Video of LeBron James getting dunked on..

Sports enthusiasts have been hearing about this and anticipating the footage for weeks now... The footage of Jordan Crawford, the sophomore at Xavier University who dunked on LeBron James at his Nike sponsored skills camp.


Well, after some internet scouring BDumasonline has found the video. See the dunk for yourself:

If you're not aware of the situation, my boys over at the Campus Socialite have a good synopsis of what happened.

Essentially, LeBron James was dunked on in a pickup game...A semi-embarrassing moment for the league MVP. Nike confiscated all videos of the dunk, saying it is against policy to film pickup games... Right. Nike/LeBron were just trying to save face.

I wonder what Bron Bron's response to this mishap will be?? Look for King James in the NBA Finals next season. As for the collegiate Jordan Crawford...I hope that dunk will not be the crowning achievement of his basketball career. It remains to be seen.

Swag Award of the Week June 8-15

Behind every great team, lies a great coach. The general, the director, the puppeteer. The person who develops the plan of action, pulls the strings and puts the pieces together in order to achieve maximum results.

With the Los Angeles Lakers' series clinching victory over Orlando, Phil Jackson etched his name in the annals of sports becoming the only coach in NBA history to win 10 titles. Think about that...10 titles. That's a championship for each finger. Pretty impressive.

There is no question that Jackson is a great coach. He won six titles in Chicago with the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. He won three in Los Angeles with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. And the win last night ensures that he will go down as one of, if not the best coach to ever step onto the hardwood.

What I like most about Phil is his demeanor; his 'swag' if you will. Even in defeat, Phil Jackson remains collected, always composed and never flustered. Many coaches around the league let their emotions get the best of them. Not Jackson. 

Coaches on the professional level have a lot of variables to deal with in order to achieve success. Pressure from ownership, fans expectations, overly-critical journalists, over-paid players and the egos that come with their salaries. Let's not forget the X's & O's of the game as well. For his entire career, Jackson has somehow managed to put all of that noise behind he and his players to make beautiful music on the court. Speaking of beautiful music...10 titles has a nice ring to it don't you think? RESPECT.

HONORABLE MENTION:

As much as I despise the University of Connecticut in all things athletic, objectivity is important at BDumasonline.com and I must give credit where it is due.

Jim Calhoun, head coach of the UCONN Huskies was cycling in his charity bike race this weekend. Around the 50 mile marker out of 67, Calhoun hit a pothole, fell off his bike and broke five ribs.. Calhoun was not deterred, as he biked at 16 more miles to the finish with broken ribs. Upon crossing the finish line, Calhoun collapsed and was taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries. He has already been released from the hospital. 

A few things here:

A. I'm not even sure if I can bike 67 miles in one day

B. I definitely can't bike 16 miles with 5 broken ribs

C. Jim Calhoun is 67 and he biked 16 miles with 5 broken ribs

D. Damn! That's impressive!

Much like Phil Jackson in the pro ranks, Jim Calhoun by most accounts is one of the best coaches in college. His 805 wins puts him at #6 all-time and second among active coaches. Calhoun has already been inducted into the NCAA hall of fame and I'm sure his efforts today will earn him even more respect from his players and fellow coaches. Get well soon coach.

Swag Award of the Week June 1-7

This pains me, but for the sake of objectivity I have to give Kobe this weeks 'Swag Award.' His performances last week in the NBA finals have been impressive. His 40 point performance in game one of the finals helped the Lakers cruise to a 25-point victory. In game two, Bryant dropped 29 as LA won in overtime.  

In addition to his efforts on the floor, Nike has been hanging from Bryant's (and LeBron's..) jock strap with its series of MVP-Most Valuable Puppets commercials. 

To top off the love fest, Lil' Wayne, arguably the hottest MC in music right now blessed the internet with a tribute to Kobe and all of his greatness...

LeBron will be there soon, but this past week showed us that Kobe is still the NBA's top dog. 

NBA Spoof.."Where Caucasian Happens"

For whatever reason, white guys in the NBA tend to get a pretty bad rap. Ever since Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson came out with 'White Men Can't Jump' in 1992, sports enthusiasts have debated and even mocked the role of caucasian players in the league over the years. The game has taken on a noticeably darker hue since the 90's when I started really following the game. 

The Cunninlynguists brought more attention to the issue with their latest, a spoof of the NBA's "Where Amazing Happens Campaign..."

Swag Award of the Week May 4-10

Earlier this week, the NBA crowned LeBron as the league's Most Valuable Player. At 24 years old, King James edged out Kobe Bryant & Dwyane Wade for the league's most coveted individual accolade. In his sixth season, LeBron averaged  28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists and lead Cleveland to a 39-2 record at home and the best overall record in the league at 66-16.

That dominance by LeBron and the Cavs has carried over to the playoffs where they are a prefect 6 for 6. After sweeping Detroit, Cleveland is off to a roaring start against the Atlanta Hawks. Last night, James scored 27 points in only three quarters as the Cavs again crushed the Hawks 105-85. This postseason, LeBron is averaging 32 points, 11.3 rebound and 7.5 assists and has lead his team in scoring in all six games. 

LeBron has often looked unstoppable this season, shedding defenders, blocking shots, hitting jumpers, and throwing down some of the most ferocious dunks I have ever seen. Yes he is good, correction, he is great. What I like most about him is his demeanor and humility. Often times athletes who achieve at a high level become overly cocky and have an air of entitlement. That is not the impression I get from Bron Bron. For the MVP ceremony, LeBron chose to have it at his high school in Ohio, and invited all of his teammates and coaches to take part in the celebration. In LeBron's eyes, despite its individual nature the MVP award is a team accomplishment.

Congratulations LeBron. You are my favorite player in the league, and it doesn't upset me that you are embarrassing my Atlanta Hawks in the postseason because that's the kind of monster you are. Your persona, attitude, and love for the game are refreshing and it is a pleasure to watch you play. I'm hoping for a Cavs-Lakers finals so that all of the Kobe Bryant lovers will understand that we are now in the era of Lebron and Kobe's reign is over. We are all witnesses. 

I'll leave you with LeBron's 10 best plays of this season. Click on the 'HQ' button for the hi quality version:

NBA teams spoof funny commercials for playoffs

By now we've all seen the Heineken commercial where the woman is showing her friends her massive walk-in closet. The screams of the exuberant ladies are soon overshadowed by the squeals of the men in the next room who are enthralled at the husband's walk in refrigerator stocked with beers..

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have spoofed that commercial for the playoffs, substituting beers for new sneakers for the whole team:

Not to be outdone, the New Orleans Hornets have spoofed the Cash 4 Gold commercials for their series with the Denver Nuggets. My personal favorite Cash 4 Gold commercial is the one featuring Ed McMahon & MC Hammer...

Seeing as how New Orleans got handled last night and lost by 58 pts, maybe they should have saved their TV antics for after the season. The commercial is pretty funny though. Enjoy.

Which athlete has the best pregame intro???

Over the last few days, there has been a fair amount of debate surrounding Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James. The debate is over which one of the NBA superstars has the best pregame intro. Recently, LeBron & his teammates have been taking "group photos"  and getting a lot of media attention for it.

Shaq, being the jokester that he is, challenged LeBron, and decided that he could one-up LeBron with his own intro...a bowling routine he conjured up with his teammates.

I'm opening up the debate to you guys. Who has the better, funnier, more original intro? There is a poll in the upper right corner where you can vote. Before you do, I want to open in up to two of my favorite NFL intros; Ray Lewis' & Brian Dawkins'.  

Arguably two of the most intense defensive players in the league, their pregame intro are no different.

Ray Lewis' pregame dance:

Brian Dawkins. Now I'm sure what he's supposed to be doing here, maybe some kind of beast or animal...not sure, but I love it.

Ok, you've seen the dances. Go ahead and cast your votes. Voting ends Tuesday, March 31. Thanks for supporting BDumasonline.com. Tell your friends.

Ex-Syracuse star Demetris Nichols signs with Knicks

The New York Knicks signed Demetris Nichols to a 10-day contract Friday. Nichols, who was a star at Syracuse, has had a rocky experience thus far in the NBA.

Nichols was drafted by the Portland Trailblazers and immediately traded to New York. In NY, he played in 5 exhibition games and was cut.

After the Knicks let him go, he spent brief periods in Cleveland and Chicago averaging 1.1 points in 16 games. Not necessarily lighting it up like he did in the Carrier Dome.

Chicago sent him to the NBDL to sharpen his game, and there he averaged 20.3 points while playing for the Iowa Energy.

Let's hope this new stint will lead to some longevity in the league.

Has anyone heard from Gerry McNamara, btw??

Charles Barkley..NBA star, celebrated analyst, INMATE

Charles Barkley has been in the slammer all weekend. An Arizona judge sentenced Sir Charles to a 36 hour sentence for a drunken driving violation that occurred New Years Eve.

Barkley also took a leave of absence from his analyst job at TNT following the arrest. 

A few interesting things about this situation:

- inmates at the jail where Barkley is serving his sentence are housed in tents, not traditional cells. 

- Barkley's sentence breaks down like this: 24 hours on Saturday, work release from 8a-8p on Sunday, and then back in the slammer from 8p-8a Sunday Night. Work release at 8a Monday, and then he's done.

Now, I don't know much about the penal code and I do my best to avoid Johnny Law, but sleeping in outdoor tents, not jail cells, and getting released for 12 hours for "work release" sounds like a sweet deal to me. I wonder, is this the situation for everyone who gets a DUI in that county or is Chuck Barkley receiving a little preferential treatment?