Alabama football coach Nick Saban "struck a defiant tone" a few days after the school "received a letter concerning copyright claims" from LeBron James surrounding its new "Shop Talk" web series, according to Michael Casagrande of AL.com. Saban at a news conference yesterday "didn't sound concerned with any potential legal action" coming from James or his multimedia platform, Uninterrupted. Saban: "There's been at least 20 barbershop-type things I've seen on TV. I didn't know anybody owned that. I didn't know he had one. I'm sorry that anybody could [be] offended by something that we were just having fun with. I enjoyed it. And we're going to continue to do it" (AL.com, 4/3). James said, "I respect [Saban] as a coach, but I'll be damned if I'll allow someone to use our platform or try to do the same thing we're doing and just think it's OK. So, the lawyers will figure it out." ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin cited a source as saying that legal reps from the university and Uninterrupted "engaged in a dialogue Tuesday and both sides expressed an interest in working together." The source said that it was "characterized as a productive discussion about how to work together on a solution." The source added that Saban's remarks yesterday "were not consistent with what was discussed by the two legal teams" (ESPN.com, 4/4). Uninterrupted last year first aired "The Shop," where Warriors F Draymond Green and others "talk in a barber shop." Alabama recently "released a trailer on Twitter for 'Shop Talk' showing Saban" and Falcons WR Julio Jones in a barber shop setting (AP, 4/3).
TALKING POINTS: ESPN’s Max Kellerman said the situation makes James "look bad and petty." Kellerman: "What is he talking about? Because LeBron does something in a barber shop, no one else can do that? You have to stop. Nick Saban is 100% right here and LeBron is 100% wrong.” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith: “I don't know what the hell LeBron is doing here. I appreciate greatly his entrepreneurial spirit, the fact that he's always, always thinking about business. He's not just about basketball. I appreciate that, but you have to have some credence to your argument and I don't see anything here" (“First Take,” ESPN, 4/4). ESPN's Booger McFarland said, "I don't think anything is going to come of it." ESPN's Michelle Beadle said of James, "We don't have to toot his horn all the time. We know he does a lot of great things, but he didn't create the barber shop idea" ("Get Up!," ESPN, 4/4).
