LeBron James isn’t showing a lot of love to Kobe Bryant — his predecessor as the world’s greatest basketball player.
James produces the comedy “Survivor’s Remorse” — about a poor black kid who suddenly gets a multimillion-dollar NBA contract — on Starz.
In an episode airing in two weeks, team owner Jimmy Flaherty (played by Chris Bauer) says, “People will not pay to watch an a–hole play basketball.”
Young baller Cam Calloway (played by Jessie T. Usher) replies, “People paid to watch Kobe play for years.”
“Survivor’s Remorse” writer Mike O’Malley said at a sneak peek of the episode that neither he nor LeBron put that line in the script, even though “I am a Boston Celtics fan and Kobe Bryant broke my heart over and over.”
O’Malley said, “No, Jessie Usher ad-libbed it. Let’s just call it a gentle ribbing… LeBron and Kobe are friends off the court, and LeBron has great respect for Kobe.”
The screening at Tribeca’s Roxy Hotel was hosted by “Page Six TV” co-host Bevy Smith, who joked that she loves “Survivor’s Remorse” “because in my youth I slept with a lot of basketball players.”
PAGESIX
