Not Everyone's a "Witness" for LeBron

Tape of NBA MVP Getting Dunked on by College Kid Confiscated by Nike

(CBS/AP)  LeBron James' Nike campaign slogan - "We Are All Witnesses" - apparently contains some fine print - "Except when LeBron gets dunked on by a college kid."

As first reported by Gary Parrish on CBSSports.com, tapes of Xavier's Jordan Crawford dunking over the NBA MVP during a pickup game Monday were confiscated by Nike soon afterward.

Ryan Miller, who was shooting freelance video of LeBron James' Skills Academy, said that he was asked for the tape by Nike basketball director Lynn Merritt.

"He just said, 'We have to take your tape,'" Miller told CBSSports.com. "They took it from other guys, too."

Miller described the event to WHTK-AM in Rochester (the transcript of which is available at Deadspin).

[The dunk] was good. … It was as good as it could've been hyped up to be," he said.

Crawford said his dunk happened in the first 20 minutes of a game that lasted about two hours and did not prompt any reaction from James.

"We just went on playing," Crawford said Wednesday. "It was exciting just to be playing on the same court as him. I can see why he is so great at what he does."

Miller said that he approached James in between games to chat and the star was friendly.

But…

"Then two minutes later, I saw him go over to Lynn Merritt, the director of basketball at Nike, and then he was talking to him for a second, and then Lynn brought me and another camera guy over. We were the only two people filming - it was later at night - and they said, we need your tape."

"They claimed you weren't supposed to be shooting the college and the pro guys working out, and I was told earlier in the day that you could, and there was no media policy saying you couldn't," Miller added.

A representative with Nike, which runs the camp at the University of Akron in James' hometown, made no mention of Crawford's dunk. He said the tapes were confiscated because videotaping of after-hours pickup games at the camp is not allowed.

"Nike has been operating basketball camps for the benefit of young athletes for decades and has long-standing policies as to 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 pickup game following the LeBron James Skills Academy," said Nike spokesman Derek Kent on Wednesday.

A spokesman for James said he had no comment.

[CUBANOGM]

I have always believe and said "LeBron James" is not as good as the Nike marketing makes him to be.It is all a lie to make people believe was is not.Nike has invested in this guy and they are going to lie and steal if necessary to push was he is not down the people's throat.Nike should stick to Jordan because with Lebron James they are going to come short and lopose money.The guy is not worth it.

[koko98-2009]

Never embarrass the star. I had a friend of mine go on the Tonight Show in the mid-sixties. The very last thing he was told before he went on stage was "Remember, Johnny does the jokes, Johnny gets the laughs."