LeBron James & Netflix Hit With New Lawsuit For Alleged Script Stealing

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.

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 screenplay than it is to the book of the same name, which it was supposedly inspired by. He’s suing for alleged copyright infringement, breach of contract, and more and seeking unspecified damages.

This isn’t the first lawsuit LeBron James has been hit with in recent weeks, however. In October, the athlete and his son Bronny were sued over their alleged involvement in a 2022 car accident. Two ladies accuse the father-son duo of hitting their vehicle on the highway, allegedly causing them injuries and damaging their vehicle. They’re also seeking unspecified damages.