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LeBron James has treated the world to countless highlight reel plays over the course of his legendary career, but there are also more than a few players who’ve done the same at his expense. However, it’s pretty hard to top Jordan Crawford when you consider Nike tried to stop a video of him dunking on the superstar from being released to the public.
People obviously love to clown on LeBron James, but even his biggest haters have to acknowledge he’s one of the best players to ever step foot on the basketball court thanks to his ability to routinely pull off jaw-dropping feats on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor with astonishing ease.
Every NBA player who shares the hardwood with the superstar knows there’s a good chance they’ll end up getting posterized or have a layup sent into the stratosphere after falling victim to one of his iconic chasedown blocks.
However, when you play for as long as Lebron has, there’s only so much you can do to prevent your opponents from getting the upper hand every now and again—although it’s hard to imagine anyone thought that was going to be the case when he faced off against some up-and-coming prospects in a scrimmage in 2009.
Nike scrambled to suppress footage of Jordan Crawford dunking on LeBron James during a game
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Jordan Crawford spent a grand total of six seasons in the NBA after being drafted by the Nets with the 27th overall pick in 2010 (he ended up making his debut with the Hawks after being traded that summer). He was a journeyman who spent time with the Celtics, Wizards, Warriors, and Pelicans as well as in the G-League and overseas.
Prior to turning pro, the Detroit native was a member of the Indiana Hoosiers but transferred to Xavier in 2008. NCAA rules at the time meant he wasn’t able to become an official member of the Musketeers roster until the following year, but there was a fair amount of hype surrounding him heading into that season thanks to what unfolded in the summer of 2009.
At the time, a 25-year-old LeBron was coming off of his first MVP season and had headed back to his hometown to host the LeBron James Skills Academy at the University of Akron. That showcase gave some of the best college players in the country the chance to face off against James and the other notable names he’d recruited for the camp in front of plenty of members of the media, and Crawford took full advantage.
On a warm evening in July, Crawford stepped onto the court at James A. Rhodes Arena to face off against a squad that featured LeBron and a few other members of the Cavaliers.
During the scrimmage, Crawford caught an inbound pass and proceeded to drive down the lane. While James did what he could to stop him from getting to the rim, he was ultimately unable to prevent him from throwing down a monster jam.
While footage of the dunk in question obviously surfaced at some point, we were treated to a vintage Streisand Effect courtesy of the folks at Nike who quickly started to roam the gym in search of anyone who may have captured the dunk on camera.
Why? Well, it depends on who you ask. LeBron was obviously the company’s most valuable NBA asset at the time, so footage of him getting dunked on by a virtually unknown college player was not exactly the best look (even if it did transpire in a scrimmage where James wasn’t necessarily giving it his all).
However, at least one person who had their footage confiscated claims they saw LeBron talking to a Nike representative before employees started to inform people who documented the dunk they needed to hand over their tapes; a spokesperson claimed they were simply enforcing a policy against filming at an “after-hours pickup game,” but plenty of people assumed they were covering for a thin-skinned James who didn’t want his ego bruised.
Crawford also revealed an interesting bit of information while reflecting on the dunk around a decade after it transpired, as he claimed Nike had put out a $500 “bounty” for any player who was able to dunk on LeBron during the camp but never followed through after he did exactly that (although that offer was more of a joke than anything when you consider any payment would have been an NCAA violation).
While he might not have had the most memorable NBA career, at least Crawford will always have that moment to brag about.