(Updated the post with this photoshop passed on to me from Jeff from ProjectSpurs.com. I think the fact this was made illustrates the point I'm making below)
Xavier's Jordan Crawford was at the LeBron James Skills Academy. So was LeBron James. During a pick up game, Crawford posterized James with a sick two-hand dunk. At least… that's what we hear. We won't be able to see it… because Nike… and LeBron… won't let us.
during a pick-up game here at the LeBron James Skills Academy. It was a
two-handed jam, the kind that would've circulated quickly on YouTube.
But Nike officials eliminated that possibility shortly after the dunk
happened by allegedly confiscating tapes from various cameramen.
Freelance photographer Ryan Miller was one of the cameramen shooting the game.
He told CBSSports.com that Nike Basketball Senior Director Lynn Merritt took his tape.
"He just said, 'We have to take your tape,'" Miller said. "They took it from other guys, too."
I don't know how many times it has to happen before people learn the lesson: It's not the act… it's the cover up that makes stories fly out of control.
Yes, it would have landed on YouTube… but so what? What's the big deal about some college kid who's amped up by playing against LeBron…. a LeBron who is probably half-assing it anyway…. going up and putting one on "The King." LeBron could have laughed it off… said "hey, the kid can jump. Nice dunk" and it would have just gone away.
But no. Now it's going down this way… we ALL want to see what the big deal is. We all want to know what happened. So you know what's gonna happen? TV stations are going to track down Crawford. They're going to track down other people who were there (they were, after all, witnesses). They're going to track down LeBron. Guys are going to romanticize the dunk as the best dunk they've ever seen. LeBron is going to have to answer more questions about this now than he ever would have if the tape had just gone out onto YouTube.
And LeBron can blame himself for it.
how I knew his name was Lynn. LeBron said, 'Hey, Lynn. Come here.'"
Minutes later, Miller said Merritt demanded his tape.
"There's nothing I can think of besides LeBron just not wanting it
online," Miller said. "It's a good story to tell people, I guess. But
then again, I'm kind of pissed. I lost my tape."
It's not the story… it's the cover up. It always is, was and will be. From something big like the Clinton scandal to something small like this. The cover up will always bite you on the ass… especially in this day of the internet. Anyone can tell their story of what they saw. And people like us will be around to spread the news.
LeBron James got dunked on… hard… by a college kid. And he and Nike are too embarrassed to let any of us see it.
The more sites that type that sentence… or something similar… the worse it gets for Bron Bron.
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