LeBron James will let his lawyers tussle with Nick Saban.
The Cleveland Cavaliers superstar addressed his ongoing copywright dispute with the University of Alabama football program and its legendary coach Tuesday night, telling reporters his lawyers will assess legal options over the concept of athletes talking sports in a barbershop.
Alabama football debuted “Shop Talk” web series last Wednesday. James legal team then sent the program a letter in response that claims the Crimson Tide are infringing on the copyright of “The Shop,” a series UNINTERRUPTED, the NBA star’s media platform, produces and webcasts. Saban insists UNINTERRUPTED doesn’t have ownership rights over the barbershop concept and vowed Alabama football would continue making “Shop Talk.”
James reacted to Saban’s comments Tuesday night, following the Cavs’ win over the Toronto Raptors.
“That’s exactly what I would think he would say,” James told reporters, per AL.com. “But I built UNINTERRUPTED for a reason, for us athletes to have a platform to be able to speak your mind about whatever we want to talk about.
“I respect him (Saban) as a coach, but I’ll be damned if I allow someone to use our platform or try to do the same thing we’re doing and just think it’s OK. The lawyers will figure it out.”
This battle might end up in court, the kind James doesn’t necessarily dominate. But if his lawyers are anywhere near as good as he is on NBA courts, Saban and Alabama will have to find somewhere else to chat about sports.
