Two young men forge a life-changing best-friendship thanks to their shared love of basketball (and more specifically of b-ball superstar LeBron James) in Rajiv Joseph’s heart-stopping brom-com King James, now bringing audiences to their feet at the Mark Taper Forum.

Joseph divides his play into four “quarters,” each of which takes place at a major turning point* in James’ career and in the friendship of two of his absolute biggest fans.

 A nineteen-year-old LeBron was already being proclaimed a future NBA superstar in 2004 when 20somethings Shawn (Glenn Davis) and Matt (Chris Perfetti) meet cute at the Cleveland wine bar where Matt serves customers a selection of red, white, and rosé, though it’s not wine that has brought Shawn to La Cave Du Vin.

What Shawn wants more than anything in life is the pair of season tickets that Matt and his now bedridden father have enjoyed since his childhood, but which Matt must now sell to pay off several thousand dollars in debts.

And since unlike Matt, Shawn has never been to a game in his entire life, it’s easy to see why a pair of tickets to the remainder of the season would be pretty much irresistible, especially now that the aspiring writer has sold his first story and can finally afford to shell out for them, that is if he and Matt can agree on a price.

Playwright Joseph has us rooting for Shawn and Matt’s friendship from the get-go, and though it becomes almost immediately clear that since Shawn has no one in particular to invite to the games and since Matt will be missing out on the entire rest of the season, the ideal solution would be for them to (fill in the blank here), it takes until the Scene One fadeout for a light to flash above each one’s head … and for friendship to be born.

Not that the course of true love ever did run smooth, nor does it for Shawn and Matt, whose mutual adoration may be absolutely platonic (each is about as straight as straight gets) but ends up no less heartstrings-pulling than when Harry met Sally.

If it’s not already clear, King James had this basketball know-nothing of a reviewer from hello, thanks to cumulative effect of Joseph’s big-hearted, laugh-filled script, Kenny Leon’s pitch-perfect direction, and two of the year’s most winning performances.

Davis plays Shawn with a wide-eyed wonderment that proves every bit as irresistible as Perfetti’s considerably pricklier Matt (and if you’re an Abbott Elementary fan like I am, seeing “Jacob Hill” live on stage is an added plus).

King James arrives direct from Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company with its entire design team intact, in particular Tony-winning scenic designer Todd Rosenthal, whose Act Two switcheroo earns a justified round of applause at lights up.

Samantha C. Jones costumes, Lee Fiskness’s lighting design, and Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen’s sound design are just as fabulous, with special snaps to DJ Khloe Janel for some pre-show disc-spinning designed to put audiences in the mood for the greatness to come.

David S. Franklin is production stage manager. Camella Cooper is stage manager and Michelle Blair is resident stage manager. Polly Hubbard is dramaturg.

Casting is by JC Clementz, CSA, with additional casting by Victor Vazquez, CSA. Dante Alexander understudies Shawn and Curtis Edward Jackson understudies Matt.

Even those with little or no knowledge of or interest in the country’s third-favorite sport are guaranteed to fall under King James’ spell. It’s that rarity among plays, one that had me wishing it (along with Shawn and Matt’s friendship) would never end.

*Scene 1, 2004: LeBron wins NBA Rookie of the Year, making the Cleveland Cavaliers star the city’s favorite son.
Scene 2, 2010: LeBron abandons the Cavs (and our two protagonists) for the Miami Heat.
Scene 3, 2014: LeBron re-signs with the Cavaliers and returns to his native Cleveland.
Scene 4, 2016: LeBron leads the Cavs to its first NBA championship in 52 years.

Mark Taper Forum, 35 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles.
www.centertheatregroup.org

–Steven Stanley
June 8, 2022
Photos: Craig Schwartz Photography

Tags: Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles Theater Review, Mark Taper Forum, Rajiv Joseph