Lakers' LeBron James Says 'Space Jam: A New Legacy' Was 'A Match Made in Heaven'

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James said the opportunity to star in Space Jam: A New Legacy was a "match made in heaven," which gave him a chance to showcase basketball and the Looney Tunes characters to a new generation.

James explained in an interview released Tuesday he became a big fan of Bugs Bunny and the other Tunes while watching the original Space Jam, which was released in 1996 with Michael Jordan in the lead role, and he said it's an "honor" to carry the legacy forward:

The four-time NBA MVP added it's "humbling" to find himself as not only the main character in the movie but also as one its producers.

James has made it clear throughout the development process the new Space Jam wouldn't be a direct sequel to MJ leading the Tune Squad to a victory over the Monstars, a group of oversized aliens who'd stolen to powers of several prominent NBA players, 25 years ago.

"It's not a sequel," he said on the Road Trippin' podcast in December (via Sam Warner of Digital Spy). "... There will be a basketball game, I'll say that. And there will be some people that are a little out of this world that we're competing against."

The opponents this time around will be known as the Goon Squad and include some basketball stars of current day using superpowers to try taking down LeBron and the Tunes—Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Diana Taurasi and Nneka Ogwumike.

Space Jam: A New Legacy is scheduled for a July 16 release.