If the ESPN documentary The Last Dance hadn’t done enough to inflame the Michael Jordan vs. Lebron James debate, 2021 looks set to add more fuel to the fire with the release of Space Jam – A New Legacy.
A New Legacy will star Lebron James and is slated for release in July 2021.
It will mark the first sequel to 1995’s Space Jam which starred Michael Jordan during a time when he was undoubtedly the best basketball player on planet Earth, pitting his skills against The Monstars – an intergalactic dream team who sucked the talents out of the day’s NBA stars through a form of telepathic vampirism.
Lebron James is a polarising figure in the basketball world. While his abilities on a basketball court cannot be denied, his occasional bouts of arrogance – including counting his future championships with the Miami Heat and his on-again off-again love affair with Cleveland – have prevented him from having the squeaky-clean and god-like aura that Jordan had in his iteration of the concept.
So for some people, following Jordan up with James in these movies seems like Warner Brothers wrongfully anointing a new king. And certainly, the movie’s title – A New Legacy – does little to quash those perceptions. But is it possible for the man some call King James to galvanize the basketball community and get them packing into the cinemas?
It would do world sport a world of good if he did. The coronavirus pandemic has closed down the NBA and almost every prominent sporting league on the planet. And Hollywood is feeling more than just a pinch, too, with movies being forced to release online or to delay release indefinitely rather than going through the standard theatrical process.
If a Lebron James-led Space Jam could inspire the next generation the way its predecessor did, it could go a long ways to quelling the quarantine quandaries of both industries well into the future.
Lebron James might not have been the hero we asked for; but he may be the hero planet Earth needs right now.
Repost from #LeBronJames: 2021. 🐰🥕 🎥 🍿👑 pic.twitter.com/G499sIvXL6
— Space Jam A New Legacy (@spacejammovie) April 30, 2020
Jarrad Hurley's professional basketball aspirations led him to the dizzying heights of the Adelaide social league circuit. After an epiphany that his hoop dreams would go unrealised, he put the ball down and picked up a pen. Jarrad lives vicariously through the successes of Australian basketball, is a mad 36ers fanatic, and might just cry if the Boomers ever medal.
