LeBron gets dunked on; Nike confiscates tapes.

[Bodz]

Interview with Jordan Crawford on the dunk on LeBron

phpBB [video]

Watched some of his clips; seems like the kid have some potential...


No clips to show on the dunk, but this interview with Crawford for a description may be all that we have to imagine what happened

phpBB [video]

[Modifly]

I've watched them already, Crawform seems to be having this happy, smiley look on his face all the time. I guess he's still happy about "the dunk".

[Its_asdf]

That interiewer seems like a prick. He was probing for an answer to a question that Crawford obviously did not want to give him. Maybe it's just me, but all that media attention is not worth it for some random kid dunking over LeBron James. I'm glad he didn't say anything to paint LeBron as some sort of villain too.

[Modifly]

That interiewer seems like a prick. He was probing for an answer to a question that Crawford obviously did not want to give him. Maybe it's just me, but all that media attention is not worth it for some random kid dunking over LeBron James.

I agree. That interviewer is trying so hard to squeeze the answer he wants out of Crawford. "What does it feels like to dunk on the King?"

[Andrew]

I think incidents like thi one as well as what happened in the ECF are noteworthy in their own right.

Two completely different things to me. I loved it that he just went of the court like that. I didn't think it was an anti-social thing to do at all. Some people will say that it shows he's a sore loser, but I don't mind that. I like rivalry and emotions on the court, a little psycholical warfare may be nice too. Please don't let it turn into tennis, where the winner and the loser are going out of their way to congratulate each other with their performances all week and you had a great season so far bla bla bla..

I couldn't disagree more. There is nothing inappropriate about sportsmanship in sports, which seems to be what you're suggesting. You certainly don't have to like each other during the game and things can get rough, but when the game is over you face your opponent and you shake hands. It's sporting, it's classy, it's certainly not inappropriate.

Of course, that's not the only issue with what happened in the ECF. Aside from the childish storm off, there was also skipping out on the media and throwing his teammates to the wolves and his weak excuse for his lack of sportsmanship ("I'm a winner"). It is going a little beyond the sport to comment on things like that but sportsmanship and professionalism are still aspects connected to professional sports.

[J@3]

Retrospectively though, LeBron didn't complain about not winning the MVP award he thought he deserved in 2008. Should've been a trophy. I guess in future this whole drama could lead to some dirty play from the media but in the long run I'm sure he'll come out of it all pain free.

[benji]

Why is it childish? He thought he was going to get something and he didn't. He was understandably upset and didn't want anyone to see him in a moment of likely weakness. Maybe he'll fess up to his anger later. Even if we have to wait for his autobiography.

[Hedonist]

I couldn't disagree more. There is nothing inappropriate about sportsmanship in sports, which seems to be what you're suggesting. You certainly don't have to like each other during the game and things can get rough, but when the game is over you face your opponent and you shake hands. It's sporting, it's classy, it's certainly not inappropriate.

Of course, that's not the only issue with what happened in the ECF. Aside from the childish storm off, there was also skipping out on the media and throwing his teammates to the wolves and his weak excuse for his lack of sportsmanship ("I'm a winner"). It is going a little beyond the sport to comment on things like that but sportsmanship and professionalism are still aspects connected to professional sports.

The fact that I don't necessarily find it inappropriate or childish in an isolated incident doesn't mean that I think the opposite is.

I gave the example of the tennis ceremonies because I hate it when it's just a ritual, in many cases a summation of clichés and rarely spontaneous.

I appreciate it when somebody cares more about losing than about courtesy. I don't hold it against him. He lost himself in the emotion of losing, but he expressed it by disappearing to the locker room asap, it's not like he committed a flagrant foul or anything out of frustration, which I would consider much worse. I don't care that he avoided the media either. Who cares that Mo Williams had to do some of the talking for a change?

On top of that he's still very young, he doesn't deserve to get burned for such a minor incident. People have to own their losses as well as their glory, sure, but I don't expect 24 year old to cope with everything perfectly with all the pressure that is on him (from the media). Maybe that's what I liked about it second, after the passion, it showed he's just human.

Confiscating tapes however is the action a megalomaniac control freak, so that's a whole different story.

[Andrew]

I appreciate it when somebody cares more about losing than about courtesy.

Fair enough, I can see where you're coming from there. But bad sportsmanship is bad sportsmanship in my book, and you can certainly care a great deal about losing while still be courteous and sportsmanlike. I'm not trying to paint LeBron James as an evil man here, but I would suggest it is not one of his finest moments as a professional, from his reaction to the loss itself.

He lost himself in the emotion of losing, but he expressed it by disappearing to the locker room asap, it's not like he committed a flagrant foul or anything out of frustration

Agreed, and again I don't want to portray him as too much of a villain. I do actually like LeBron, he's been one of my favourite non-Bulls for a few years now and I enjoy watching him play. And you're right, he certainly could've done much worse. But just because what he did wasn't the worst thing he could've done doesn't mean it wasn't the wrong thing to do in its own right and cannot be criticised. I see where you're coming from, but at the end of the day he did something that I (and many others) feel is unsportsmanlike and I don't think it was right. It was just one incident and it's over with now, but my opinion on it remains unchanged. It was not a proud moment for him, in a couple of ways.

I don't care that he avoided the media either. Who cares that Mo Williams had to do some of the talking for a change?

Well, there's a couple of issues here. The first is a question of whether he's neglecting his professional duties by skipping out on the media. From a personal standpoint I don't blame him, it's kind of sadistic in a way that players in that situation have to be grilled by the media. But that's the job. We all have to do things we don't like in our jobs but so long as it's reasonable and more importantly part of the job description, "I don't feel like it" usually doesn't fly as a valid excuse.

The other issue is that LeBron James is the leader of the team, a role he obviously wants and accepts. But when things didn't go to plan, he basically said to his teammates "You handle it" and walked out the door. Again, from a personal standpoint I can understand him not wanting to talk to the media but when you wear a t-shirt celebrating your MVP award, have a nickname like King James and go so far as to brand yourself with a tattoo declaring you're the "Chosen One", you've got to live up to everything that boast entails. Again, I'm not calling for the firing squad here, but I don't think it was the right thing for the supposed team leader to do.

On top of that he's still very young, he doesn't deserve to get burned for such a minor incident. People have to own their losses as well as their glory, sure, but I don't expect 24 year old to cope with everything perfectly with all the pressure that is on him (from the media). Maybe that's what I liked about it second, after the passion, it showed he's just human.

Fair enough. He is certainly still young and not every moment is going to be a proud one. But just as he's free to make mistakes and learn from them, others are free to call him on those things as well. And like I said before, I find the concept of celebrity and media hype fascinating in its own way. I don't think LeBron deserves to be painted as sport's greatest villain but he's at that pivotal point in his career from a PR standpoint where he either redeems himself and this minor stuff is put well in the past (except by the true haters) or whether he goes down the other road and earns a bit of a bad reputation despite his stellar play.

[Martti.]

It was like in "The Simpsons" once, when the ending titles came. You could hear a gun trigger and sound of Homer saying "I am saying this out of my own free will.. NBC sucks and watch Fox" or smtg like that, nervous as hell. Crawford was wearing a Nike T-Shirt. Some Nike-guy stood behind the camera. Maybe with money, maybe with a gun.

[shadowgrin]

wear a t-shirt celebrating your MVP award

[The X]

Kobe's more likable than Lebron now

[MikeMan™]

LeBron Gets Dunked On , What's the big deal !
It's basketball . . .

[JaoSming]

because its LeBron, he/nike is making a big deal about it by removing the cameraman only after it happened and evidently he got shit on really good.

phpBB [video]

[bee-boy]

Get em Kobe

[JaoSming]

5 hours till we get a shitty video of da dunk

http://www.tmz.com/2009/07/22/the-video ... ou-to-see/

[shadowgrin]

TMZ a part of your regular website visits, Jao?

[JaoSming]

OperationSports is

News Stealin makes me feel gooood

[Martti.]

Nice to finally be able to see it. Then, when it hits Youtube, it'll be in the millions in views in a couple of days.

[Valor]

Nice to finally be able to see it. Then, when it hits Youtube, it'll be in the millions in views in a couple of days.

correction, the view count will hit the million mark in a matter of minutes

[Martti.]

http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true ... ee996cd4c1

So it's up now.. Can't really see as the quality is low. But hey, at least we can see what the fuzz was all about.

[Hedonist]

http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=f21ecae1-4984-4ba4-9216-94ee996cd4c1

So it's up now.. Can't really see as the quality is low.

Who filmed it? Zapruder?

Oh I almost forgot.. LeBron, you're pwned lol.

[Hedonist]

Here's another one (diff. angle)

http://ebaumnation.com/2009/07/22/jorda ... bron-james

[Jing]

Hm didnt look too bad, the kid went up and LeBron went up with him, and the kid dunks it in LeBron's face. Wouldn't have made much of a stur at all if he had just left it alone. You see it much clearer on the 2nd camera angle, the kid has much better positioning and LeBron pretty much got blocked out and no chance to block the shot. Tried taking on the kid after getting dunked on and lost the ball

[JaoSming]

meh, if he didnt jump, it wouldnt have been shit

2nd angle was much much better than the TMZ crap