“LeBron was 5'10 in second grade, and he was white” - Timothee Chalamet teases LeBron James about starring in his biopic
- Timothee Chalamet joined LeBron James and Steve Nash on the "Mind the Game" podcast, where he expressed interest in playing LeBron in a biopic.
LeBron James and Steve Nash had a very special guest during the recent episode of the "Mind the Game" podcast, as award-winning actor and New York Knicks superfan Timothee Chalamet joined them. He was in Los Angeles for a special screening of his latest film, "Marty Supreme."
And after portraying the character of Marty Mauser, who was based on American table tennis star Marty Reisman, in the 2025 movie, Chalamet told both James and Nash that Hollywood will definitely do a biopic on both NBA superstars.
Nash joked that, as good an actor as Chalamet is, he can only play one of them, prompting a witty reply from the 30-year-old actor.
"You don't think I could play LeBron?" Chalamet asked .
"Well, if it started like LeBron in second grade, you know, where my career like started," replied James.
"Hey man, I'll do it, man. I'm there. LeBron was 5'10" in second grade, and he was white," Chalamet answered back.
No sun in Ohio
Actually, Timothee at 5'10" would be too tall for second-grade LeBron. Although it was around second grade when he started playing basketball, James was only 5'7" tall when he was 11 years old and was told he was going to be around 6'3".
Fate had different ideas as a growth spurt helped him reach 6'8" and the rest, as they say, is history.
But while the height won't be an issue in the early part of his life, LeBron joked that Cleveland's gloomy weather would be an issue if Timothee really wanted to be him.
That's because Chalamet was born and raised in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, where, although the weather is cold, there are many sunny days. Meanwhile, it's cloudier in Akron, and as LeBron pointed out, winter in his hometown would be too tough for a New Yorker like Timothee.
"Say the winter time is kicking his a–" added LeBron.
"There's no sun in Ohio," Timothee replied as they all broke into laughter. "We got good chemistry, man. We should do a bit."
Related: "Love those guys" - When LeBron James revealed his favourite soccer players
Timothee's mom was super happy to meet LeBron
While Timothee sounded like he wanted to play LBJ badly in a movie, his mom, Nicole Flender, seemed to have met her favorite athlete. During the podcast recording, Nicole wasted no time hugging the Lakers superstar and telling James, "I love you" several times, while Timothee took photos of them.
"You should be proud of your boy," James told her.
"No, I'm proud of you. Are you kidding? I'm proud of you," she insisted.
Later, Chalamet posted photos of his mom's meeting with the four-time cham whom he called LeBron the GOAT.
During the podcast, Chalamet recalled wanting LeBron to sign with his Knicks in 2010, but James ended up in Miami. He said he was there when the Big 3 first played at the Garden, and he booed LeBron very hard.
But on the podcast, he looked like he was in 7th heaven with LBJ and said that guesting on James' pod was the best thing to happen to him in the last three months, better than the Golden Globe Best Actor award he won at the beginning of the year.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
