STAGE WEST: "King James" at the Old Globe

Caleb Foote (left) and Joshua Echebiri in "King James."                                          Photo by Rich Soublet II

        As you may have read in advance of seeing “King James” at the Old Globe’s White Theatre, Clevelander Rajiv Joseph’s two-handed play is NOT about basketball. It’s about friendship.
        That’s true enough. Over the course of two-plus hours and four scenes played out against the backdrop of monumental moments in the career of NBA great LeBron James, Matt (Caleb Foote) and Shawn (Joshua Echebiri) manfully evolve their bromance. They meet, they bond, they break up, they reconcile … sounds like a lot of relationships, doesn’t it?
         The glue that holds the two Clevelanders together is their devotion to the hometown Cavaliers and, more so, the growing legend that is James, the transcendent athlete who would bring the downtrodden sports city its first championship in more than 50 years.
          I guess it’s possible to appreciate “King James” if you have little to zero knowledge of or interest in pro basketball or in LeBron James himself. But it would be nowhere near as satisfying. Personally speaking, I remember vividly the LeBron highlights referenced or heard via sound effects throughout the play: the drafting by the Cavaliers in 2003 of the high school phenom out of nearby Akron; 2010’s “The Decision,” in which James went on national television to reveal what team, as a free agent, he was leaving his beloved Cleveland for (it would be the Miami Heat); the announcement in 2014 that James, after his hiatus, would be returning to once again play for the Cavs; and the delivery two years later of his promise  to the city – to bring home a championship – with an epic Game 7 victory in Oakland over the supposedly indomitable Golden State Warriors.
         Still get chills remembering James blocking Andre Igoudala’s layup in the incredibly tense, waning moments of that contest.
           I didn’t get chills from “King James,” which is not to say I didn’t enjoy the production. Foote and Echebiri are strictly first-string in this show, creating believable and likable characters. Their camaraderie is more interesting than their destinies, but then only Echebiri’s Shawn really has a destiny – to become a television writer (though he wants to be a writer writer). Foote’s Matt, we get the sense, will be a Cleveland bar or shop owner all his life, and he can be impulsive and lunkheaded at times, but we like him anyway.
          Though directed with spirit throughout by Justin Emecka, “King James” doesn’t really discover much dramatic tension until Act 2 when Matt and Shawn confront, at times explosively, their differences and their disconnects. The first act is a might slow and talky, engaging though the two Ohio fans and their banter is.
         The magic (not the Lakers’ Earvin or the Orlando Magic) of this play is its evocation of LeBron James’ career without showing even one highlight on a TV screen. The audio is enough, and honestly, hearing Matt and Shawn so vividly reliving the King’s feats would have been enough. I’ve somewhat lost interest in the NBA over the years, but this show made me want to sit down in the den, pop open a cold one and turn on TNT or ESPN. That would, of course, be more fun with a buddy sitting beside me to abet my cheering and amateur analyzing.
        “King James” runs through April 7 at the Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre in Balboa Park