LeBron James’ ‘son’ — from ‘Space Jam,’ that is — is now an NFL Draft prospect

There are headlines, and there are capital-H Headlines, and “LeBron James’ son is a potential NFL Draft pick” is definitely a Headline. So what if it’s not biologically correct? In Hollywood, you can fudge a few facts — and Hollywood connected LeBron with Ceyair Wright, now a Nebraska cornerback who’s drawing notice for his NFL prospects.

Wright starred as James’ son Darius in the 2021 film “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” filming his scenes in 2019 while still in high school. Understandably, he wants to be known as much more than just “LeBron James’ movie kid,” and articles like this one aren’t helping. So we’ll move on from that element of his biography … mostly.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Wright pursued the dual, if not complementary, dreams of acting and football. His acting career began as, of all things, an extra in the White Stripes’ “My Doorbell” video.

He began acting soon afterward, and booked small roles in TV shows like “2 Broke Girls.” He and his family worked the traditional actor’s grind — audition, audition, hope, audition some more — even as he was making his way through high school.

“One of the biggest lessons that I got from acting was learning to deal with mistakes and rejection,” Wright told Yahoo Sports recently. “The film industry is a tough industry. In the process of auditioning frequently, you are mostly going to hear no's. … That lesson is carried through my life, because I'm able to make mistakes now and I'm not affected by it in an extreme way. I'm able to rebound quickly. Especially with football, that short-term mindset is something that's very important.”

Finally, in 2019, he claimed his big break, getting a role in the second “Space Jam.” While his character Darius doesn’t get quite as much screen time as little brother Dom, Wright (dressed in purple in the video below) still got to act alongside James … and shoot hoops with him, too:

“He fixed my jump shot a little bit,” Wright jokes of his time with James. “Obviously I’ve always known who he was, but getting the chance to actually meet him and interact with him on a day-to-day basis really told me who he was. It showed me you can still have humility and care at that upper echelon in which he’s at. That’s something that’s really important to me, making people feel seen regardless of how much success you have in your life. He did a great job of making everybody on the set feel respected.”

At the same time as he was acting, Wright was playing every sport possible — lacrosse, baseball, track, basketball — but always came back to football. (Ironic, of course, given his largest screen credit to date.) By the time Wright graduated in 2021 from Los Angeles’ Loyola High School, he was a 4-star recruit in the eyes of both ESPN and 247 Sports.