Forward Theater Review: “King James” Is a Play About Basketball and Friendship

by Jacob Dunn and Jules Da Costa

We recently attended Forward Theater’s “King James” written by Rajiv Joseph and directed by Michael Burke. While the run has ended, the Wisconsin premier of this two-man show captured audience attention with its exploration of friendship, conflict, maturation, and fandom.

“King James” gets its title from basketball legend LeBron James, whose career is the foundation of the story. Set in four quarters, like a basketball game, the comedy follows the relationship of two young men from Cleveland. Both love basketball and LeBron James.

Shawn, played by Marques Causey, is a thoughtful and reserved young Black man with ambitions of being a writer. Matt, played by Greg Pragel, is a young white man who wants independence and success but finds himself indebted to his parents.

In the first quarter, both men are age 21. It’s 2003 and both closely follow LeBron James’ rookie season. The two characters meet for an exchange: Shawn wants to buy Cleveland Cavaliers tickets for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see LeBron as a rookie. Matt is selling his tickets to pay back a debt.

The plot thickens when Matt decides to make sure he sells his tickets to a true fan. The ensuing dialogue reveals much about each character’s background and about the role basketball has played in their lives. Their back-and-forth shows how they enjoy the sport differently; Matt’s father buys season tickets every year and Matt has been to many games. Meanwhile, Shawn has always wanted to attend a game, but never got the chance. In the first quarter, LeBron’s rookie status parallels the characters’ youth, uncertainty, and hope for the future.

Each quarter ends on an artistically inconclusive note, leaving the audience hooked.

At the start of the second quarter, nearly seven years later, the two characters socialize at a bar where Matt works. Their relationship has evolved from a guarded meeting into a friendship, similar to how fans embraced LeBron James as a Cavs player. While playing Matt, Pragel skillfully uses his physicality and expressiveness to help the audience notice the passage of time. It’s now 2010, further expressed through clever costume changes and props.

Pragel’s body language creates a contrast between Matt’s juvenile, hip, and slightly bratty 21-year-old self and his confident yet calmer demeanor later in the show. Causey’s physicality also explores a shift between the first and second quarters, signifying their deepening friendship.

As Causey expressed in the post-show talkback, Shawn feels like he can be himself around Matt in the second quarter. They joke around, text girls, and debrief the latest game they attended. But soon bad news strikes. LeBron announces his departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Shawn, still fuming at LeBron’s choice, breaks similar news to Matt: Shawn is leaving for graduate school in New York. As Cavaliers fans grieve the loss of LeBron, Matt must endure the loss of LaBron and his best friend.

Quarter three takes place in 2014, as LeBron announces his return to Cleveland. Shawn also returns to Cleveland to care for his ailing mother. Shawn gets a job at Armand’s, the antique shop belonging to Matt’s parents, who treat him like a son.

“They filled a void for each other,” Causey mused in the talkback. Shawn receives parental support which he didn’t get at home, and Matt’s parents get a son who takes life seriously and doesn’t gamble their money away.

The arrangement frustrates Matt, but his attention is occupied with new friends and his latest business venture, the Eastside club. Their interactions in the third quarter highlight the nuanced power differential between the characters. Matt covers the bill for Shawn’s business trip to Los Angeles, and though Shawn feels indebted to Matt, Matt assures him otherwise.

However, LeBron’s return sparks a disagreement between friends, just as it did between fans. Shawn is overjoyed for the “GOAT” to come home, whereas Matt is less than thrilled to welcome LeBron back. Matt lets it slip that he thinks LeBron “should have known his place,” which Shawn interprets as a pointed remark to all Black men, including himself. The conversation devolves into conflict, and quarter three ends with Shawn leaving a bewildered Matt, who doesn’t see how his comment offended his friend.

Entering the final quarter, the pair have fallen out of touch. The audience sees Matt, shoulders now hunched, sitting alone and eating fries at Armand’s. Pragel introduces this new side of Matt–-lonely, disheveled, and discouraged.

Following the historic Cleveland Cavaliers championship win in 2016, Shawn visits Cleveland in search of Matt. During their awkward reunion, Matt claims he is no longer a basketball fan, which shocks Shawn, since it was the basis of their entire friendship. To spark Matt’s enthusiasm, Shawn describes the championship game, which he attended. Incidentally, Shawn also reveals the real reason he returned to Cleveland: to see Matt.

The comedy ends with a one-on-one basketball game, the winner deciding whether or not they will attend the championship parade downtown. The play leaves us with an undetermined winner, but the audience understands the real win: the reconciliation of their friendship. The Cavaliers championship wasn’t just a victory for their town, but a victory for Shawn and Matt.

“King James” is not just a play about basketball and fandom. Rather, it acts as a case study in male friendship. Men are stereotyped as having difficulty expressing their feelings engaging in vulnerability. Often, men rely on fandom to form friendships. As artistic director Jen Uphoff Grey explained after the show, “fandom is a relatively universal experience,” even outside the context of sports. Pragel and Causey’s witty and profound performances bring this phenomenon to life and inspire young boys in the audience. Basketball brought together two individuals with little in common, Matt and Shawn, and they remained constant friends through different stages of their lives, even when everything else–within and around them–changed.