It took 24 years, but the NBA has finally found a star big enough to play alongside with Bugs Bunny for the fate of the world. Actually, the plot is still a mystery, but the NY Daily News reported that LeBron James will star in a sequel to the movie “Space Jam.” For fans old enough to remember, the original “Space Jam” starred Michael Jordan when he was still the greatest athlete on the planet.
The original “Space Jam” movie starred Michael Jordan as himself as he is called on to help Bugs Bunny and the Loony Tunes characters when an evil alien captures them and plans to use them in his amusement park. They agree to play a basketball game for their freedom but when the alien uses mind control to force real NBA stars like Charles Barkley to play for him, Bugs Bunny needs Michael Jordan to win their freedom.
With LeBron James eclipsing Michael Jordan in some fans eyes, it is clear that he is the perfect person to replace Jordan in the new “Space Jam” movie. With that in mind, here is a look at some other athletes who played fictional versions of themselves in movies.
“Thunderstruck”
It is pretty clear that the “Space Jam” sequel will bring in some of Lebron’s contemporaries like the original movie did. There are a ton of fun players like James Harden, Blake Griffin and Kevin Love who should fit perfect in the world of Loony Tunes characters, but the one person who needs to star in it is Kevin Durant, arguably the second best NBA player to LeBron James at this time.
Durant has starred in a movie as himself before, the movie “Thunderstruck.” In the film, Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder are on their way towards the playoffs when a kid makes a wish and gets to play with Kevin Durant’s skills. The problem is that Durant loses his skills and the two have to find a way to reverse things before the Thunder’s season goes up in smoke.
“The Naked Gun”
The professional athletes are not always the good guys either. In the very funny spoof movie “The Naked Gun,” the story was about someone who wanted to kill the Queen of England. His goal was to kill her at a New York Yankees baseball game and the plan was to use hypnosis to force one of the Yankees’ players to kill her. The player that was chosen was none other than legendary Hall of Fame superstar Reggie Jackson.
“Ace Ventura”
Finally, it seems like Dan Marino might be one of Adam Sandler’s favorite athletes, along with John McEnroe, as both men have had cameos in different movies. McEnroe was best in “Mr. Deeds” while Marino had his best cameo appearances in both “Little Nicky” and “Ace Ventura.” The movie that has to be listed though is “Ace Ventura,” as the pet detective was hired to find and rescue the Miami Dolphins mascot, Snowflake. Along the way, many Dolphins players are suspects, including quarterback Dan Marino, that is until Marino is kidnapped and Ace Ventura has to save him as well.
