The Sports Info Business

It did not take long for a dunk that has not been seen by anyone outside of a gym to make natinal headline news. Let’s get you up to speed on the latest developments.  It seems, aacording to wide spread media reports, college sophomore Jordan Crawford dunk on LeBron James at the Cavaliers star’s Skills Academy yesterday.

I’ll make the story short for those who somehow haven’t heard it. Crawford, who plays at Xavier, jammed on James, but Nike (NKE) representatives confiscated the tapes from more than one cameraman in attendance.  I guess if you cannot see it it didn’t happen, did it.

Check that.  You do not need to see it to understand hew buzz it has created in the last day. Yesterday, according to Google, the words “Jordan Crawford Dunk on Lebron” was the fourth most searched terms on the internet.  Check it out for yourself

Some are asking if we are ever going to see the tape of Crawford’s dunk?  it does not matter.  I understand people are trying to protect the King James image here.  But protecting an image is making sure an athlete stays out of jail or out of court.  Protecting an image is for the agents, sponsors or other athlete partners to make sure the star has been trained to react under the microscope of what sports and sports media is today.

Lebron’s image suffered when he didn’t shake hands after a tough NBA playoffs loss.  Was it wrong?  Yes.  Does it help form an opinion about a person’s character.  Maybe.  The man is 24, born the year the Olympics were held in Los Angeles.  Lebron is still learning and many people in the sports management business are “yes men” and “yes women.”  They tell athletes what they want to hear.  But did Lebron commit a crime? No.  He has been a terrific example and role model early in his career.  This is just another life lesson.

In an age where technology is forcing businesses and people to become more transparent, the Nike rep and Lebron should have just let it run.  it would have been a highlight for a day and then people would have moved on.  Now, it remains the talk of the sports world.  Jordan Crawford’s dunk on Lebron might have helped Jordan Crawford’s image most of all.