NBA: LeBron James To Face $33 Million Lawsuit For 'More Than An Athlete' Copyright

KEY POINTS

LeBron James used the slogan as a response for a tirade about him of a broadcaster
Game Play believes LeBron saw their staffers wearing the shirts carrying the slogan during a game
Game Play is a non-profit organization based in Maryland

It’s not every day that we get to hear complaints against the king.

This belief will be put to test as a non-profit organization filed a lawsuit of at least $33 million against Los Angeles Lakers’ star LeBron James for allegedly stealing something from them.

Reports from TMZ said that Game Play, a Maryland-based org claim that they own the “I Am More Than An Athlete” slogan since 2016 and that’s the same slogan that Uninterrupted, LeBron’s brand, monetized. After the infamous tirade from a journalist, the 35-year old used the slogan as a response for trying to silence him and Kevin Durant about political talks around two years ago.

LeBron used the “I Am More Than An Athlete” as a response to Laura Ingraham to signify that they are not just basketball players and they will not “shut up and dribble” as the latter told them to do.

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According to the report, the slogan is being used by Game Play since 2016 and was trademarked in 2018 and the organization is convinced that LeBron saw their members during Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers’ game in 2017 wearing the shirt while watching their games. The Akron, OH native was still playing for the Cavaliers that year before moving to Los Angeles in 2018.

Game Plan is suing Uninterrupted, Nike, Disney, and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., the owner of 2K – creator of the NBA 2K series games.

"The attendance at the game gave Game Plan tremendous exposure, as it was able to gain attention from John Wall in front of his peers including the (arguably) most famous athlete in the world, as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, at the time, LeBron James," the org said in their lawsuit posted by TMZ.

In response, Uninterrupted responded by saying that the info that the complainants are giving out is inconsistent. "The complaint filed by Game Plan today is meritless and contains numerous factual inaccuracies. Uninterrupted owns prior rights in and to the 'More Than An Athlete' trademark."