Some suggest never meeting your idols, but Los Angeles Lakers forward and “Space Jam: A New Legacy” star LeBron James remains the exception to a few rules.
At the premiere of his new movie Tuesday, James met YouTube personality Mark Phillips, who has established himself with his NBA impersonations and other online entertainment. The four-time league MVP couldn’t contain his laughter upon the two making introductions.
Phillips, who is the founder and face of the YouTube channel RDCworld1, appeared blown away by James’ endorsement for him and his team to continue their work.
If you’re not familiar, back in January, when the Brooklyn Nets acquired three-time scoring champion James Harden, Phillips interpreted James’ reaction to Harden joining two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant and 2016 champion Kyrie Irving to create the NBA’s newest Big Three.
Less than three months prior, James, who turned 36 this past December, became the second-oldest Finals MVP en route to the Lakers’ record-tying 17th league title. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (37 in 1985) won the award at an older age.
How Lebron was when he found out James Harden went to the Nets 🏀🤣💀 pic.twitter.com/BK9bb48nze
— Mark Phillips (@SupremeDreams_1) January 14, 2021
The next day, James tweeted his reaction to Phillips’ sketch. As of Tuesday, the posts had combined for nearly 1.4 million likes and over 216,000 retweets.
IM 36!!!!! IM 36!!!! STOP THROWING THE BALL 😡😡😡🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣💀 https://t.co/KkU32nQVKU
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 14, 2021
“But what’s crazy about LeBron is that we make videos involving him … so when he did it, it’s like, I didn’t think it was real,” Phillips said at the time. “We were actually in the middle of filming a YouTube video and didn’t know he tweeted it. My nephew FaceTimed me and told me, and I was in shock.
“Immediately he was like, ‘You made it, you made it,’ and we couldn’t believe it at all, but we were just yelling in joy and all just crowded around one phone with the highest level of excitement.”
Legendary Moments ! 🌎 pic.twitter.com/g63NiAVrhr
— Mark Phillips (@SupremeDreams_1) July 14, 2021
If James and Phillips meeting at the “Space Jam” premiere illustrates anything, it’s that the latter is already well ahead of creating a new legacy of his own.