LeBron James has been the face of the league for two decades now. However, his legacy started to take form in his high school days. Throughout his career, he amassed numerous accolades. In fact, his exceptional skills and physical prowess surpassed his peers. Even though he was just a high school student, his numbers resembled those in the NBA. Therefore, it was unsurprising when young James dropped college to participate in the 2003 NBA Draft right out of high school. The Chosen One has not only tasted success on the court, but he also had a successful run with his numerous business ventures.

However, one such $25 million venture that sheds light on his humble beginnings struggled for more than a decade.

LeBron James’ $25 million venture

King James’ $25 million venture, Shooting Stars, features young James and his high school friends – FAB Five, as they came to be known. It is based on a book of the same name, co-authored by LeBron James and journalist Buzz Bissinger. Even though the producer of the movie had purchased the rights to the book thirteen years ago, the movie came out on Peacock just recently.

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The movie’s director Chris Robinson was recently a guest on The Roots, where he discussed the challenges that led to the delay of the movie by 13 years. One would think because James already has a book and a documentary, a feature film would be fairly easy to produce. However, that is not the case, because a lot of it also depends on the schedule of the studio. Chris said, “They’re going okay, well does this work in our slate? Because they got all these other movies. Then there’s a lot of they’re going for awards on other movies, just whatever their slate is, where does it fit in? Once it’s there, when do we put that movie out? When is it most advantageous? So they’re dealing with the business aspect.”

He also divulged the creative challenges they faced. Since there already had been a book and documentary discussing LeBron’s life, making the film more exciting for the viewers was another major concern. They hit another roadblock when it came to the casting, as finding actors who can also hoop was time-consuming. He said, “Can you find LeBron? Like, it’s a needle in a haystack“. 

A feature film about LeBron James’ humble beginnings

Directed by Chris Robinson, the movie is a retelling of James’ high school career before he rose to prominence. It features a group of five high school friends – LeBron James, Dru Joyce III, Willie McGee, Sian Cotton, and Romeo Travis. The story revolves around the group’s controversial decision to reject the Akron public school to attend St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, a predominantly white high school, so they can continue playing together. It chronicles the difficulties they faced, as well as their achievements, as they ruled the high school basketball landscape.

However, the superstar origin story received an immense amount of love, making it the highest-viewed movie in the platform’s history. As it turns out, The Kid from Akron has not only found success on the court but is also set to reign over the movie industry.

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