LeBron James Lookalike Identified By LeBron James Himself
A spectator got fans buzzing about his resemblance to the Lakers star.
LeBron James confirmed the identify of a “lookalike” fan who was spotted near him during the Lakers game against the Rockets on Halloween.
It didn’t take a lot of sleuthing for the NBA star. He and the mystery man are longtime friends, and James acknowledged some resemblance in a funny Twitter post.
But first, let’s rewind to when fans began chattering on Twitter about the “doppelganger” sitting near James at Staples Center. A photo taken of them off of a TV left people jokingly hypothesizing about “a glitch in the matrix” and “time travel.”
James later picked up on the vibe of the thread and wrote: “True definition of 2 places at the same damn time!! Somebody tell Pat C if he wants to be me for Halloween just ask me. LOL.”
The man in question is fashion designer Patrick Christopher, according to an ESPN reporter. He was briefly an NBA player, and he’s the brother of Rockets rookie Josh Christopher and a longtime pal and ex-basketball camp employee of James.
Christopher seemed to get a kick out of the attention, and he joked in an Instagram Story that he ended up “being a twin” and was fielding calls for “Space Jam 3.”
Christopher noted that he worked at James’ basketball camp while he played collegiately at Cal.
“Let’s give a little backstory for the internet,” he wrote on an Instagram Story featuring a photo of him and James.
LeBron James Reveals Patrick Christopher As His Mystery Halloween Doppelgänger
Those who watched the Halloween clash between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets at home found themselves befuddled when the camera pointed at LeBron James in the second quarter.
The shot unveiled a mystery fellow sitting behind James, who looked exactly like the four-time NBA champion. The burly man wore a dark round hat and grey clothes, reaching for a handful of an in-game snack, probably popcorn.
Jokes of James discovering time travel and coming back to watch himself win his fifth ring spread across the Internet. Others thought Spectrum SportsNet’s cameras serendipitously found the Year 19 veteran’s doppelgänger in the frame with the real James.
But the All-Star forward put an end to the Lakers’ faithful’s fun, revealing that the night’s most-wanted man was designer and former NBA player Patrick Christopher:
Christopher took to Instagram to “give a little backstory for the Internet,” explaining he has known James for over a decade. The now-33-year-old took part in every James’ summer camp when he played for Cal between 2006-2010. Christopher went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft.
Basketball runs in his blood as the California native is the brother of Houston Rockets forward Josh Christopher. Also, former NBA player Tayshaun Prince is his godbrother.
But injuries didn’t allow Christopher to hang around in the NBA for long. After spells in Turkey and France, he managed to play just four games for the Utah Jazz in 2014-15 before tearing his MCL.
Having entered the post-basketball chapter of his life, Christopher founded Sloan and Bennet, a luxury clothing brand. The label designed tribute garments for James, commemorating the memory of the late Kobe and Gianna Bryant as well as George Floyd last year.
Who LeBron James’ ‘clone’ in viral photo is, explained
LeBron James’ doppelganger is actually designer and former NBA player Patrick Christopher. He’s known LeBron since 2007, when he was a counselor at his basketball camps. He also designed shirts for LeBron to honor both Kobe and George Floyd, and had some fun with last night’s mixup.
Look, I think it’s safe to say that everyone reading a Lakers blog at work the Monday morning after Halloween night probably enjoys watching LeBron James play basketball. So if James were to actually discover time travel several years in the future, it would be hard for any of us to blame him for wanting to go back in time, grab some good seats, and watch himself suit up and play in Year 19.
Does that sound outlandish? Well, on Sunday night, as the Lakers beat the Rockets, the internet was pretty sure that’s exactly what happened, as Spectrum SportsNet’s cameras panned to LeBron, and the blurry and darkened silhouette of a man with the same body type, beard and addiction to keeping his head covered with a hat at all times appeared behind him, eating popcorn and watching the show.
But who is “Pat C?” As noted by Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the James “clone” caught by the cameras is actually fashion designer Patrick Christopher, a former professional basketball player himself who is actually the older brother of Rockets guard Josh Christopher. And given the blur, dark backdrop of the Staples Center crowd and the exact right angles and obfuscation, it’s easy to see how the slight resemblance that broke the internet came to be.
Christopher’s Instagram comments on that post were almost instantly flooded with people having some fun with the resemblance:
But Christopher is more than just a LeBron lookalike. His story is an inspiring one of overcoming adversity, as was well-documented by David Aldridge of The Athletic last year.
Christopher bounced around professional basketball overseas before finally earning his chance as a starter for the Utah Jazz in 2015, a moment that lasted exactly five minutes and 27 seconds into his fourth game before he tore he tore his MCL and ruptured his patella. His NBA dream was over.
Christopher wasn’t going to let that stop him from making an impact on the NBA, however. His company, “Sloan and Bennett,” actually designed the shirt James wore to the NBA bubble to bring attention to the killing of George Floyd and raise awareness of police brutality.
And as reported by Aldridge, Christopher’s history with James goes back long before that moment:
“He knows his platform, he knows his voice. And he uses it,” Christopher said. “For him to do that, that’s dope.”
James had helped Christopher earlier this year, when he wore a Sloan and Bennett tribute hoodie to Kobe and Gianna Bryant during the All-Star team selection show with the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, making the hoodie go viral in a matter of hours.
Patrick Christopher, now 32, has known James for more than a decade. He’d been a counselor at James’ camps starting in 2007, while he was playing at Cal, and has kept in touch over the years with all of the members of James’ inner circle – Randy Mims, Maverick Carter and Rich Paul, now James’ agent.
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LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James Sr. is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
(/ləˈbrɒn/; born December 30, 1984)
Nicknamed “King James“, he is widely considered one of the greatest players in NBA history and is frequently compared to Michael Jordan in debates over the greatest basketball player ever.
The only player to have won NBA championships with three franchises (the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat, and the Lakers) as NBA Finals MVP,James has competed in ten NBA Finals, eight of them consecutively with the Heat and the Cavaliers from 2011 to 2018. His accomplishments include four NBA championships, four NBA MVP awards, four NBA Finals MVP awards, and two Olympic gold medals. During his 18-year career, James holds the record for all-time playoffs points, is third in all-time points, and eighth in career assists.
James has been selected to the All-NBA Team a record 17 times (with a record of 13 First Team selections and 11 consecutive First Team selections, the latter of which is shared with Jordan and Karl Malone), made the NBA All-Defensive First Team five times, and has been named an All-Star 17 times, including three All-Star MVP selections. In 2021, he was selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
Patrick Christopher
James Patrick Christopher is an American former professional basketball player.
(born June 3, 1988)
He played college basketball for the California Golden Bears and was a two-time first-team all-conference selection in the Pac-10 (now known as the Pac-12). He briefly played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Utah Jazz.
Rockets rookie Josh Christopher’s brother is LeBron James’ doppelganger
Patrick Christopher made his way to Staples Center on Sunday to watch his brother, Rockets rookie guard Josh Christopher. Many, however, found it compelling to watch Patrick watch Josh.
To the Christopher family, there is nothing new about Patrick bearing a striking resemblance to Lakers star LeBron James. To others, including James, the lookalike in the crowd was striking, especially when a photo of both made its way onto social media with more than 90,000 likes of James’ retweet.
LeBron, Westbrook propel Lakers past Rockets again, 119-117
The Lakers’ immediate rematch with Houston was a whole lot tougher than the initial meeting, and it wasn’t decided until Kevin Porter Jr.’s 3-pointer rimmed out right before the buzzer.
Los Angeles still kept winning with a huge collective game from its new Big Three.
LeBron James scored 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, Russell Westbrook added 27 points and the Lakers swept back-to-back games against the Rockets with a 119-117 victory Tuesday night.
Anthony Davis had 27 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for the Lakers, who have won three straight and five of six after an 0-2 start to their reboot season.
After dominating Sunday’s visit from Houston, Los Angeles struggled through the first half and trailed by 11 in the third quarter of the rematch before they were spurred to the win by Westbrook and James, who put LA ahead to stay while scoring 10 straight points midway through the fourth quarter.
Doppelgänger
A doppelgänger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person.
(/ˈdɒpəlɡɛŋər, -ɡæŋər/; German: [ˈdɔpl̩ˌɡɛŋɐ] (About this soundlisten), literally “double-walker”)
In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or paranormal phenomenon and usually seen as a harbinger of bad luck. Other traditions and stories equate a doppelgänger with an evil twin.
In modern times, the term twin stranger is occasionally used. The word “doppelgänger” is often used in a more general and neutral sense, and in slang, to describe any person who physically resembles another person.