‘Dunktapegate’ Will End In Nike Commercial

[Editor's Note: Our good friend Brendan Bowers, who has been contributing to MSF under the name "J.D. Shaver", has shifted his blogging focus from his old blog Shaver Sports to his new one: Stepien Rules. He will now be posting under that name to remind you all to visit his site, which we can only assume will continue to be one of the best Cavs blogs out there. To learn what exactly "Stepien Rules" means, view the about page of the new blog.]

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Xavier Musketeer Jordan Crawford dunked over the top of LeBron James recently at a LeBron James-Nike Summer Basketball Camp.  LeBron then whispered something into the ear of a Nike exec shortly after, and the tape was subsequently confiscated.  You may have heard about it.  My friends at Cleveland Frowns coined the phrase ‘Dunktapegate’ in a post Thursday  which collectively summarizes the online opinions of many on the subject.  Most people conclude that James is ’surprisingly lame,’ ’pathetic,’ and a ‘North Korean communist,’ for allegedly directing the destruction of footage.  Even Ozzie Gullien’s favorite ‘columnist’ chimed in, calling the King a ‘baby’ and his Nike constituents, ‘goons.’ 

But how does everyone know for sure what exactly it was that James whispered? 

What if he said: ‘Get those tapes, and send them to Phil Knight, that’s our next marketing campaign.’

 You don’t know that he didn’t, and it would have the makings of LeBron’s most powerful Nike Campaign of all time if he did.

In a ‘Be Like Mike’ motiff, Nike could say that if you wear LBJ’s – like Jordan Crawford – even you can run faster, jump higher, and dunk harder than LeBron James himself.  Imagine the anticipation towards such a campaign if its the first time this dunk is aired.  Might not be as powerful if it was on You Tube for months prior.  If you don’t think this could be already in motion, well it might be.  On the Dan Patrick show Friday, Dwayne Wade said that Nike Pitchman Kobe Bryant called Wade and said ‘we need to give LeBron ‘stuff,’ for this.’

‘Stuff,’ or more publicity.

The marketing spins are endless here, and I find it impossible to believe that LBJ and Nike won’t capitalize.

If you think not, I’d ask you to answer the following questions:

 What does LeBron James lose by people seeing Jordan Crawford dunk on him?  Will people forget the hundreds of come from behind rejections he had this past season? Will people forget that LeBron blocked a 360-attempt by Jason Richardson? Or that he has dunks on the heads of Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan to his credit?  Will they make him give his MVP Trophy back? Additionally, if LeBron is not only going to show up to, but actually play pick-up games at, the basketball camps bearing his name, why is he playing?  Is it so that he can dunk on the faces of all campers, and block all their shots?  Or is he allowing them the opportunity to play against the best in the world, and to go home saying to themselves, ‘I was on the same court as LeBron James, and I held my own.’  

Is Jordan Crawford’s basketball career better for attending the LBJ-Nike summer camp?  Isn’t that the point of basketball camps?  Doesn’t Nike sell the idea that you too can play better too if you wear Nike shoes?

When the LBJ – Kobe Puppet Campaign is over, this will be next, and you heard it here first.

* – Lebron James photo credit: AdRants.com

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Brendan is a featured columnist at Midwest Sports Fans who also runs Stepien Rules, where they discuss everything you ever wanted to know about the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Brendan’s contributions to Midwest Sports Fans are sponsored by BigTimeGameBoards.com, the company that helps you tailgate like a champion with our high quality cornhole boards, sets and accessories. And if you don’t know what cornhole is, you aren’t a Midwesterner.

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