The myth of LeBron James, if not the man himself, will soon be on stage in Chicago with 'King James'

CHICAGO — Ask most directors if their world-premiere Chicago show might have a chance at Broadway and they’ll demur. “Just doing it for here,” they’ll say, or some version of how such bridges should not yet be crossed.

Kenny Leon is not most directors. Especially when the show in question, Rajiv Joseph’s “King James” at the Steppenwolf Theatre, revolves around a certain basketball player named LeBron James.

“One thousand percent, I think this show is going to Broadway,” Leon said in a recent interview in Steppenwolf’s Front Bar, grinning all the way. “If this show does not go to Broadway, I will be totally shocked. I am betting on myself and the logic of having the right people in the right room.”