Body double for LeBron James in 'Space Jam: A New Legacy' is a former athlete
PEORIA, Ill. — Zach Andrews was right at home with the drama of Bradley's 2006 team that reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
"Of course I was," said the 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward who is coming back to Peoria to play for the Peoria All-Stars in The Basketball Tournament this week at Carver Arena. "I was a theater major at Bradley. I loved it."
Andrews has built a career since 2013 working in commercials alongside NBA stars like LeBron James and Chris Paul. His first gig was in a Jordan commercial, where he doubled for Paul in "a theme like the movie, 300. It was awesome."
And now he's celebrating as King James' double in the just-released movie "Space Jam: A New Legacy," which has opened No. 1 at the box office.
"I've been working alongside LeBron for seven years in commercials and this movie," Andrews said. "I'm proud to work with him. I went through an audition, and LeBron and his management people picked me. I had an advantage in that my size closely resembles his. I grew on him. I'm with him on set, and we talk and I can read when he has a lot of appearances on a specific day because his game face comes on.
"He's an amazing person, and I'm blessed to be part of it."
But there is an even bigger headline for the kid who grew up in foster care in Sacramento, California.
"I've landed two character roles, one in an HBO series and one in a movie that is a very well-known property," Andrews said, keen not to offer specifics. "I'm shooting for those right now. It's so exciting."
Andrews says he will have a character role in an HBO basketball-themed series due out in 2022. He says his movie role is for a sci-fi flick.
Andrews said Space Jam was shot over three months on the Warner Brothers lot in 2019 and took Hollywood some time to put together the necessary animation and effects.
"There's so much movie magic that happens, people would be in awe to see it," he said. "The concepts artists have in their heads, and then the set-builders come in and create it. I joke with them all the time that if there's ever a zombie apocalypse I want them to do the rebuilding.
"This was my first movie. It's an awesome life being given to me since basketball, and I feel blessed."
Andrews grew up in a tough situation in Sacramento, separated from his six sisters and two brothers.
"My grandmother was raising us," he said. "Then we went into foster care, and we all got divided up. It was a tough situation and heartbreaking, but by high school I knew what path I wanted.
"I figured out in high school that I could entertain people, make them laugh, and it felt great to do that and I wanted to make a career of it. It's a passion for me, not about the money. It's important to me that kids in a foster care situation see what is possible for them, that they can make it."
Andrews was a junior college transfer who played a strong supporting role in the inside rotation with Bradley's Sweet 16 team in 2006. He started in 2007 and averaged 11.1 points and 7.0 rebounds for a Braves team that reached the NIT. During his two years on the Hilltop, Andrews established a school record for field-goal percentage at 62.1.
His pro career began the next year in Turkey and continued with stints in Spain, Japan, Los Angeles (with the Defenders, the Lakers’ D League affiliate), Santa Barbara, Montenegro, back to LA, back to Japan, Mexico, back to LA, the Iowa Energy, Lebanon, Northern Arizona, Thailand and Puerto Rico.
Andrews spent two weeks with the Lakers in December, 2011. That team included Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum and won the NBA’s Pacific Division.
He still plays in the summer Drew League in Los Angeles, and now has a home in Tolleson, Ariz.
"It's been a while since I was on that Bradley floor in Carver Arena, so I'm looking forward to it," said Andrews, 36. "I'm really looking forward to it."
He'll play with the No. 13 seed Peoria All-Stars against No. 4 Always Us in the TBT Illinois Regional at Carver Arena in a 3 p.m. first-round game Sunday.
Follow Dave Eminian him on Twitter @icetimecleve.
