5 NBA players who could’ve starred in Space Jam 2 before LeBron James

LeBron James is not the only NBA superstar who could have followed Michael Jordan’s footsteps in Hollywood.

LeBron James has made a Hall of Fame career out of being first.

He was the first high school basketball underclassman to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, and the first to win the Gatorade National Player of the Year award. Then he was the first pick of the 2003 NBA Draft.

As a pro, LeBron led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first Eastern Conference title and eventually their first NBA championship. He was the first player to average a triple-double in the NBA Finals. He was the first to lead both teams in every major stat category in a Finals series, and the first to successfully lead a team back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals.

This past season with the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron became the first player to crack the NBA’s all-time top 10 in points and assists.

The four-time league MVP has also broken barriers off the court in his business and entertainment endeavors, but his most ambitious Hollywood project to date is a straight-up copycat job.

LeBron recently began filming Space Jam 2, a sequel to the 1996 Warner Brothers movie featuring Michael Jordan, Bugs Bunny and a supporting cast of cartoon legends and basketball superstars.

https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1143308212000546816

Even though an honest review would categorize the original Space Jam as a mediocre cash grab, the film remains iconic for generations of fans who grew up idolizing Jordan. It’s pretty clear that LeBron is aiming for the sequel to have a similar impact on his legacy.

It takes a certain level of mainstream celebrity and influence among one’s NBA peers to pull off something like what LeBron is embarking on, but he’s not the only player who is or was capable of taking on this project.

Here are five players, past and present, who could’ve attempted a Space Jam sequel before LeBron.