07-10-2009, 02:58 PM
Sometimes it is not good to be King. Cleveland Cavaliers mega-star LeBron James learned that recently when he was embarassed by Xavier sophomore Jordan Crawford. Crawford had a highlight reel slam dunk on the Akron native at the LeBron James Skills Academy sponsored by Nike and held right here in Cleveland.
If you are saying to yourself, "Why haven't I seen that yet?" there is a reason. Apparently the King and his court (that being Nike) confiscated the video tapes from the people who were taping the session. Nike officials explained:
"Nike has been operating basketball camps for the benefit of young athletes for decades and has longstanding policies in place regarding what events are open and closed to media coverage. Unfortunately, for the first time in four years, two journalists did not respect our "no videotaping" policy at an after hours pick-up game Monday evening following the LeBron James Skills Academy."
It appears that Nike only likes to promote dunks when LeBron is doing the posterizing.
And, this excerpt from an espn article adds more about the no taping policy:
They want us to believe this isn't about James' wounded pride, even though Ryan Miller -- one of the videographers who filmed the dunk -- told several media outlets he was informed earlier in the day by public-relations staffers that he could videotape the game. He also said the game was within the scheduled hours of the camp. Plus, the event's media policies don't mention anything about videotaping.
If you are saying to yourself, "Why haven't I seen that yet?" there is a reason. Apparently the King and his court (that being Nike) confiscated the video tapes from the people who were taping the session. Nike officials explained:
"Nike has been operating basketball camps for the benefit of young athletes for decades and has longstanding policies in place regarding what events are open and closed to media coverage. Unfortunately, for the first time in four years, two journalists did not respect our "no videotaping" policy at an after hours pick-up game Monday evening following the LeBron James Skills Academy."
It appears that Nike only likes to promote dunks when LeBron is doing the posterizing.
And, this excerpt from an espn article adds more about the no taping policy:
They want us to believe this isn't about James' wounded pride, even though Ryan Miller -- one of the videographers who filmed the dunk -- told several media outlets he was informed earlier in the day by public-relations staffers that he could videotape the game. He also said the game was within the scheduled hours of the camp. Plus, the event's media policies don't mention anything about videotaping.
Will it blend? That is the question.