At the recent LeBron James Skills Academy, camp goers became part of a sensation bigger than they could have ever dreamed.

It all started when an unguarded Jordan Crawford, a college student at Xavier University, drove the lane.  The only thing in his way — LeBron James.  But that didn’t stop Crawford, as he exploded past James straight to the hoop.

Crawford in 2007

It was as simple as that.  Just a dunk.  No twists or turns.  Nothing special or unordinary.

This is elite basketball we’re talking here.  But you’d never know based on the circus that has become “LeBron Dunked On!!!!” flooding the pages of YouTube and countless media outlets since.

Allegedly, immediately following the now-infamous dunk, James approached a Nike rep, and the two decided that all tapes of the event were to be confiscated to keep the masses from becoming aware of the…embarrassment.

Of course, tapes surfaced and the story got out anyway.  This is the 21st century where phones not only have the ability to record video, but also post that video instantly to the World Wide Web.  Did they really think they could keep this one under wraps?

It just seemed a little too obvious to me.

Was this an attempt to cover up an unexceptional dunk, or was this all an ingenious marketing scheme to generate limitless media exposure for LeBron, Nike, and their camp?

Google generated 1.45M hits for the search, “LeBron dunked on,” YouTube had tens of thousands more, and the general public can’t stop talking about it.

LeBron James.  Nike.  Skills Academy.  LeBron James.  Nike.  Skills Academy.  LeBron James.  Nike……

Funny how they’re all talking “James,” not “Crawford.”

You get my point.

By creating this “unreleased” buzz, they’ve managed to conjure up far more interest and exposure than the dunk video could have ever damaged.

I seem to be the only one who thinks this reeks of conspiracy, however, as everyone else is talking about how badly this hurts his brand.

Prince James, at it again.  Won’t shake hands, sore loser, gets dunked on by an amateur and tries to cover it up.

Ok, whatever the take, the point is still the same.  The media is the most powerful force in sports.

I’m not just talking tv here, I’m talking internet, radio, print, word of mouth, cell phone apps, etc.  Whether you use it to your benefit, or become another midnight snack of the beast, once you unleash it, the media is unstoppable.  It can be your best friend or worst enemy.

The moral of the story here for all you rising stars is to think before you act.  Always.  There is always media of some kind there to capture some trash or treasures.  Control your message; it should always support your brand.

By the way, Nike is returning all tapes…….

Posted by Krissi Price