We Asked Award-Winning Screenwriters to Script LeBron's Last Act
Adam McKay and Angelo Pizzo agree there's a clear choice, story-wise, for LeBron James' final free agency "decision."
Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we discuss the intersection of sports and money—with some extra humor and opinion. Today we’re talking about what’s left for the King to claim. 👑🏀🎞️
Over 23 NBA seasons, LeBron James has played every role, except for role player. He’s been a phenom, a villain, a prodigal son, and a power broker. Along the way he’s starred as himself in numerous commercials1 and film projects, directing untold more social media spots.
“I feel like every season for me is just like a movie. Every season is like a movie, and I’m, like, living in it,” James said on his show The Shop a few years ago. “I’m the star.”
Naturally, then, we called in a couple top screenwriters to see how they’d shape LeBron’s final act, as he goes through free agency one more time.
Angelo Pizzo wrote Hoosiers and Rudy. He has a clear idea for how he would script the end of LeBron James' storied NBA career. Adam McKay, who wrote Talladega Nights and executive produced Winning Time2, agreed with Pizzo. If he were alive, Joseph Campbell would certainly be on board too.
The King should return home.3
Yes, he’s already played that card once, but this time would feel different.
“I kind of like the idea that he goes and he has these worldwide adventures in Miami, in LA, in the Olympics, but yet at the end of the day, he’s going to do something that guys like Michael Jordan didn’t do, which is, he’s going to go back,” McKay said.
Towards the end of his previous stint in northeast Ohio, James opened the I Promise School. He was already thinking about what his legacy would be. “The basketball thing, I love it and I enjoy it, but to give back and open up a school, that’s something that will last way beyond my years,” he said in 2017.
This time around, he could support a new hospital, McKay suggested, or even better, “he’s gonna give every paycheck to starting a legitimate newspaper for the state of Ohio, a not-for-profit, fully staffed paper—not only for the state of Ohio but for the whole country.” Plus, at each stop on his valedictory tour, James could team up with local philanthropists to establish rec centers and otherwise spotlight overlooked communities like the one he came from.
It’s far from a guarantee that James is able to cap his career by celebrating one more NBA title. “That’s why I kind of like this,” McKay said. “You know, put it back into the soil.”4
Even still, a year-long do-good campaign might not win over the legion of LeBron haters that have developed since his 2010 heel turn.
“What makes sports stories effective is the relatability,” Pizzo said. “That’s number one.”
And even though James has an inspirational tale, growing up with housing instability and dedicating himself to lifting his family into the upper echelons of society through basketball greatness, it’s still difficult for many people to see themselves in The Chosen One who became King James. Even as he has become more of a comic presence in recent years—a wine-sipping, Taco Tuesday-loving Uncle of every NBA star—LeBron will never be an everyman figure, much less an underdog.
The Cavs have emerged as the favorite for James’ services, though Miami, Golden State, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Denver remain in the mix. Each would present their own story opportunities, though Pizzo said James needs more than another scenery swap to win people over.
“There have to be enough impediments, enough difficult times to go through in order to get to the other side, that people have a natural rooting interest,” Pizzo said. “The ultimate power of storytelling is in change.”
Maybe that comes in fully embracing a smaller role as connector or mentor, rather than star. Or it arrives as a realization about what he’s truly looking for in his hunt for “basketball happiness.” Maybe it’s catching a glimpse, away from the cameras, of the impact he’s had on kids in the city that made him. And the amount of work it takes to give them a shot at something grander.
After a lifetime on the move, constantly chasing something, what would it take for LeBron James to settle down and finally feel at peace? At home? There’s bound to be something relatable there.
Of course, at 41, James will have more story to experience after his playing days. Even if he won’t be a team owner, he’s still going to be around. Ultimately, the arc of LeBron is in the hands of one man.
“He has his own way of looking at his future, and he’s the one to tell his story,” Pizzo said. “I’m not the one to tell a story for him.”
Still, the masters of the craft had some advice.
When the swan song comes, McKay said, “You want to end that last year with whatever his sort of grand project has been. You want it to all end with an opening.”
That could be saying hello to the first baby born at a newly funded hospital. Or it could be watching a debut newspaper start rolling off the press, with the headline: Farewell to the King 👑.
Eben’s 🔥 Take: Counterpoint: LeBron should play the heel! As he said back in 2011 after leaving Cleveland the first time: “I've kind of accepted this kind of villain role that everyone has placed on me… I'm OK with it.”
LeBron should air all the receipts from those who have doubted or criticized him. He should conduct a very open free agency tour, forcing teams that want him to make their pitch publicly, sitting next to him in barber chairs on The Shop. And then he should convene a live TV special to announce his Decision, revealing that he’s taking his talents away from the NBA to anchor Project B’s first season. (Yes, it’s obvious I’m not a Hollywood screenwriter).
Club Sportico is a community organized by Sportico, a digital media company launched in 2020 to cover the business side of sports. You can read breaking news, smart analysis, and in-depth features from Eben, Jacob and their colleagues at Sportico.com, and listen to the Sporticast podcast wherever you get your audio. Contact us at club@sportico.com.
Who else remembers The LeBrons?
It’s the oldest trope in the book for a reason. LBJ could even cut an Odyssey promo in his announcement!
McKay also offered a more comic suggestion, if James was in the mood. He could go to, say, the Sacramento Kings, on the condition that he get full operational control. He could round out his starting five with his two sons, Dwyane Wade, and James’ wife, Savannah. They wouldn’t be good, but they’d be must-see TV, somewhat like the final show of a late night host’s run. Characters from the past—Timofey Mozgov, Chris “Birdman” Andersen, J.R. Smith—could return for cameos. Paul McCartney could even get a few minutes of run against the Rockets, McKay suggested.