Following Clevelandâs 112-106 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night, Cavs superstar LeBron James was asked to comment on his copyright infringement beef with Nick Saban and the University of Alabamaâs football program.
Alabama Footballâs Twitter account posted a clip of âShop Talkâ earlier this week, which is a discussion-based show with a barber shop setting. Former Crimson Tide standout Julio Jones joined Saban in the showâs debut episode.
As most hoops fans know, James and his business associates already have a similar production with Uninterrupted called âThe Shop.â James has released two episodes of the show, with a third expected to be coming soon.
The two shows are clearly similar, which is the root of this conundrum.
Saban made a statement with regards to the controversy Tuesday afternoon.
âI think LeBron James is a great player,â Saban said. âThere has been at least 20 barbershop-type of things Iâve seen on TV. I didnât know anybody owned that. I didnât even know he had one.
âIâm sorry that anyone could be offended by something that we were just having fun with,â Saban said in closing. âI enjoyed it and weâre gonna continue to do it.â
Nick Saban reacting to @KingJames' assertion that Alabama's "Shop Talk" show infringes on and damages the commercial prospects of James' show "The Shop" @abc3340 @ClayTravis @espn #RollTide pic.twitter.com/3veXRBssX8
â Scott Forester (@scott4ester) April 3, 2018
James, who posted 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in Tuesday nightâs game, offered a response to Sabanâs statement.
âI mean, I think you guys (the media) knows Nick Saban more than I do,â James said following Tuesdayâs game. âThatâs exactly what I think he would say. But I built Uninterrupted for a reason â for us athletes to have a platform for us to be able to speak about whatever we want to talk about.
âI respect him as a coach, but Iâll be damned if I allow someone to use our platform and try to do the same thing weâre doing and just think itâs okay,â James continued. âThe lawyers will figure it out.â
Exactly how the rest of this oredeal will go down remains to be seen. Be sure to keep your browsers locked on Cavs Nation for more updates as they become available.