Sorry, Space Jam fans. But those weren’t LeBron James‘ kids in Space Jam 2. But that doesn’t mean that the Los Angeles Lakers player’s real children aren’t stars in their own right.
Space Jam: A New Legacy, which premiered on July 16, 2021, stars LeBron as a fictional version of himself. The movie, which is a sequel to 1996’s Space Jam and is a mix of live-action and animation, follows LeBron as he teams up with the Looney Tunes to win a basketball game against digital athletes to rescue his son, Dom, from an evil computer A.I.
In the movie, LeBron has three kids: Xosha, Darius and Dominic “Dom.” Each of his Space Jam kids is inspired by his real-life children. His IRL daughter Zhuri inspired Xosha (played by Harper Leigh Alexander); his eldest son Bronny inspired Darius (played by Ceyair J. Wright); and his youngest son Bryce inspired Dom (played by Cedric Joe.) The NBA star’s Space Jam wife Kamiyah (played by Sonequa Martin-Green) is also inspired his real-life wife, Savannah James, whom he married in 2013.
In an interview with Cheat Sheet, LeBron revealed that his IRL family visited the set of Space Jam 2 several times to make sure the fictional versions of themselves were accurate. “My whole family stopped by set a few times,” he said. “They’re just like wow. My boys are 16 and 14. They only care about how cool that the person that’s playing them in the movie looks. ‘Dad, does he look like me? Is he wearing my hair style? Is he dressing the right way? I don’t want somebody playing me and not being me.’”
Image: Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection.
He also revealed that the movie cast specific actors who looked like his family members. “Yes, we cast actors that kind of looked like my family,” he said. “We changed the names but I got an older son, a younger son and a daughter and a wife in the movie.” Though he wanted the actors who have a physical likeness to his family, he didn’t let any of his real-life family members have a part in casting. “I didn’t let ‘em because it would’ve took too long,” he said. “I said, ‘Dad gotta go to work.’”
Still, the actors were so accurate that LeBron joked that he “almost” took them home with him. “I almost brought my fictional family home one time,” he said. “As long as I don’t bring the fictional wife home, I was good.”
So who are LeBron James‘ kids, Bronny, Bryce and Zhuri? Read on for what we know about LeBron’s real-life children who inspired his Space Jam family.
Bronny James
Image: Kirby Lee via AP.
Bronny, whoe full name is LeBron Raymon James Jr., is LeBron and his wife Savannah’s eldest child. He was born on October 6, 2004. Like his dad, Bronny is a basketball player and is on the basketball team at his high school Sierra Canyon School in Los Angeles. Bronny, who also plays soccer, has competed with various Amateur Athletic Union teams, as well as Jr. National Basketball Association teams. Like his father, Bronny is also tall. He stands at 6 feet 4 inches and plays both point guard and shooting guard positions.
In July 2021, Bronny was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. In an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the time, LeBron revealed that Bronny’s real passion isn’t basketball but video games. “Bronny plays video games all day,” LeBron said. “I mean, he loves basketball, he plays basketball, loves being a big brother to his little brother and sister. But video games is his thing.”
He continued, “When he got on the cover, I was like, ‘You know I was younger than you, right?’ And then he did some research—all these kids got all these phones, which we didn’t have when I was growing up like that — he was like, ‘Dad, no, you were actually six months older than me. Now I’m the youngest guy in the household on Sports Illustrated.'”
At a press conference with reporters after the 2021 NBA All-Star Game, LeBron revealed that one of his “long-term goals” is to play with Bronny in the NBA. “That’s definitely one of my goals, but that’s a long-term goal,” he said. “My son right now is in high school and enjoying what being a teenager is all about. But that would be pretty cool to go on my resume.”
Bryce Maximus James
Image: Sthanlee B. Mirador/Sipa USA.
Bryce, whose full name is Bryce Maximus James, is LeBron and Savannah’s middle child and second son. He is two years younger than Bronny and was born on June 14, 2007. Like his dad and older brother, Bryce also plays basketball. In 2020, the Twitter account Slam HS Hoops tweeted a video of Bryce playing basketball with the caption, “Bryce James was IN HIS BAG last season.” LeBron retweeted the tweet hinting that his middle child is even better at basketball than people have seen. “he was! Only the beginning,” he tweeted. In May 2021, LeBron celebrated Bryce’s middle school graduation with a photo of him and his mom. “CONGRATULATIONS to my guy guy Bryce Maximus on graduating middle 
. 
. HS up next! Proud of you kid! Keep going to the
. #JamesGang
,” he captioned the picture.
Zhuri James
Image: Sthanlee B. Mirador/Sipa USA.
Zhuri is LeBron and Savannah’s youngest child and only daughter. She was born on October 22, 2014. In an interview with Cheat Sheet in 2021, LeBron revealed that Space Jam 2 got her daughter into Looney Toons, which was she too young for when the animated characters were first popular. “My daughter is super excited about it,” he said. “She’s too young to know about the original toons but now because of her dad she’s getting back into it.”
In an interview with Access Hollywood at the time, LeBron, who took Zhuri with him to the premiere of Space Jam 2, called her “the greatest thing” in his life. “My daughter is the greatest thing in my life, along with my boys. So, whenever she smiles, it don’t matter what I’m doing—It makes me happy,” he said.
0 Commentaires