Jay Busbee Senior writerTue, April 21, 2026 at 6:43 PM UTC·5 min readThere are headlines, and there are capital-H Headlines, and “LeBron James’ son is a potential NFL Draft pick” is definitely a Headline. So what if it’s not biologically correct? In Hollywood, you can fudge a few facts — and Hollywood connected LeBron with Ceyair Wright, now a Nebraska cornerback who’s drawing notice for his NFL prospects.
Wright starred as James’ son Darius in the 2021 film “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” filming his scenes in 2019 while still in high school. Understandably, he wants to be known as much more than just “LeBron James’ movie kid,” and articles like this one aren’t helping. So we’ll move on from that element of his biography … mostly.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Wright pursued the dual, if not complementary, dreams of acting and football. His acting career began as, of all things, an extra in the White Stripes’ “My Doorbell” video.
He began acting soon afterward, and booked small roles in TV shows like “2 Broke Girls.” He and his family worked the traditional actor’s grind — audition, audition, hope, audition some more — even as he was making his way through high school.
“One of the biggest lessons that I got from acting was learning to deal with mistakes and rejection,” Wright told Yahoo Sports recently. “The film industry is a tough industry. In the process of auditioning frequently, you are mostly going to hear no's. … That lesson is carried through my life, because I'm able to make mistakes now and I'm not affected by it in an extreme way. I'm able to rebound quickly. Especially with football, that short-term mindset is something that's very important.”
Finally, in 2019, he claimed his big break, getting a role in the second “Space Jam.” While his character Darius doesn’t get quite as much screen time as little brother Dom, Wright (dressed in purple in the video below) still got to act alongside James … and shoot hoops with him, too:
“He fixed my jump shot a little bit,” Wright jokes of his time with James. “Obviously I’ve always known who he was, but getting the chance to actually meet him and interact with him on a day-to-day basis really told me who he was. It showed me you can still have humility and care at that upper echelon in which he’s at. That’s something that’s really important to me, making people feel seen regardless of how much success you have in your life. He did a great job of making everybody on the set feel respected.”
At the same time as he was acting, Wright was playing every sport possible — lacrosse, baseball, track, basketball — but always came back to football. (Ironic, of course, given his largest screen credit to date.) By the time Wright graduated in 2021 from Los Angeles’ Loyola High School, he was a 4-star recruit in the eyes of both ESPN and 247 Sports.
Wright signed with USC out of Loyola, and played for three seasons with the Trojans before entering the transfer portal in 2024. He joined up with Nebraska for two seasons, playing in 26 games while totaling 68 tackles, 1.5 sacks, two interceptions and 11 pass breakups. His finest game as a Husker came in L.A. Memorial Coliseum against his former team, when he recorded four tackles, blocked a field goal and snagged a 27-yard pick-six.
“Ceyair is one of the most unique players I’ve ever coached,” Nebraska secondary coach Addison Williams told Yahoo Sports. “I say that in a good way, because he’s very intelligent, and he’s always yearning and asking for more. He’s a guy that challenges you as a coach, because you can’t just tell him to Do this, Do that. He wants to know Why this, Why that, which I think helps him become the player he is.”
Ceyair Wright (15) intercepts a pass intended for USC Trojans wide receiver Kyron Hudson. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Last season, he played in all 13 games, starting nine, for a Nebraska pass defense that ranked third nationally. He won both on-field and academic honors, finishing out his college career with four tackles in the Las Vegas Bowl.
He’ll have a tough uphill fight to get to the next level. Analysts project Wright as somewhere between a sixth-round pick and an UDFA; he doesn’t make Yahoo Sports’ Big Board of the top 75 players available in the draft. Scouts have credited Wright’s speed, awareness and agility, necessary assets for cornerbacks trying to make the leap from college to the pros. He possesses special teams value too, boasting both closing speed and return-game bursts.
“He has the physical ability to come up and make tackles,” Williams says. “His headiness, just how smart of a football player he is, is going to give him the opportunity to be successful in that league.”
Given that NFL coaches and scouts are looking for any reason to question a player’s heart and dedication, it’s reasonable to assume that there might be some concern about whether Wright is still splitting his focus. Not so, he says, saying he left acting behind — for now, at least — when he transferred to Nebraska.
“I’ve been just trying to work on my training,” he says. “When it comes to acting, who knows how that stuff will work? One day, if it makes sense, I can look into it, or down the line after I’m done playing.”
Until then, he’s got at least one more audition, starting this week.