The LeBron-Getting-Dunked-On Story Grows: Crawford and Cameraman Elaborate on The Dunk
NBA, Video July 9th. 2009, 9:00amBet Gary Parrish of CBS Sports had no idea what he was creating when he blogged about the now-legendary Jordan Crawford slam on LeBron James. You Been Blinded found this video of Crawford enjoying his moment in the spotlight, and cameraman Ryan Miller has become something of a celebrity, too.
It was as good as it could have been hyped up to be … Crawford blew by Danny Green … LeBron came for some help defense, and they jumped at the same time, and he threw it down with two hands over LeBron. This is like a 6-foot-4 kid …
And just in case you’re still dubious that this is some sort of underground NIKE marketing plan to somehow pump up the LeBron Skills Academy, here’s a far less eloquent description of what happened from former Virginia Tech guard Malcolm Delaney (via the DC Sports Bog): “YES LEBRON GOT DUNKED ON… FACE @ FACE WIT @ HANDS N IT WAS NASTY.. I had front row seats cuz I was playin.. Lmao..”
You can hear Miller’s entire interview here.
In other Cavs news, they just re-signed PF Anderson Varejao, last seen getting abused (repeatedly) by Dwight Howard in the ECF, for a staggering 6-years, $42 million. Who were they bidding against? And if that’s what he’s worth, then yes, maybe David Lee’s agent can get $12 million a year.
95 Responses to “The LeBron-Getting-Dunked-On Story Grows: Crawford and Cameraman Elaborate on The Dunk”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:05 AM
I don’t know what the big deal is. It’s basketball. Gettin dunked on happens.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:06 AM
7 mil a year isn’t outrageous for Andy, he’s improved every year. With the PF’s left available, I’d take him over any of them.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:09 AM
really no mention that the cameramen werent supposed to be filming? why do you think only 2 clowns hadnt turned off their cameras. lebron gets dunked on and its this big of a story- kind of unreal.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:10 AM
TBL- You’re big on the McNair story and people are going to hate me for opening a closed can of worms but…
Girlfriend/Killer’s DUI video if you haven’t seen it.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:11 AM
hopefully the vid never comes out and by the time this kid is a grandpa its grown into a 360 double pump teabag of Bron Bron.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:12 AM
Anytime you have a forward who only has intangibles, you must wrap him up for 6 years.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:13 AM
we’re only supposed to see video of lebron sinking full court shots on 60 minutes, right?
July 9th, 2009 at 9:17 AM
I see that the Plain-Dealer/LRMR merger is working wonders.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:17 AM
I ask this not to be a dick, but do you ever watch games OR look at stats? Because Varejao is easily a $7 million per year player, especially in a market that values Ben fucking Gordon at $11 M and Charlie Villanueva at $8 M.
That AV makes less than Gordon is criminal but great for the Cavs.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:20 AM
Soak it up Jordan Crawford. Your 15 mins will be over soon
@nickp- you like the Anthony Parker addition?
July 9th, 2009 at 9:20 AM
what is the parker deal?
July 9th, 2009 at 9:21 AM
Whaaaaaaaaa?
I think Gordon is overpaid too, but a guy whose sole role is to play defense, piss off the other team (and their fans) and draw technical fouls is getting paid plenty by that contract.
Rattle off your stats.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:21 AM
@irish: I only saw that we signed him. Still haven’t seen the terms. I’ll hold judgment until I do.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:21 AM
They gave Anderson Varejeo 6 years/50 million? And people rip on Joe D for giving Charlie Villanueva 5 years/35 million. Eat a dick.
Also, I’m curious if LeBron walked off the court after that game without shaking Crawford’s hand?
July 9th, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Spoken like a Cavs homer.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:24 AM
Seriously. Hey TBL, why don’t you write something when Albert Pujols strikes out or Tiger hits one into the rough?
July 9th, 2009 at 9:25 AM
too funny considering the post above it
July 9th, 2009 at 9:26 AM
irish, +1.
Marion to Dallas in 4 player deal, Gortat, Marion, Dirk, thats a pretty sweet front line.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:28 AM
Dallas appears to be making an attempt at re-creating a team like the mid-2000s Suns.
Seems they forgot that team never made the Finals. They still haven’t discovered what “defense” is.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:29 AM
@NDub: You must love power forwards who can’t shoot particularly well, rebound particulary well, or play a lick of defense.
Chalk it up to philosophical differencesS?
July 9th, 2009 at 9:29 AM
looking at the stats, i don’t see how you think he is more valuable at PF than Villanueva.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:29 AM
Anyone else find it real annoying that the UFC ad auto plays sound when landing on the page?
July 9th, 2009 at 9:30 AM
Marion to Dallas in 4 player deal, Gortat, Marion, Dirk, thats a pretty sweet front line
Dallas offered Polish Hammer 5 years $34 million
July 9th, 2009 at 9:33 AM
when do we get to talk about how screwed the Knicks are next year?
July 9th, 2009 at 9:33 AM
Marion to Dallas in 4 player deal, Gortat, Marion, Dirk, thats a pretty sweet front line
gives the Magic a $7 million trade exception. heck of an asset to use if needed
July 9th, 2009 at 9:34 AM
Do you expect Otis to match?
And if Gortat is worth 7 mil a year, then Andy sure as hell is worth that.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:36 AM
It’s not that he was dunked on it’s that they are covering it up
/don’t care either way
July 9th, 2009 at 9:37 AM
Gortat would own Andy. Cant wait to see him embarass Duncan.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:38 AM
Do you expect Otis to match?
Smith has said he won’t pay that much to employ a backup center. Smith also said a match and trade Gortat to receive compensation this season is doable
July 9th, 2009 at 9:39 AM
Momosas or Bloody Marys for breakfast, Duder?
July 9th, 2009 at 9:39 AM
too bad McDyess will be covering him.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:43 AM
tequila
July 9th, 2009 at 9:52 AM
Charlie Villanueva would look cool as hell with Varejao’s hair.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:53 AM
i watch no games and look at no stats.
that being said, there’s probably a reason nobody else wanted andy v. and he was totally a contingency plan. if they had gotten CV, varejao would have had to sign somewhere else (for much less, prolly)
July 9th, 2009 at 9:56 AM
how many wins for cleveland in 10-11?
no lebron. no shaq. they’re going to have invested heavily in mo williams and AV. boobie gibson, delonte west and wally’s corpse as spare parts. maybe hickson will have an offensive move by then.
25 wins?
July 9th, 2009 at 9:57 AM
Do not believe reports about 5 years and 39 million for Marion. It’ll be crazy backloaded, and the last year will not be guaranteed. So more like 4 years and 28 million – which is still an assload for an old malcontent, but still.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:59 AM
that being said, there’s probably a reason nobody else wanted andy v
OKC Thunder and Portland Frailblazers were interested. Teams were willing to pay Sideshow $10 mill a year
July 9th, 2009 at 9:59 AM
Heavily in Mo Williams and AV?
They’re making like $8-$9 mill per year each.
Investing heavily is giving Gordon $11 M.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:01 AM
TBL- You really think Shaq is going to give up ~$40M that he would earn in the last two years of his deal? Even if LeBron leaves, Shaq would sit on the IR, collect, and play 20 games a year.
Cavs still make the playoffs the year after LeBron leaves. 40 wins.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:01 AM
I wonder what Bob Kravitz has to say today. Pacers signed D Jones
July 9th, 2009 at 10:02 AM
The Raptors also do well in that 4-way deal. Hedo’s deal becomes a sign-and-trade, they get a couple of decent bench guys, free up cash to sign Delfino and, I believe, have mid-level exception left over for another piece. Good deal.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:02 AM
Teams were willing to pay Sideshow $10 mill a year
Qualifier – that’s according to his agent.
Anderson Varajeo has a PERONK percentage of almost 61. That’s just an incredible percentage. He’s totally worth it. There’s only 3 other players with a PERONK percentage over that, and they’re all in the Hall of Fame (or will be).
July 9th, 2009 at 10:04 AM
You really think Shaq is going to give up ~$40M that he would earn in the last two years of his deal?
Did Shaq get extended and i didn’t hear? He’s still expiring at 20 mill, right?
July 9th, 2009 at 10:06 AM
and, I believe, have mid-level exception left over for another piece. Good deal
Toronto has their MLE again, instead of using it on Hedo
July 9th, 2009 at 10:07 AM
So tbl with slaray cap memo that came out…where do you think lbj will go? Ny to play with? That memo is devistating news for knicks fans
July 9th, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Wow. I thought he had 2 years left. My fault. His 5 year extension is already up. That went by quick.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:08 AM
I’m still in a state of shock that they actually made a move.
Denver is going to be worse next year, losing Jones and likely Klieza.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:09 AM
Lebron isn’t leaving Cleveland
July 9th, 2009 at 10:09 AM
Probably that it was just white guilt.
(Larry is a racist, apparently)
July 9th, 2009 at 10:10 AM
@JayV- Pacers making the playoffs? lol
July 9th, 2009 at 10:10 AM
@ Irish – it looks like the Mavs did the Magic a favor, don’t you think? That deal actually gets done pretty easily just with Memphis, but Cuban does Otis Smith a favor so he doesn’t spend that same $$ on Gortat.
That’s what I think, at least.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:20 AM
@dirt- maybe Cuban wants Otis to speed up the Gortat deal
July 9th, 2009 at 10:21 AM
I doubt it…but I wouldn’t count it out. If the Sixers fail to keep Miller, than I give the Pacers an ever better chance.
I have noticed that Psycho T has been an absolute beast down in your neck of the woods this past week.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Cuban also didn’t want Marcus Banks, and by adding Orlando he was able to get Toronto their MLE back, so he didn’t have to take them.
It does seem like the deal is sealed on Gortat, though, with this.
San Antonio isn’t the only NBA front office that can collude with other teams.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:29 AM
I have noticed that Psycho T has been an absolute beast down in your neck of the woods this past week
read the same. I have been trying to get to a game to watch Ryan Anderson. I know nothing about him
It does seem like the deal is sealed on Gortat, though, with this
yep. Polish Hammer is the man
July 9th, 2009 at 10:31 AM
I guess so. But what you think about Charlie and Sideshow, others think differently and some the same. You’re a Cavs fan, so you like it. I don’t see it the same. We can go back and forth on it, but I just don’t think Sideshow is worth that money.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:34 AM
Magic & Pacers play at 3:00 tomorrow…if you make it, would love to hear your thoughts. As for Anderson, he’s been putting up big numbers this week, too. Ditto CDR and Speights for the combined Nets/76ers team.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:36 AM
@irish – You from Indiana?
July 9th, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Magic & Pacers play at 3:00 tomorrow
last game. I dont think i will be able to attend
July 9th, 2009 at 10:42 AM
we have the photo of Bron being dunked on!
/probably late on this.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:43 AM
@ndub- no. Last year, there had to be at least 20 Pacers fans on here predicting playoffs
July 9th, 2009 at 10:49 AM
Irish, I lost some dough betting they’d make the playoffs, but more than made it up for it with a LARGE wager with a Knicks fan as to who would finish with a better record.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:54 AM
@Jayv- i made some dough betting on Orlando in the playoffs. easy money
July 9th, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Villanueva and Gordon getting cheeky.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Kobe wouldn’t have been dunked on and then pussed out taking the tape
kb24 > lechoke
July 9th, 2009 at 11:02 AM
HA!
July 9th, 2009 at 11:10 AM
I wouldn’t say that. When the Cavs were rumored to be interested in Villanueva, I was openly railing against it.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:21 AM
I heard Joey Crawford dunked on Dick Bavetta
July 9th, 2009 at 11:53 AM
This thread is proof positive that you guys didn’t watch AV all season and only saw him struggle against Rashard Lewis. He was so extremely valuable for the Cavs all season…best defensive player on the floor for them at all times, one of the best offensive rebounding forwards in the league, so many critical possessions saved..etc.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:54 AM
May have been mentioned elsewhere, even in this post…but Crawford was on Dan Patrick’s radio show this morning. Not sure if what he says is different than the above video, haven’t had a chance to listen to the above video yet. The audio from Patrick’s interview in on the SI/Patrick site. Good stuff. Spin control by Nike/LeBron for sure.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Cairokid,
Even worse that Nike issued that statement about how he never should have been filming. Even though he had been filming, and everyone knew it and could see him. Embarrassing. This cover up was so pointless, and people finally start to get a window into LeBron’s controlled exposure and existence. I’m not saying other stars aren’t the same way, but LeBron is supposedly “so genuine.” Is he?
July 9th, 2009 at 12:06 PM
this is a reach even for you cursed. hes covering up getting dunked on? oliver stone thinks this is a joke. the camps been going 4 years, ive never seen any highlights of these pickup games. you arent allowed to film it, pretty simple. in related news, the boyfriend did it.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:12 PM
That article has all sorts of holes. Mainly that they only talked to Nike, and said the other two cameramen weren’t available for comment. Really? Because i’m listening to Ryan Miller (Syracuse!) give interviews all day. Miller said no signs were posted, they told him he could videotape whatever he wanted and no one told him anything until after he introduced himself to LeBron. I believe the kid. He’s only 21, no reason to lie and he’s close with Jonny Flynn who is close with LeBron.
The Nike spin cycle is full out. Wah, LeBron doesn’t want to be embarrassed. Suck it up.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:12 PM
Whatever makes you feel good.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:17 PM
Alternate theory:
The dunk never happened.
/has anyone checked to see if Scott Boras or Drew Rosenhaus “advises” Jordan Crawford?
July 9th, 2009 at 12:19 PM
haha ok. when in doubt trust the 21 yr old cameraman
July 9th, 2009 at 12:22 PM
when in doubt trust the 21 yr old cameraman hired by ESPNU to document the camp for a special.
/said that on First Take this morning
July 9th, 2009 at 12:22 PM
Thats the Ryan Miller quote from here..
July 9th, 2009 at 12:26 PM
/fixed
July 9th, 2009 at 12:27 PM
jordan crawford said lebron was under the rim and barely jumped. hes probably just covering up for nike though.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:32 PM
jordan crawford said lebron was under the rim and barely jumped. hes probably just covering up for nike though.
you’re right duder. Just like Broussard misremembering the misremembered comments of Ariza, who intitially misremembered his comment to his agent
what part of this can’t you just accept? The guy is a PR hound, and a complete self-absorbed tool. If a “respected” guy like McNair can go off the tracks like he did, why do you think it is so hard to believe a 24 year old kid who has never been told no to anything cann’t act like a petulant child?
July 9th, 2009 at 12:33 PM
Duder- Did you read the Ryan Miller response I linked to? He even posted the media policy. I’m not sure why you think it was taken because of “policy” because it obviously wasn’t. Not to mention Nike is flat out lying that it was an after hours pickup game.
One more thing. The kid isn’t working for anyone. He;s just shooting unpaid stuff and now he has no tape to use. I doubt he would start burning bridges right out of school by filming something he knows is illegal.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:35 PM
HE is working for ESPNU but they’re not paying him is what I meant.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:37 PM
its amazing that you guys think lebron gives a shit about getting dunked on. he admitted he got dunked on. where was this bitching the last 3 years when no one was allowed to film the pickup games.
wait one of you said he works for espnu, now the other one says he was working for no one. you guys need to get your stories straight. exchange phone #s to collaborate further then get back to me.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Why did they take the tape then? Please just answer me that. First you said its policy which it obviously isn’t. So what’s the reason?
Also I said he’s working for ESPNU but not being paid.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:45 PM
usually when something is done for 3 straight years it is assumed the same rules apply for the next year. obviously this kid was new and didnt know any better. not calling the kid retarded or anything he just made a mistake. it happens, lets move on.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:48 PM
its amazing that you think lebron doesn’t give a shit about getting dunked on
if he doesn’t, and this is making him look so bad, why not “Just Do It” and release the tape?
this is like the “handshake thing”. Completely overblown until he shows up in the next day in a Yankees hat to get the media going and then doesn’t do the politically correct thing and say he should have shaken hands. It would all have gone away. Same as this stupid non-story.
His sense of PR is terrible. He needs to learn from Costanza
July 9th, 2009 at 1:01 PM
Well yeah, it makes me feel good to have AV as opposed to losing him. The guy was hella valuable last year. So yeah, it makes me feel good.
July 9th, 2009 at 1:02 PM
Duder, I’ve come to the defense of LeBron when needed, but it seems like he can do no wrong in your eyes. You’ve never blasted him for anything. He’s not perfect.
July 9th, 2009 at 1:22 PM
cursed look at what people, like you, attack him for. not shaking hands, covering up a dunk. i mean take a step back and look at how funny that is. the problem is he does nothing wrong, so people reach for anything. (we talked about the rumors, lets wait and see on that) he grew up a yankee fan, why is that so hard for you to believe jpq. why does he wear osu stuff all the time?! why not st johns stuff?!
July 9th, 2009 at 1:26 PM
Duder,
I don’t kill him for many of those things, I just think he’s being childish, which is fine – he’s only 24. My problem is with those that act like he’s perfect and that he’s the most “genuine” “likable” athlete out there. And truthfully, i don’t think it’s nearly as genuine as many others. The word I would use is “contrived.”
I really don’t care about the Yankee cap stuff, but others do, so it gets mentioned. But at this point, I think he does it intentionally to get people talking. Everything he does is so calculated. He knew that would outrage people the day after he refused to shake hands, so he wore it. The kid’s got a pretty big ego, you’d have to agree with that right?
July 9th, 2009 at 1:32 PM
of course.
i havent liked any of his commercials, so theres something bad.
July 9th, 2009 at 1:41 PM
[...] Hat Tip Video – [The Big Lead] [...]
July 9th, 2009 at 1:49 PM
July 9th, 2009 at 1:55 PM
yeah hes 24 and makes more $ outside of basketball than any NBA player. can you give him a call with some advice?