LeBron James has arguably been the best and most popular basketball player over the last 15 years or so. His dominance is unprecedented, as he has played in 10 NBA Finals since 2007, and he has won four NBA titles, to go with his four MVP awards.
It would seem that no other player could ever beat LeBron by themselves. It takes a team of stars, like when Kevin Durant teamed up with Stephen Curry on the Warriors, to beat him.
Sometimes, though, a player does get one over on LeBron, and this is what exactly happened back in 2009 at a Nike basketball camp. But then, Nike mysteriously made the tape disappear…
Jordan Crawford Dunks On LeBron, Nike Confiscates The Tape
LeBron James made headlines over the summer when he participated in the famous Drew League and when he played in The CrawsOver Pro AM, which is hosted by former 3x NBA Sixth Man of the Year winner Jamal Crawford.
LeBron may be participating in these leagues over the summer, but in the past, he used to host his own summer events. Like on July 8, 2009, when Nike and LeBron put on their annual LeBron James Skills Academy.
This was supposed to be a fun time for unknown amateur basketball players to meet LeBron and get a chance not only to learn how to play the game but actually get some action on the court with The King.
When amateur players play against professionals in these events, of course, they are there to have a good time, but these amateurs really want to show the pros how good of a player they are. That’s exactly how Jordan Crawford approached the game.
Jordan Crawford, who shares no relation to the previously mentioned Jamal Crawford, was a college player from Xavier University, and he was hungry to get some action against LeBron James.
In 2009, Crawford was in his first year at Xavier University, but he wasn’t a freshman. Crawford started his collegiate basketball career in 2007 at Indiana University, where he played 30 games and averaged 9.7 points per game.
After his freshman year, Indiana University’s head coach, Kelvin Sampson, was caught sending text messages to recruits, which was against NCAA rules. This led to a big scandal at Indiana University, and Crawford decided to transfer to Xavier University.
After sitting out a year, which is NCAA rules after a student transfers, Crawford was ready to resume his college career in the 2009-10 season. His appearance at the LeBron James Skills Academy was his way of tuning up his skills while showing LeBron how talented he is.
Crawford would not disappoint, as he achieved something that not many NBA players have achieved… Crawford dunked on LeBron. Yes, you read that right, a college player, who sat out a year, dunked on LeBron James at LeBron’s own camp.
The dunk was reported to be a furious slam dunk, something that doesn’t happen on LeBron James. Crawford would later speak about the slam dunk.
“I was coming from the right wing and I came down the middle. He [LeBron] just happened to be there,” Crawford recounted. “When it happened I… Man, it really didn’t hit me yet, you know, I was geeked about it, more than anything, just because it’s LeBron.”
This slam dunk had the entire gym hyped up. Well, everyone but LeBron and the Nike people. Shortly after the camp ended, a video that was tapped of the dunk was taken away by Nike’s people.
At first, Crawford didn’t really care about the tape being taken away, but later on, it did bother him. One of the main reasons for this was because, reportedly, the Nike reps claimed that they’d pay anyone $500 if they dunk on LeBron. Well, Crawford did, and all these years later, Crawford revealed in a 2019 interview that he hadn’t received his money.
Crawford admits to some curiosity about the fate of that original video, but it’s not the only trophy from that night that he’d like to claim. He remembers Nike reps joking with the college players before the game about a $500 bounty for anyone who could manage to dunk on the camp’s namesake.
Crawford laughs as he delivers the punchline: “They never gave me my $500.”
Crawford may have been joking, but if the Nike reps really did say they’d give out $500 to a player who dunks on LeBron, then they should pay up. The real interesting thing about this situation is, why would LeBron and Nike care so much that he was dunked on?
It could be an ego thing from LeBron or even Nike not wanting their star, the face of the company, to look bad at his own camp. We’ll never know for sure, but the videographer who took the video, a man named Ryan Miller, gave his take on this situation and having his camera taken from him:
“[Nike Basketball senior director Lynn Merritt] just said, ‘We have to take your tape,’” Miller said. “They took it from other guys, too. LeBron called Lynn over and told him something,” Miller told CBS Sports. “That’s how I knew his name was Lynn. LeBron said, ‘Hey, Lynn. Come here.’”
“There’s nothing I can think of besides LeBron just not wanting it online. It’s a good story to tell people, I guess. But then again, I’m kind of pissed. I lost my tape.”
This situation blew up NBA media at the time, and, of course, fans made fun of LeBron and the entire situation. For Crawford, he would go on to make the NBA in 2010 and play in six seasons for five teams.
Crawford played the most years (3) with the Washington Wizards, but with career averages of 12.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game, Crawford found himself out of the league after the 2017-18 season.
After leaving the NBA, Crawford has bounced around in other professional leagues. He’s currently a member of the Gigantes de Carolina, which is a Puerto Rican professional team in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN).
Jordan Crawford may not have seen the type of success in basketball as LeBron James has, but his infamous slam dunk over LeBron will live on forever. Oh, and there was a video leaked online of the slam dunk. Enjoy.
