Is the cast of ‘Space Jam’ cursed? Explore the strange NBA conspiracy

Space Jam: A New Legacy is one of the most anticipated films of summer. The cast of Space Jam is filled with the biggest names in Hollywood and the NBA’s hardwood courts. After a bonkers trailer for the film captured the attention of Twitter, Space Jam: A New Legacy is sure to be seen by fans & haters alike.

However, as the release of the new film approaches, it’s come to light that the athletes on the cast of Space Jam may have some very real woes. Reddit user ‘KornrowKawhi’ first noticed that the stars of the new film’s teams have been knocked out of the NBA Playoffs. Fans quickly proclaimed that the cast of Space Jam must be victims of a curse.

King James & The Brow

Just seventy-two days after beating the Miami Heat in the 2020 NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers began the 2021 season. They got off to a hot start despite having the shortest offseason in NBA history. But the team also features two players on the cast of Space Jam: A New Legacy, and if you believe in the newly-minted Space Jam curse, that came into play.

LeBron James, the star of the film, missed twenty-six of the team’s last thirty games with an ankle injury. LeBron’s teammate Anthony Davis also suffered from an injury-plagued season that saw him leave in Game Four against the Phoenix Suns. Davis will lend his voice to The Brow, a harpy-like villain in Space Jam: A New Legacy.

As a consequence of all this, The Suns beat the Lakers in six games and snuffed the Laker’s hopes of back-to-back championships. This is the first time in James’ career that his team suffered a loss in the first round of the playoffs. And this is far from the only instance of the Space Jam curse wreaking havoc.

Chronos

The Portland Trail Blazers were another casualty of the Space Jam curse. Star point guard Damian Lillard will be playing for the Goon Squad this season as the robotic Chronos after his real-life team was defeated by the Denver Nuggets.

Lillard had an incredible season that saw him put up gaudy scoring numbers and lead his team to a 42-30 record. In game five against the Nuggets, Lillard scored fifty-five points and notched ten assists. Despite his impressive numbers, the Blazers were unable to capitalize & lost that game along with the series. So the curse extends to the entire team, even when it doesn’t directly affect the cast member, as proven by the next case.

Wet-Fire

The Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson suffered an ACL injury during the 2019 NBA Finals & has not played since. However, his team is still subject to the Space Jam curse. Thompson’s Warriors were eliminated following a 112-117 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Klay Thompson will play a member of the villainous Goon Squad called Wet-Fire who controls water & fire. The Warriors could have used a spark from the cool-under-pressure guard as they ended up being knocked out cold.

Can WNBA stars break the curse?

While members of the cast of Space Jam in the NBA have been shut out of the playoffs there is still hope in the WNBA. The WNBA season began in May and the playoffs won’t begin until late September. We won’t know if the curse will be lifted by then, but it’s not looking good.

In the new Space Jam, Diana Taurasi will play White Mamba, a serpentine member of the Goon Squad. Her real-life team, the Phoenix Mercury, has a 5-3 record in a strong Western Conference. The Mercury was knocked out in the second round of the playoffs in 2020 by the Minnesota Lynx.

Then there’s Los Angeles Sparks’ power forward Nneka Ogwumike, who will play Arachnneka, a spider-like villain in the new Space Jam. The Sparks are currently above .500 at 4-3, but unfortunately Ogwumike is struggling with a knee injury and may be out of commission for a while.

Are curses even real?

While many may not even believe in curses, sometimes it seems like the only explanation for truly bizarre phenomena. Believing in a curse may be a way of coping with unpredictable & unexpected failures. In fact, the term “apophenia” is used to describe the tendency to notice patterns or connections in random, unconnected events. This failure of pattern recognition can lead us to make false & damaging conclusions.

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Do you think that the cast of Space Jam: A New Legacy is cursed? Do you believe in curses in general? Let us know in the comments below!