Lebron James Just Won A Hilarious Acting Award

Lebron James just won an award for his acting though this might not be the kind of thing the NBA superstar would want on his mantle

By Doug Norrie | Updated

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When it’s all said and done, Lebron James will likely go down as the best basketball player to ever lace them up. The list is already a short one with his prowess on the court making for one of the most incredible careers we’ve ever seen in the NBA. On this front, there is very little dispute. But does his talent on the hardwood translate to making movies on the big screen? Not really. And there was recently an award given to Lebron James for his first foray into truly starring in a big-budget production. But it’s not the kind of award you necessarily want to take home. That’s because Lebron was voted Worst Actor at the 42nd Golden Raspberry Awards. That’s right, Lebron James is now the proud owner of a Razzie

The Razzie Award was given to Lebron James for his work in Space Jam: A New Legacy which hit theaters and HBO Max last July. It was the follow-up to the Michael Jordan-led film of the 1990s and it brought Lebron James and company up against a new foe, The Goon Squad led by the evil AI-G (Don Cheadle). Of course, in this world, all problems are solved on the basketball court and A New Legacy took many of its beats from the original movie, updating pieces of the story to involve computers rather than aliens. 

But though Lebron James starred in the film and was able to bring his basketball skills to the story, on the acting front it would seem that he left quite a bit to be desired. The Razzies voted him the worst actor, beating out Scott Eastwood in Dangerous, Mark Wahlberg in Infinite, Ben Platt in Dear Evan Hanson, and Roe Hartrampf from Diana the Musical. And as for Space Jam: A New Legacy, well that was up for Worst Movie as well, but Netflix’s Diana the Musical took home that award. 

Joining Lebron James and Don Cheadle in Space Jam: A New Legacy were a number of other notables including Sonequa Martin-Green, Wood Harris, Sarah Silverman, Steven Yeun, with voice credits going to folks like Zendaya, Jeff Bergman, Gabriel Iglesias. Other NBA and WNBA-ers included Lebron James’ Lakers teammate Anthony Davis as well as Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson, Sue Bird, and Diana Taurasi. So the cast was packed with talent, but it simply couldn’t translate to a good film. Space Jam: A New Legacy is currently sitting at 26% on Rotten Tomatoes through more than 200 reviews. 

Even with a Razzie award and nomination under its belt, the Space Jam franchise could continue on into the future. But it might not involve Lebron James or any NBA player at all. That’s because director Malcolm Lee spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the possibility of a follow-up film, but focusing it on a different sport. He mentioned bringing wrestling into the focus with someone like Dwayne Johnson possibly headlining a new flick. That could be a bit of a pipe dream of course, but it sure doesn’t look like we will get Lebron into another starring role for this franchise. You can still catch this “award-winning” performance on HBO Max where Space Jam: A New Legacy is streaming.