Who Will the Monstars Target in "Space Jam 2"

Space Jam 2 has a tentative release date of July 16, 2021. We’ll all be old by the time it comes out. The Golden State Warriors could be fresh off winning a fourth straight NBA championship. LeBron James, the star of the much-anticipated sequel, may be firmly in the twilight of his career. But these things take time.

Until then we can only speculate on plot and casting.

Now, it’s reasonable to expect something similar to the first edition, in which James will band together with a bunch of cartoons to beat the big, bad Monstars, a franchise that takes extreme shortcuts and uses thievery to leverage other players’ talent.

People forget that Michael Jordan was not blessed with many competent players on his side. Elmer Fudd? Just a disaster on defense. Same thing for Wayne Knight. Pepe Le Pew? Me-first glory boy.

So the NBA stars who are cast in the second will, technically, be providing their physical and voice talent to the team opposing James. This is important in making educated guesses in who that could be.

The most likely choices are the ol’ Banana Boat crew: Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, and Dwyane Wade. These are his closest friends. The fly in the ointment, of course, is that at least two of them will be retired by the time the movie comes out in theaters. The desire to keep things current will be real. One can bet there will be a few studio notes on ensuring the flick stays relevant in the coming years.

Will James cave or will he stand pat with all three, creating a Last Vegas type vibe, which, obviously, would be an odd choice for a children’s picture? My completely informed guess here is that Wade, Paul, and Anthony are in the movie, but as some sort of help to James and his Toon Squad. This makes sense because, really, Bugs Bunny and Donald Duck could probably check a Monstar with Anthony’s skill level at this time. Nothing too imposing there.

A good compromise leaves everyone happy and as long as the SAG checks clear, the Banana Boat crew will remain on the best of terms.

Another thing to consider is LeBron’s knack for politik. One should expect the evil-doers to target either Klutch Sports clients or free agents who could somehow help James win the last of his NBA titles.

The two biggest stars in that universe, right now, are Anthony Davis and Ben Simmons. Draymond Green is also there, and he’s different than the rest. He’s sort of a bad guy out of central casting. So there, 60 percent of the Monstars starting lineup is set.

It seems insane to do a basketball movie for youngsters without involving Stephen Curry, who provides an unstoppable shooting force. It would also be a mistake not to utilize Giannis Antetokounmpo, a giant human with a kid-approved nickname.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. There’s not enough weirdness here. In the original, Shawn Bradley and Muggsy Bogues were included just because they were abnormally large and small, respectively. But it’s 2019 and will be 2020. We can’t laugh at those sight gags anymore.

Also, keep an eye out for some WNBA players to make an appearance. Feels like that is the right call.

Take all this with a grain of salt. The only prediction I’m confident making is that James’ team will win, and it will be dramatic. Seen a few movies in my time.