No, That’s Not LeBron James’s Family in ‘Space Jam 2’

Space Jam: A New Legacy, which is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max, is all about blurring the lines. It’s blurring the lines between animation and live-action, between the many Warner Bros. properties, and fact and fiction when it comes to the real-life basketball star, LeBron James.

As in the first Space Jam movie, which starred the basketball legend Michael Jordan, there are plenty of jokes made at the expense of James’s real-life basketball career—like the fact that he switched teams from Miami to Cleveland to Los Angeles, for example. But there is also a significant fictional plot involving James and his on-screen son, Dominic “Dom” James, played by actor Cedric Joe.

You see, in Space Jam: A New Legacy, LeBron James wants both of his sons to follow in his footsteps and become basketball players. But Dom, a computer genius, would rather spend his time working on the basketball video game he designed rather than playing actual basketball. Dom gets increasingly frustrated that his dad refuses to see him as his own person—especially when it turns out the basketball camp that Dom never asked to go to conflicts with the video game conference E3. Everyone from LeBron’s on-screen wife (played by Sonequa Martin-Green) to Bugs Bunny knows he’s being a lousy dad, but it takes playing a game of high-stakes basketball with the Looney Tunes for the King to realize it himself.

That said, though the emotional catharsis may feel genuine, and though James is playing himself, that is not LeBron James’s real family on-screen in Space Jam: A New Legacy.

IS LEBRON JAMES’S REAL FAMILY IN SPACE JAM 2?

No. James’s wife and three kids in Space Jam: A New Legacy are all portrayed by professional actors. That said, the characters are loosely based on the basketball player’s real family, at least by age and gender.

Star Trek actor Sonequa Martin-Green plays Kamiyah James, LeBron’s wife, who is a fictionalized version of his real-life wife, Savannah James. Actor Cedric Joe plays Dominic “Dom” James, a fictionalized version of LeBron’s son Bryce James. Actor Ceyair J. Wright plays Darius James, a fictionalized version of LeBron’s oldest son, LeBron “Bronny” James Jr. And actor Harper Leigh Alexander plays the young Xosha James, a fictionalized version of Zhuri James.

“This is a fictional version of myself, but it’s also kind of who I am as well,” LeBron James said in a promotional interview for the film.

While we hope James is a more supportive father IRL, you only have to glance at the King’s Instagram feed to know that his family, the James gang, really does mean everything to him. They’re just not professional actors!

Watch Space Jam: A New Legacy on HBO Max