Alabama football coach Nick Saban made it clear during a late Tuesday press conference that he had no time for LeBron James’ antics.
James and the people from his Uninterrupted show “Shop Talk” sent Saban a letter about how Alabama’s barbershop show might be ripping off the legendary NBA player.
Shop Talk Episode 1 coming soon! #RollTide#BamaCuts pic.twitter.com/QHC1dTjjzh
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) March 27, 2018
Saban took that about as well as you’d expect, and was visibly frustrated when addressing the media.
“I think LeBron James is a great player. There’s been at least 20 barbershop-type things I’ve seen. I didn’t even know he had one. I’m sorry anybody could be offended by something we were just trying to have fun with. I enjoyed it and we’re going to continue to do it,” the five-time national champion coach said before walking away from the podium.
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
— Scott Forester (@scott4ester) April 3, 2018
LeBron James’ response to Saban was extremely cringeworthy. He said in part, “I respect him 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.”
Good for Saban and Alabama refusing to back down. This is an absurd request for LeBron James and his team. You know who else had a barbershop sit down? Bernie Sanders and Killer Mike. I guess they’re going to get in trouble now too.
I’m not even an Alabama fan. In fact, I’ve been incredibly critical of them and their fanbase for years. However, I’m so pro-Alabama and Saban in this situation that it’s not even funny. LeBron might be an incredible player, but it really doesn’t look like he has any idea what the hell he’s talking about. LeBron James wasn’t the first person to ever film anything in a barbershop. I can’t film a scene in a gun range and then claim ownership of gun range videos for the rest of time. Give me a break.
Nick Saban doesn’t lose big games, and I wouldn’t want to cross him. Might be time for somebody to pull LeBron James aside and explain to him how dumb of a argument this is to pursue.