In what could be viewed as a compliment for the dev team at Visual Concepts, the attention to detail given to LeBron James in NBA 2K17 was so good that the company's facing a lawsuit for depicting his tattoos without authorization.
An artist who works at the Cleveland-based studio Focused Tattoos has filed a lawsuit against 2K Sports, claiming that they used his work without permission.
James "Jimmy" Hayden has inked several Cleveland celebrities and professional athletes including LeBron, Tristan Thompson, and former Cav ballers Kyrie Irving and Danny Green. However, it's work he did for King James that is the focus of the suit. In documents obtained by TMZ Sports, Hayden claims he owns the copyright to LeBron's "Gloria" artwork, as well as the "Lion Design" and 'Bron's shoulder stars.
According to the lawsuit, Hayden says the game developers created the player models in NBA2K '16, '17, and '18 with such meticulous detail that they got his tattoos spot on. Hayden is suing the company for a portion of the franchise's profits, and with the game being such a massive success, the amount demanded is no doubt in the millions.
You can view a screenshot from NBA2K 17 up top, along with Hayden's original drawings.
Source: tmz.com
