LeBron James Reveals His SPACE JAM 2 Tune Squad Uniform and Gives a Heartfelt Speech as Production Wraps
LeBron James and Warner Bros. have shared a new promo video for Space Jam: A New Legacy, which offers us our first look at the Tune Squad uniform that he and his team will be wearing in the highly anticipated film. As you can see, the jersey shows off a fresh new design that I think fans will dig. Check it out!
The production for the film also recently wrapped, and James offered a powerful heartfelt speech explaining that when the opportunity came along to make the sequel, he didn’t hesitate to jump at the chance.
“I’m gonna be honest completely with you guys – when I found out about the project, I was like it’s ‘Space Jam’! It’s a movie that I grew up watching. People in the movie that I idolize. I was like absolutely, I gotta do it. There’s no way I can turn down ‘Space Jam’!”
James then got a bit more personal about his humble past saying:
“I’m just a small kid from Akron, Ohio – a very small town outside of Cleveland. From a single-parent household, I’m the only child, my mother had absolutely nothing. She was walking around high school when she was 16 years old and she was pregnant with me as a high school sophomore. So, I’m really not supposed to be here.
“Growing up in the inner city, as an African-American kid, there’s no way you’re supposed to fucking make it out. And, the fact that I’m who I am as an African-American adult now with three kids of my own, and I made it out of the situations that I was in. This shit is like extra credit for me man.”
The guy is an insanely talented basketball player, the kind of rare talent that no one can ignore. It’s pretty damn cool that after working so hard, he was blessed with the opportunity to live his dream in more ways than just playing basketball, which so many other people don’t get to do. If you want, you can listen to the full speech James made here.
We don’t know anything about the story for the film, but Star Trek: Discovery's Sonequa Martin-Green was previously cast as LeBron's wife. It’s also said that there’s a best friend character in the film named Malik, “modeled after Maverick Carter, LeBron's childhood buddy and producing partner in SpringHill.” Don Cheadle joined the cast in an undisclosed role, but it’s rumored that he’ll be the villain.
It was also previously reported that NBA players Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis, and Klay Thompson will appear in the film along with WNBA stars Diana Taurasi and Nneka Ogwumike. Several more NBA and WNBA players, including Chiney Ogwumike, are expected to show up in the film as well.
When talking about the film, James said:
“The Space Jam collaboration is so much more than just me and the Looney Tunes getting together and doing this movie. It’s so much bigger. I’d just love for kids to understand how empowered they can feel and how empowered they can be if they don’t just give up on their dreams.”
Space Jam: A New Legacy is being directed by Malcolm D. Lee, and Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is also helping develop the movie with James as a producer. Space Jam: A New Legacy is set to hit theaters on July 16, 2021.