Jul

21

The dunk on LeBron & the media backlash

Filed Under Sports Media, Sports PR 

Image Credit: Imagine24

Before I want to get into the topic of this post, I just wanted to thank everyone for visiting SPRB last week during the Sports Blogging 101 Series. There was a spike in traffic, linking, and discussion — thank you SPRB readers for making it a success! Since the series was such a hit, I will start working on a few more series (career, skills development, and Sports PR 101). As a result, posting will be lighter this week as I create content for the next series. Okay, back to the topic at hand.

Two weeks ago, a sophomore from Xavier named Jordan Crawford dunked over LeBron James at LeBron James Skills Academy. Ryan Miller, a freelancer, caught the dunk on camera for ESPNU. After that scrimmage had finished, a Nike official confiscated Miller’s tape as well as another reporter. Miller lost a whole day’s work when his entire tape was taken rather than just the portion including the dunk on LeBron.

The story blew up and Nike found itself in a PR fiasco. If the tape had been released, I’m sure it would have done well on YouTube. By confiscating the tape, Nike simply made it much much worse. As word leaked out about Nike’s tactics, bloggers and reporters had plenty to say in the coming weeks. Here’s a roundup of what some media members had to say:

Pete Thamel of The Quad (NYT basketball blog):

But with one bizarre move, Nike officials sent a warning to campers and the news media –- what happens at LeBron’s Camp stays at LeBron’s Camp. Or, at least they make sure that it doesn’t end up on YouTube.

Channeling media tactics straight out of North Korea, Nike officials confiscated the videotape of a 22-year-old freelance photographer named Ryan Miller.

Richard Deitsch of Media Circus (SI.com):

THE DUNK YOU’LL NEVER SEE, cried the Los Angeles Times. The Las Vegas Sun offered a more cheeky synopsis: IF A DUNK FALLS IN LEBRON’S FACE — AND A NIKE REP CONFISCATES THE FILM — DID IT REALLY HAPPEN?

Indeed, it did. In a story that has since morphed into the basketball version of Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster and UFOs in Roswell, Xavier’s Jordan Crawford dunked on James last week at Nike’s LeBron James Skills Academy at the University of Akron. The dunk was filmed by a pair of freelance videographers, but before the world could see Crawford’s YouTube moment, Nike officials confiscated the tapes. You probably know what happened next: The story was reported by CBSSports.com writer Gary Parrish and LeBron-gate quickly went viral. The New York Times described the company’s heavy-handedness as “channeling media tactics straight out of North Korea.” Plenty of others have weighed in, including an interesting take from TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott.

DJ Gallo of Page 2 (ESPN.com):

Dear Mr. Manners,

A camper dunked on me at my basketball camp. There was video of the dunk, but it was confiscated. Now everyone is saying I’m just protecting my image. What can I do? Isn’t it rude to dunk on someone at his own basketball camp?
– LeBron J. (Cleveland)

Dear Dunked, Defensive and Depressed,

What’s done is done. By confiscating the tape, it sounds as if you already made a mountain out of a molehill. (And watch out, other people may now use that mountain to jump off to dunk on you.) What you need to do is focus on the future. You have to tweak your basketball camp so you are never put in this situation again. Most camps are for little kids — little kids who can’t dunk. That’s the kind of camp you need to have. Barring that, I’d say don’t have a camp. I mean, Shawn Bradley never hosted a camp, am I right? He was smart. You need to be as smart as Shawn Bradley.
– Mr. Manners

Ted Leshinski at Sports PR 101:

Editor’s Note: If you learn just one thing from reading SportsPR101, please make it this: “In public relations, the cover up is always worse than the crime itself.”

Not only did Nike do a dumb thing by forcing the videographers to turn over the tapes and assumed word of its “police action” would not leak out, but the sports-industry giant now continues to spin the incident like the dunk never happened and has claimed the tapes were seized for a different reason.

Charles Harris of The Sports Info Business:

You do not need to see it to understand the 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. … 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.

Bill Livingston of Cleveland Plain Dealer:

In LeBron James’ locker at The Q hangs a photograph of his dunk over Tim Duncan on Nov. 3, 2006, in the second game of the season. Any reporter can see it in all its King-sized glory. Like the huge downtown sign says, we are all witnesses.

Except when James and Nike say we aren’t.

When anyone suppresses information, it becomes bigger than it ever was in real life because then the imagination takes wing.

Jim Edwards at BNET Advertising:

Brand managers and PR folk take note. This is a lesson about transparency in the digital age. In failing to understand that, Nike Basketball senior director Lynn Merritt has done the dumbest thing a brand manager could possibly do: Create a needless controversy that makes his brand look hypocritical, his endorser look lame, and himself look stupid.

Darren Rovell of Sports Biz:

Yesterday’s story was that Nike had the tape.

Today’s story? Fans want to see the tape.

Ten years ago, this would have all gone away. Fans wouldn’t have been able to generate enough noise to pressure Nike into giving the tape up. Now there’s hope in generating buzz on blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

So what will it take for Nike to release this thing?

Tommy Craggs of Deadspin:

If that’s how it went down — if King James really sent a Swoosh drone to go all FBI-in-Dealey-Plaza on the cameramen — then that’s surpassingly lame. Give the kid his YouTube moment. Congratulate him. Shake him by the hand. Or, you know, don’t.

Comments

4 Responses to “The dunk on LeBron & the media backlash”

  1. Ryan on July 21st, 2009 12:49 pm

    Ridiculous. First of all, the photographer was dumb in handing his tape over. I’m fairly certain that Nike has no legal right to the tape anyway, so he could easily regain that with no problem.

    But, I mean this is such a no-brainer. Dunks come and go, give this kid his 15 minutes of fame, and that’s that. Now you’ve just dug yourself a hole that will take quite a while to get out of.

  2. Ricky - Sixers4guidos on July 21st, 2009 1:32 pm

    the good thing is that the spot of Nike PR director will be open soon, lol

    seriously, I just don’t get how Nike could “confiscate” the video. Do they phisically took it from the cameraman? I think that should be illegal, at least here, that would be a crime, like robbery, only the police can confisacate things.

    Maybe it’s just a matter of terms, but here we are borderline

    as for the PR boomerang, I really have nothing to add, you said it all and the links speak for themselves. what a bunch of idiots, they made a big deal off a completely meaningless thing, well deserved end

  3. Steve on July 21st, 2009 2:44 pm

    any publicity is good publicity and they are making Bron relevant in the middle of the summer over something that doesn’t even matter.

  4. Jamie Favreau on July 24th, 2009 12:23 am

    They drew attention to the brand! So I guess this no matter how negative or positive made an interesting press day.

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