Here’s everything you’ll need to know about the new LeBron James movie, Shooting Stars.
We all know who LeBron James is and where he is today, but in order to fully understand his rise to stardom, we must know where he started.
And that would be in Akron, Ohio — we’ve all heard the ‘Cleveland, this is for you’ line after he led local franchise the Cavaliers to the championship in 2016. But a crucial part of LeBron’s journey to the NBA was playing for Catholic school St. Vincent-St. Mary, where he dominated along with his close teammates in the early 2000s.
And now there’s a movie about it, Shooting Stars.
Based off the book with the same name, written by James along with Buzz Bissinger, it follows LeBron and his childhood friends through an incredible four-year stretch in a mix of dramatised film and sit down interviews with the actual players.
The dramatic moments of Shooting Stars illustrates the conflict central to LeBron James’ growth in popularity, nation-wide. Nobody can be prepared to deal with the overwhelming challenge of – literally – ‘shooting’ to fame as a developing teenager.
Released via streaming service Peacock, Shooting Stars really emphasises that James wasn’t always the incredible phenom he is today, but rather had to work to get to where he is.
Here’s everything you need to know about the LeBron James’ film Shooting Stars.
When is Shooting Stars being released?
Shooting Stars premiered exclusively on Peacock on June 2; available to watch on demand via a subscription to the quickly-rising streaming service.
But Peacock is not currently available in Australia. As of mid-June, there is no official date for when the film might come to screens down under, or in the UK.
We will update this story as more comes to hand.
Shooting Stars trailer
Watch a snippet of the LeBron James movie right here, or in the below embed.
What is Shooting Stars the film about?
As LeBron James’ professional basketball career continues to wind to an end, the four-time NBA champion, who became the all-time leading scorer in the NBA in 2023, is lending his hands to world of film.
This time, James has created a movie based off his book, telling the story of him and his close-knit group of friends who dominated high school basketball in the early 2000s for St. Vincent-St. Mary.
The major complication of the film Shooting Stars is centred around LeBron’s budding ego, which doesn’t go unnoticed by his teammates and family; he even claims his now-wife won the lotto, being with him.
Ultimately, the St. Vincent-St. Mary team was outstanding and unstoppable, in large part through LeBron’s incredible basketball ability. It, of course, leads to him becoming the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.
What are people saying about the film Shooting Stars?
The reviews don’t seem to be too kind towards Shooting Stars, with the Los Angeles Times claiming that the screenwriters “struggled to turn complications into an exciting story.”
Others, such as CNN Entertainment, stated that the reliance on slow motion basketball sequences lacked excitement and that the chronological storyline lead to an inevitable end of LeBron James being the person and player he is today.
To play the other side, it is challenging to depict such a well known story that has little plot twists and is simply just recapping James’ high school experience. Treating it more like a biopic might be a helpful viewing exercise.
What other LeBron James films are coming our way?
Following the conclusion of the Los Angeles Lakers 2022/23 season, LeBron left his playing career very much up in the air, stating that he’s got a lot to think about.
A silver lining to LeBron’s eventual retirement, though, is the fact that Michael Thompson, the executive producer of The Last Dance, had been compiling footage by following the Lakers throughout their turbulent season.
Lakers radio commentator, John Ireland, shared the news on the Awful Announcing Podcast saying, “(Andy Thompson) has spent a ton of time with us this year. So if LeBron ever wanted to go down this road (making a documentary), I think Andy is stockpiling that just so he has it and has the opportunity to tell the story.”
A LeBron James Last Dance documentary is all to exciting to think about, but I’m sure most of us can agree we would rather him stay on the court a little longer.
