Friday, August 7th, 2009 at 9:00 am  |  37 responses

LeBron Finally Addresses Dunk-Gate

And hopefully, this closes the book on the overwhelming ridiculousness of this story: “James denied ordering the seizure. ‘First of all, I never told anyone to confiscate any tapes,’ James said. ‘Nike has a no videotaping policy at pickup games. They’ve always done that. It just so happened that LeBron was involved, so now it’s blown up. But it’s a play in the game of basketball that happens all the time. You can go on YouTube right now and see me getting dunked on by a lot of guys. I mean, I like to call myself a shotblocker sometimes, and that tends to happen sometimes, when you just don’t judge the ball right.”‘

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  • Ken

    Honestly, after watching the video this whole thing seemed anticlimactic. It was a nice enough dunk, but this whole scandal was way overhyped.

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com Hursty

    Can you say he’s talking about himself in 3rd person here? Just wondering.

  • http://djsklfl.com Jukai

    Look, being a devote Lebron supporter, I honestly can say that I don’t believe this. He only says he didn’t order the tapes to be seized AFTER they come out?
    He didn’t give ANY credit to Jordan Crawford?
    Man, it’s hard to like Lebron these days.

  • http://slamonline.com Spaceship Jay

    I really don’t feel like its LeBron, but the media giant that surrounds him. It’s tough to be human when you constantly have a camera and/or reporter present.

  • Sizzle

    @Jukai, I really don’t think he has to give any credit to crawford for dunking on him. Granted it was a nice dunk on Crawfords behalf, but I’ve never seen someone congratulate an opponent for dunking on them. The only thing he owed anyone was the explanation, which he gave, even though it came out weeks after. I agree with everyone though, had the tape just came out when it did it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal. The only two people it hurt was Lebron (obviously his image) and peoples perception of Crawfords dunk (Everyone was probably expecting some fred weiss sh*t)

  • Orlando Woolridge

    Spaceship, I understand what your saying, but Lebron is his own person who can make decisions for himself. You can’t always blame everybody else. However, I still think this is a non-story, although I guess I did decide it was important enough to put my two cents in. I’m bored at work and I really miss basketball.

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    Juks: 1- Give credit to Crawford? Really!? It was a routine dunk in a summer pick up game. The kind of dunk you talk about for maybe 5 mins after the run then forget forever… and that’s in my rec league! 2- LeBron is corpo. I have no idea if he asked for the tape or not but there was no way he was gonna admit to it.

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    Glad that he recognized that he made a bad move with not speaking to the media after the Orlando game (because that has always been the issue). The handshaking thing would have been a footnote if he had gone to that press conf. That’s why D-Wade didn’t catch any heat for not shaking hands with the Hawks. Not speaking to the media is always lose-lose.

  • http://www.mynameinblue.blogspot.com Hisham

    He should’ve shaken hands with the media after the dunk. That would’ve killed three scandalous birds with one stone

  • Joe

    I like how Lebron says he still doesn’t regret shaking the players hands because he “can’t accept losing.” What about all those other players on the Hawks and Pistons? Are they just big losers because they shook the Cavs’ hands after they got swept?

  • mark

    I like to call myself a shot blocker and [getting dunked on] tends to happen. Jordan Crawford is going to be a good basketball player …”

    There’s your credit for Crawford.

  • Josh B

    I can’t stand hearing him talk in third person. He just seems so pretentious! Like the article on here the other day about when he bought his car. Man’s head is a few sizes too big.

    As a side note, sometimes I wish people would just admit they got lucky. He’s good at basketball, sure, but in no way does he _deserve_ millions of dollars. It’s a game. The fact that it’s more popular than, say, curling, is sheer luck (and marketing, well, also curling is a lot more boring too watch, but the point remains). There have been some real class acts in basketball (David Robinson, for example, look up his charitable efforts), but unfortunately for every class act there’s fifteen ego-maniacs.

    Sorry about the rent. Something about “It just so happened that Lebron was involved…” coming from lebron really set me off.

  • Cristo

    I can’t believe this “dunk” story even made the news. Lebron is a great defensive player and it happens to everyone that plays defense. Besides, the dunk wasn’t that great and it wasn’t really a dunk on anyone. Get over it haters!

  • http://www.lkz.ch Darksaber

    y.a.w.n….. times infinity.

  • Robert

    Lebron should really apologize to the media. The media has been pampering him for years and he is their lovechild.

  • vic21

    He’s dumber than I thought…

  • otyoiky

    it was a normal dunk, wasn’t even tat great, lebron is only being harassed because everyone knows hes is the most dominant player in the nba, this would be the same if shaq or dwight got dunked on. not kobe tho, hes too weak to even have to try to dunk on, hes not a blocker.

  • http://djsklfl.com Jukai

    mark: Yer right, my fault for not reading the entire article.

  • http://www.anwilson.blogspot.com rainman10

    @ Sizzle…Go watch some Shawn Kemp dunks, Gatling shakes his hand after a nasty dunk…but I get your point anyways.

  • Sizzle

    @rainman10..haha good point I did forget about that.

    @Joshb I can’t argue that he does not have some type of ego problem, but you also have to look at what else he does for basketball. LeBron James and Kobe Bryant (of you can’t guard me fame) are the two biggest promoters for the NBA. Even if they are exploited by the media for everything, in the end they only further spread the game of basketball as a whole.

  • Sizzle

    I also think that he was using the third person to show the media’s perspective saying “LeBron was involved” to blow it up. Although he could have said “I was involved.” Something about the third person bothers me too with athletes. What a joke that was the other day with Antonio Pierce.

  • JoeMaMa

    @rainman10 – I still STILL can’t believe Gatling shook Kemp’s hand. Surreal.

  • Joe

    Gatling was probably so shocked and stunned that he’d about do anything.

  • Vish

    first off..it’s crazy for anyone to think that Lebron is going to come out and say ‘Yes, I ordered Nike to confiscate the tapes…’ I mean c’mon, are you serious? Of course he is going to deny it. Secondly, if Nike had that policy, there is no way they would allow cameras to even enter the premises. Thirdly and most importantly, shaking hands after a loss is the classiest and most sportsmanlike thing any athlete playing at any level can do. Justifying not shaking hands is like giving a big middle finger to all the other players in the league. It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong and I guess Lebron is not that man…yet.
    @otyoiky – can’t believe i am even responding to your so called ‘post’, blocking a dunk is one of the most difficult things to do…I don’t remember any footage of Lebron blocking a dunk (his weakside or come from behind layup blocks are sick though). On the other hand, I can name a few blocks that Kobe has got on legit dunks…AK47, DWill etc. So stop hating and stay on point.
    @rainman10 – I believe that Kemp’s dunk on Gatling got even more special by Gatling recognizing how awesome it was….

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    @ Jukai: LeBron didn’t give Crawford credit because LeBron is a winner. Oh wait…

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Anyways, LeBron’s story is total bull. Ryne (I think?) even said that they’ve had clips from these camps up here on the site… That no-taping policy is a total cover-up. Haha I knew they’d try to play it cool (LeBron and Nike) and try to make LeBron the good guy again for the NBA.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Wow, LeBron is sorry for not speaking to the media, but says he isn’t sorry for not shaking hands and doesn’t even mention ditching his teammates. He completely missed the point here. Forget the media for a second, the important thing was that he addressed being a poor sport after the loss. He STILL thinks he’s a “winner”. Wow, just wow. Somewhere, David Stern just broke the Guiness World Record for longest face palm.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Lol alright, enough LeBron criticism. I’m a fan of his game, and he seems like an okay guy… but he’s just a little confused and annoying.
    Anyways, check out some vintage Reignman:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQeMhYJe5JA
    My personal favorites in this video are when he jams and then shakes hands with Chris Gatling (that’s class right there, on both sides), DOUBLE-PUMP reverse jams it on THE SKYWALKER, and the And-1 WINDMILL in traffic underneath the net…
    I knew Shawn Kemp was crazy nice, but I didn’t know he was THAT crazy. That man could flat out ball.

  • BogMog

    Before Kemp dunked on him Gatling blocked his shot. Kemp got i back and slammed it down. Cool sequence.

  • Maurice

    Those arent really his words when he adressed it. The media is still covering something up.

  • http://www.another48minutes.blogspot.com Gerard Himself

    Jukai actually did compliment Crawford. It’s just a reporter’s choice whether two take note of it or not. Ball Don’t Lie also had some quotes from that interview, with LeBron saying: “Jordan Crawford is going to be a good basketball player”

    http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/LeBron-James-breaks-silence-on-Dunkgate-hands?urn=nba,181361

    there you have it. Everybody happy? Is Bron the good guy again now that he showed Crawford some respect according to some of you?

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    It’s a sign of my ever increasing age that the “new breed” of fan, think highlights of Shawn Kemp, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon are retro or old school archives…

    : /

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Whilst Shawn Kemp is mentioned…
    Look for the reverse dunk in the NBA FINALS when Shawn Kemp dunks over Dennis Rodman and then SITS ON HIS SHOULDERS….and Rodman positioned himself there for the whole sequence…you can’t see either of those two are showmen.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Go looking for the shawn kemp on rodman reverse sitting on the shoulders dunk….two showmen at their primes.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    eh..?
    the first one didn’t come up, and now it did…?

  • http://www.alllooksame.com Tarzan Cooper

    Hisham has some interesting time saving ideas.

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