LeBron James in his Halloween CostumesCredit: Instagram
Halloween in the NBA is simply not complete without LeBron James. James’ commitment to dressing up on October 31st has been really remarkable.
While fans are now well aware of the King’s meticulous Halloween costumes thanks to ‘Starting 5’, LeBron has been at it long before Netflix was streaming basketball documentaries. Let’s take a look at the four-time MVP’s iconic spooky season fits over the last 15 years.
In 2008, Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James donned a leather jacket and pompadour to hone his inner John Travolta. He dressed up as Danny Zuko from the 1978 film ‘Grease’, though the musical and dancing aspects of the character were notably missing from his impersonation.
During his first season with Miami, the King dressed down for Halloween, incorporating the spookiness into his on-court attire. He availed the services of Gladiator Mouthguards to 3D print a mouthguard with vampire fangs coming out of it. Not only did James pull off one of the league’s few in-game Halloween fits, he also won the game against Orlando wearing it.
In 2015, LeBron James was back in a wig, donning a long, curly afro complete with leather pants and a frilly shirt. Can you guess the celebrity he was impersonating? It was Prince. LeBron pulled out all stops for this one, adding a purple winter jacket and an electric guitar to his costume. If only there were videos of the King singing Purple Rain.
James’ 2016 costume was a nod to another iconic figure – the fictional Uncle Jerome from the hit 1992 sitcom ‘Martin’. The King added a beard and afro to Jerome’s iconic tracksuit, but the real cherry on the top was how he incorporated the character’s rhyming persona in his Halloween message.
The four-time NBA champion made a more contemporary reference in the following year. After the successful reception of ‘IT’, LeBron became Pennywise in 2017. This year it became abundantly clear that the James household takes their Halloween responsibilities seriously as the King’s makeup game was on another level. Have a look for yourself.
He carried forward the traditional horror trope the next year as well, though it was with a more classical character. James was grasping an axe in the tunnel with Jason Voorhees’ iconic hockey mask from ‘Friday the 13th’ covering his face.
2019 saw the King dress up as ‘LeDward Scissorhands’, Johnny Depp’s famed character from the movie ‘Edward Scissorhands’. Once again, James’ pageantry was on full display as he donned a full leather kit along with a beard and a long wig.
LeBron returned to the horror classic genre in 2021, paying homage to Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Kreuger. Along with the costume and prosthetic hand, James also added some heavy and frankly, scary, makeup to haunt the dreams of his fans.
Finally, this brings us to last year, when the 20-time All-Star showed his love for another Tim Burton movie – Beetlejuice. The horror-comedy starring Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder saw an adaptation release just this year. But the fans who watched James narrate the movie’s iconic monologue on ‘Starting 5’ know that it was a reference to Burton’s 1988 original.
With Halloween in full stride this year, we are yet to see what the King has in store for his fans this year. Who do you think the NBA’s leading points getter will be dressing up as?
