom and the Tunes. If treating both characters like crap wasn't bad enough, manipulation is just as bad or worse. He attempted to manipulate his son to be an athlete at one point. The Tunes on the other hand were also manipulated as well because LeBron just wants the Tunes to play basketball his way. He also infamously told Bugs “Look, Bugs, it's my way or the highway”.
6. Thanks to these reasons, they are the reason why Dom and the Tunes started having a conflict with LeBron, so much to the point he could already qualify as the film's metaphorical antagonist. With Dom, both he and LeBron argued in the WB studio with LeBron and the Tunes starting an argument during halftime.
7. The scene where LeBron dabs in one scene was weird, and can be seen as trying to be hip and cool. Even Dom didn't want LeBron to dab yet the latter did. Even the scene where LeBron makes this weird smile in front of Al-G after halftime also looks hideous.
8. For some reason, LeBron still keeps his Looney Tunes design when he goes to the DC World or the Wonder Woman comic. How does he still keep the previous animated design when he goes to those worlds despite the latter worlds having a different art style?

Redeeming Qualities

1. His animated form when he goes to the Looney Tunes world does look fitting on him not to mention that his animated form does blend well with the antics of Looney Tunes.
2. He does get character development and is a much better character in real-life where he accepts the Tunes and Dom the way they are and their plans. Even prior to character development, there are times when he can be tolerable such as him sympathizing Bugs when the latter explains why most of the Tunes left Bugs or when he learns that Lola is a good basketball player.
   • In fact, he had a good reason why he wanted his son back despite all this conflict he went through.
   • He is also supposed to be unlikable first because he wanted to make Dom or Looney Tunes great basketball players.
3. He's a good basketball player and did his best in the basketball game. Especially when he played with the Looney Tunes against the other team accompanied by “The Final Countdown” by Europe.
4. He has some funny lines (intentionally or not) like "What in the Matrix Hell?", "That algorithm is busted,", "I'm shorter than Kevin Hart,", and "Everything. We’re missing everything...".
5. The scene where LeBron reunites with his son Dom at the Tune Squad vs. Goon Squad basketball game and the two hug was a really cute and sweet moment.

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