A filmmaker recently hit LeBron James, his production company, and Netflix with a 25-page lawsuit. The filmmaker, Rob Grabow, accuses them of stealing one of his scripts for one of their new basketball films. According to TMZ , Grabow alleges that he wrote a script for a film called The Gift of the Game .
Reportedly, it was about a Native American high school basketball player trying to carry his team to a state title. Grabow describes it as "a powerful basketball film that deals with issues of community, race relations and poverty." He also alleges that he shared it with people close to Netflix, James, and his production company.
Eventually, Grabow alleges that they used his ideas for their own film Rez Ball , which was released in September of this year. Read More: LeBron James Gets Trolled Ruthlessly For Dream Involving Duke Basketball, Snoop Dogg, & Dr. Dre Oct 28, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center.
Mark J. Rebilas / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Grabow cites various alleged similarities between The Gift of the Game and Rez Ball . This includes the ending when the protagonist is fouled during the championship game.
"There are numerous substantially and strikingly similar concrete and expressive elements in the two works’ plot, theme, dialogue, mood, setting, pace, characters and sequence of events," the lawsuit alleges. Grabow also alleges that Rez Ball is more similar to his scree.