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Nick Saban is the most successful college football coach of the past decade.
LeBron James has been the best player in the NBA in the same stretch.
Can the two exist peacefully holding separate barbershop conversations?
Alabama football’s Twitter account last week promoted “Shop Talk,” a new web series that featured Saban talking to former Crimson Tide players Julio Jones, Ryan Anderson and Eddie Jackson in a roundtable format inside a barbershop. The university opened a barbershop in February at the Mal Moore athletic complex, naming it “Bama Cuts.”
The NBA star believes “Shop Talk” uses “ideas, concepts and format” from a program he helped start several months ago.
James has a web series called “The Shop” that runs on his multimedia platform, UNINTERRUPTED. According to ESPN, James has released two installments in which he talks to friends, sports stars and pop-culture figures and that he has filmed a third.
Those conversations occur while the subjects are getting haircuts, and ESPN reported that UNINTERRUPTED sent a letter to Alabama on Monday addressing concerns over copyright infringement and intellectual property appropriation.
Following Tuesday’s practice, Saban was asked to react to the letter.
“I don’t have a reaction to it,” he said in a news conference. “I think LeBron James is a great player. There have been at least 20 barbershop-type things I’ve seen on TV. I didn’t know anybody owned that. I didn’t even know he had one.
“I am 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.”
According to ESPN, the first episode of “The Shop” premiered during last summer’s NBA Finals
and had roughly 4 million views across UNINTERRUPTED.com and ESPN’s YouTube channel.
Alabama practiced Tuesday for the first time since last Thursday, working out for two hours in full pads. Sitting out the practice were defensive linemen Raekwon Davis (ankle), cornerback Trevon Diggs (ankle) and receiver Jerry Jeudy (knee).
Saban said the Crimson Tide offense has more knowledge and experience than the defense, which he believes needs more mental toughness. Alabama also started working Tuesday on some of its 2018 opponents, while Thursday’s practice will be used to help set up Saturday’s first scrimmage.
“We don’t have a plan yet for what quarterbacks are taking what snaps,” Saban said. “Tua (Tagovailoa) was able to practice today and was able to throw the ball a little bit, so he’s getting back into it. We have him on a pitch count and didn’t really do a lot with him.
“I don’t know if he’ll be ready to go on Saturday or not.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-7576524.