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Darren Rovell brings you his unique take on the business of sports: a multi-billion dollar global industry and obsession full of personalities and products. On Sports Biz, Darren will give you his up-to-date take on everything from salaries to endorsement deals to marketing and promotions, trades and tirades – in short, everything that makes sports so exciting.

USA Basketball Team Photo: Artistic Or Logo "Conspiracy"?

Published: Thursday, 3 Jul 2008 | 9:33 AM ET

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By: Darren Rovell
Sports Business Reporter

Anyone who reads this blog knows that sports is quite a business. And that's why we appreciate the little things so much.

Take a look at the photo of the USA Basketball Team provided by Nike in a news release about the company's new Olympic jerseys.

Nike

Here's the only thing you have to know in advance. Dwight Howard is the only member of this team who is not sponsored by Nike[NKE Loading... () ]. He wears adidas.

Now let's play a quick game of "What's Up?"

1. As loyal reader Michael Odio points out, Coach K is sitting. When a team stands, a coach normally stands. Why is this significant? Because Coach K's left foot just happens to be blocking the adidas logo on Dwight Howard's left foot. Intentional?

2. Then look at the height of the players. Every player is in height order, with the exception of Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh. Howard is listed at 6-foot-11, while Bosh is listed at 6-foot-10, but Bosh's hair clearly trumps Howard. What does this allow for? It gives Howard an excuse to hold the ball and be the only player to not have his hand behind his back. This conveniently helps Howard cover the Nike logo on his shorts.

A Nike insider informs us that this shot was an artistic photo taken in Las Vegas and that there's no conspiracy behind the posing of everything surrounding the team's only adidas endorser. By the way, the reason why some players don't have the Swoosh on their shoes is because they wear other Nike brands: Chris Paul (Jordan), Dwyane Wade (Converse) and Carmelo Anthony (Jordan).