King James

See Glenn Davis and Abbott Elementary's Chris Perfetti in King James, a new drama from Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph. Get King James tickets on TodayTix.

King James is like a one-on-one game, but verbal rather than athletic. Perfetti and Davis are the sole actors, playing two Cleveland men with only one thing in common: their fascination with LeBron James. Over the course of 12 years, their friendship repeatedly falls apart and comes back together in parallel with James's career.

Even if you're not an NBA diehard, you'll still enjoy this play — King James is really about friendship and how one shared interest can spark a deep connection between otherwise opposite people. This show will move you from tip-off to the final buzzer — well, scene.

Don't miss your chance to see two all-star actors hit the stage. Get tickets to King James off Broadway.

Perfetti and Davis first led King James in 2022 at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where Davis is co-artistic director, and then in Los Angeles, where LeBron James currently plays with the Lakers.

Davis last appeared off Broadway in the 2022 New York premiere of Downstate, another Steppenwolf transfer. Perfetti last performed off Broadway in Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow in 2019. He also performed in numerous other Broadway and Off-Broadway plays before landing the role of Jacob Hill on the Emmy-winning sitcom Abbott Elementary.

Joseph is best known for his Pulitzer-nominated play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, and his other works include Animals Out of Paper, Gruesome Playground Injuries, and Letters of Suresh, which premiered off Broadway in 2021.

What to Watch For

• King James is split into four scenes, mimicking the four quarters of a basketball game.
• Each scene takes place in a significant year in James's basketball career. His rookie season was in 2004, he left the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat in 2010, he returned to Cleveland in 2014, and the Cavaliers won their first NBA championship in 2016.
• Joseph wrote the role of Shawn specifically for Davis. The two previously worked together on Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, and the play was inspired by their own conversations about basketball.
• Like their characters, Davis and Perfetti are wildly different when it comes to basketball affiliations. Davis used to be a basketball player in high school (he gave it up to pursue acting) and is a longtime Bulls fan. Perfetti only started following the sport in 2021.
• A live DJ, Khloe Janel, spun tunes pre-show and at intermission of the Chicago production. They reprise their role off Broadway.
• Joseph has a personal connection to his play — like the men in King James, the playwright hails from Cleveland.
• The player lives up to his title! King James is now especially timely — in February 2023, James set a new record as the NBA's highest-scoring player of all time.