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- Celtics Courting Fans 11 Nov 2009
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CNBC ON DIGG

Will LeBron Dunk Tape Ever Be Released?

Published: Thursday, 9 Jul 2009 | 12:31 PM ET

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By: Darren Rovell
Sports Business Reporter

AP
LeBron James
It's the talk of the sports world.

Jordan Crawford's dunk over LeBron James at the Cavaliers star's Skills Academy.

I'll make the story short for those who somehow haven't heard it. Crawford, who plays at Xavier, jammed on James, but Nike [NKE Loading... () ] confiscated the visual evidence, citing rules that stated that taping was off limits.

The story leaked out.

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?

Even though Nike can't put any sort of branding on the video because Crawford is still playing his college ball, I still think it would be a good business move to release this. If it gets out there, everyone will know it's because Nike decided to do it.

Nike execs know that it doesn't have to have the Swoosh on there to generate buzz. The company is probably the best company out there in terms of working with viral videos. And the truth of the matter is that one kid jamming on LeBron doesn't hurt Nike or LeBron from a marketability standpoint.

If the tape doesn't come out, you can read it in a couple ways. One, Nike doesn't want to set a precedent if their executives are serious about their filming policy. Two, they are unclear of their legal rights to air it -- they confiscated it, but they legally might not even have rights to air it. Lastly, if it doesn't come out, it might mean LeBron is legitimately being sensitive about this moment, which I honestly can't believe. The guy is the MVP of the NBA, why would he care about something like this?

Did Michael Jordan insist on pulling this video of CEO John Rogers beating him at his camp? Of course not.