World Anxiously Awaits Decision On LeBron James'… New Movie

At some point in the next couple days, basketball superstar LeBron James will end a two-year tease and finally announce where he intends to reside in 2011 to shoot commercials, write books, hold intense brand foundation meetings, and very occasionally play basketball.

Seasoned basketball fans might be correct in assuming that James is far more interested in speculation over his basketball career than his actual basketball career itself. After all, this is a guy who quit on his coach at the end of the playoffs. Ah, but could it be that James is ready to fully dedicate himself to the sport at which he’s so gifted? Well, here’s one sign that it could be the case: James has put off his new movie vehicle until next year, and perhaps longer. Variety says:

Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment had hoped to get their James vehicle "Ballers" off the ground next month but have quietly put it on hold until next summer…

The screenplay, penned by Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz with a rewrite by Peter Steinfeld, needed work and couldn't hit the small window in James' busy schedule, according to several sources close to the project…

Furthermore… basketball's most sought-after player wanted to concentrate on his hoops future.

When it comes to LeBron, I can’t tell if “hoops future” means the actual playing of basketball, or feeding the media beast that has camped outside his home and sifted through his burger wrappers for the past year to divine clues as to his intentions. That’s the thing with LeBron. You always hear about standup comics who look down on other comics who use the art form as a means to an end: a sitcom, a movie role, a talk show hosting gig, anything but doing standup comedy. LeBron gives off that whiff more often than he should. He’s so gifted at basketball that he seems more interested in using it as a springboard into other ventures. And that makes him wildly irritating at times.

So this film delay is a welcome development. It’s not like you’re frothing at the mouth to witness the spiritual sequel to “Space Jam.” If you’ve ever seen that movie (I have), you know Michael Jordan appeared in it essentially as resume filler. I had no problem with this, since Jordan was such a remorseless killer on the court. James, however, has more to prove at this point. So, by all means boys, work more on that script. Perhaps this way, James will finally start treating basketball as something more than an appearance in a Sprite ad.

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