TMZ Shows Lebron Dunk Video

The highly-searched for Jordan Crawford dunk on LeBron has finally come to see the light of day. Several websites including TMZ and ebaumnation.com are now showing the Lebron dunk video that had seemingly been confiscated by Lebron James' people and Nike. The dunk occurred during Lebron's summer basketball camp pickup game as a virtually unknown player, Jamal Crawford, threw it down on James during the game.

The dunk incident occurred at the LeBron James Skills Academy several weeks ago during a summer basketball camp game. College player, Jamal Crawford, who will be playing for Xavier this coming season, scored the two handed jam on King James. Various cameramen caught the footage including some from CBS. A high school player who was at the event Soon afterwards, all tapes of the "incident" were confiscated. Apparently some footage was not taken care of, as several websites were able to present the video footage as of Wednesday night.

Check out the links below to see the video footage of "The Dunk" we thought we'd never see!

TMZ's presentation of Lebron dunk

Detroit Free Press shows Lebron getting dunked on

Qunetin Richardson's 3rd Trade of Summer

Quentin Richardson is apparently part of a three way trade. That's three trades this summer. In his latest move, Q-Rich was swapped from the LA Clippers to the Minnesota Timberwolves for three players: Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair and Mark Madsen. Previously, he was sent from Memphis to the Clippers for Zach Randolph, and on NBA Draft 2009 night he was swapped with the Knicks to the Grizzlies in a deal for the mysterious superstar, Darko Milicic.

Will the third team be a charm this summer? This will be Richardson's 10th NBA Season, and he's starting to play musical teams as a swingman it seems. He's part of Team Jordan, and previously had his best season stats wise with the Clippers back in 2003-04. Unfortunately, Richardson spent just a weekend with his former team and now will head over to the ever-rebuilding Minnesota Twolves. For now that is....

More about Q-Rich's trade to Minnesota here

Antoine Walker Arrested in Vegas

As Kenny Rogers famously sang, you've got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em...Former NBA star Antoine Walker didn't heed that advice and was arrested in Nevada this past Thursday. The arrest came inside Harrah's casino at Stateline, Nevada. The charges? Walker had attempted to use fake checks and obtain credit he didn't have to the tune of $800,000 from three different Vegas casinos. A deputy on foot patrol was alerted by a Harrah's employee who had seen a TV report about Walker. Walker was arrested at one of the casino bars shortly thereafter.

Originally the former Celtics, Heat and Mavs star was issued a bail of $905,050, later reduced to just over $100,000. Walker is now free on bail but is scheduled to appear in a Las Vegas court on Monday. He had made the trip to Vegas for the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament at South Lake Tahoe.

Apparently, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley aren't the only former all-stars who like to gamble. The difference is neither has trouble getting the funds. Then again maybe this will serve as a wake up call and early lesson for any other NBA ballers who want to get into the gambling scene. Keep your money under the mattress, at least until the stock market rebounds.

Mark Cuban wins Court Battle, Rd. 1

Months ago, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban avoided a loss of $750,000 from stocks, but selling about 600,000 shares, or a 6.3% stake in the company. The Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against Cuban for insider trading. Today, Cuban is free of the litigation, for now.

On Friday, a federal judge granted a dismissal of the civil lawsuit against Cuban for insider trading in SEC v. Cuban, 08-cv-2050, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas). The company involved was an Internet search engine company known as "Mamma.com, Inc.". Cuban's lawyers argued on his behalf that Cuban wasn't legally an "insider" of the company.

It's still possible the SEC could refile this case, so stay tuned for more madness from the Blogger Maverick, Cuban...

Read more about Cuban's victory in court here at Bloomberg.com.

Converse Wade 4 MIA: D-Wade to Nike?

Last season, NBA superstar and champion, Dwyane Wade, was seldom seen rocking his Wade 4's by Converse on the court. Apparently, Wade has recently cleared up that issue, making it known he plans to jump to the Nike Jumpman line as part of the Team Jordan family. Wade, a Chicago native, will now be on board with other superstars in Jordan's team and the Nike brand including Richard Hamilton, Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James (who has his own line), and Kobe Bryant.

Wade cites the fact that he doesn't know how good Converse will do in the basketball market, and it seemed the company didn't quite know what to did with him. They previously had the Flash campaigns but not much else. Comparing it to Nike's clever marketing for such pieces as "The Lebrons" and the "MVPuppets with Lebron and Kobe", Wade made the logical choice to sign with the top brand for ballers. Wade's T-Mobile commercials with Charles Barkley have also been amongst some of the best made and funniest basketball ads around.

It was reported from CBS4.com from Miami that Wade wore a pair of Converse sneakers at Zo's Summer Groove basketball game this past Sunday, but that may be the last time he's seen doing so.

Richard Jefferson Wedding Fiasco

San Antonio Spurs star Richard Jefferson was all set to marry a former Nets' dancer, Kesha Ni'Cole Nichols. The couple were scheduled to get married at the Mandarin Oriental last Saturday, but the NBA star chose to call the whole thing off the night before. Jeferson became a runaway groom so to speak, leaving Nichols jilted. She immediately called her family and alerted them of the news. Nichols checked into the Mandarin Oriental hotel and was upgraded to a 45th floor suite overlooking Central Park. The Richard Jefferson wedding was priced at around $2 million for the affair. Some guests had already arrived and then discovered that Jefferson was not going to show. RJ, who had called about 2 hours prior to the wedding, made sure his best friend who had shown up for the event was given access to his black American Express card.

A picture here from June 13th, shows the happy couple with Nichols showing off the engagement diamond. Jefferson has yet to give any comments about the incident, and his former fiance/girlfriend has also kept quiet, wishing to move forward with her life. As the famous saying goes, "all's fair in love and war"...or is it "love and basketball"?

(Story Source: NYDailyNews.com)

Also see: The NBA Player's Wives List

NBA Summer League Las Vegas 2009 Edition

The NBA's Summer League 2009 kicked off in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 10, 2009. The schedule includes 21 teams participating and 55 games total, wrapping up on July 19th. You can expect to see the likes of top NBA draft prospects and D-Leaguers in action. The top NBA draft picks will be in action: Blake Griffin of the Clippers, Hasheem Thabeet of the Grizzlies and James Harden of the Thunder. Some of the vets in the summer league include the Thunder's Keith McLeod and Spurs' George Hill.

#1 pick Blake Griffin expects to have a busy summer, according to NBA.com:

“I’m going be to be working out as hard as I can,” Griffin said. “You know, Summer League, I'll be there, and I'm also going to the USA trials at the end of July in Vegas.”

There's also a summer league going on down in Orlando, and according to NBA.com, the Thunder are one team that is competing in both of the leagues. Guard Russell Westbrook will be in Orlando, while James Harden and BJ Mullens will play in Vegas. Several other second year players and some international prospects from their team will also make the trip to the desert. Unfortunately, Blazers rookie Patty Mills suffered a broken right foot and won't be participating in the league.

NBA.com has also picked out 10 games of note, including a July 12th battle between the #2 and #3 picks, Memphis Grizzlies' Hasheem Thabeet and OKC Thunder's James Harden. One of the final games of the schedule features Blake Griffin in action against the Phoenix Suns.

On day 1 of the league, Pistons #35 pick DeJuan Summers scored a monstrous 24 pts against the Kings, including many dunks, and seven rebounds as well. The Warriors' young phenom, Stephen Curry, scored 16, missed 10 out of 14 shots and had 7 fouls (I guess the rules change in a summer league).

All in all, the 2009 NBA summer league will provide a fresh look at some of the top prospects to possibly gauge who will be making some noise during the regular season, possibly propelling their team to greater success.

Also see: 2009 NBA Draft Results, Round 1

Lebron James Getting Dunked On Video?

(Jordan Crawford exists, but did the dunk happen?)

Just days ago, Lebron James getting dunked on was a blazing hot search on the internet. The story is interesting in that it was a college player who dunked on Lebron named Jordan Crawford. Apparently, all videotaped highlights of that dunk incident were confiscated by a Nike representative. According to reports, Lebron made the call himself to have the tapes confiscated. Skip Bayless of ESPN's "1st and 10" called it the height of "image and damage control" saying Lebron is literally becoming a "Nike puppet". (YouTube video) Bayless said Lebron's now refused to shake hands after the Orlando loss, wears T-shirts advertising New York as if he and his entourage are headed there when free agency hits. Whether Bayless' case against Lebron is a good one that he's insecure over his perception, this story almost seems like basketball highlight censorship by the King and Nike...

According to ESPN, one of the freelance cameramen, Ryan Miller, said the following about what happened:

Miller said he had been filming all day and had his tapes confiscated only after Crawford's dunk over James.

"LeBron called Lynn over and told him something," Miller told CBSSports.com. "That's how I knew his name was Lynn. LeBron said, 'Hey, Lynn. Come here.' "

Minutes later, Miller said Merritt demanded his tape.

"There's nothing I can think of besides LeBron just not wanting it online," Miller told CBSSports.com. "It's a good story to tell people, I guess. But then again, I'm kind of pissed. I lost my tape."

Sorry NBA fans and Lebron hecklers, but the Jordan Crawford dunking on Lebron video is not found on the internet, as the only 2 videotape copies were taken by Nike. Still, some jokester fans have tried to pretend they have the leaked video, just so they could make silly highlight videos and grab YouTube traffic. So while you won't see Jordan Crawford's actual dunk on Lebron James, you can see Jordan Crawford talk about the dunk he did here at YouTube. Jordan states he's 6'4" in height and it was exciting to dunk on The King.

See more about this story at ESPN.com

Rasheed Wallace to Celtics, Ron Artest to Lakers

The last two NBA Champions, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics each added a key veteran superstar to their lineups within the past week or so. Just last week, the Los Angeles Lakers signed Ron Artest, a nemesis of Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. Clips have been shown repeatedly of their fierce battle during the playoffs, including Artest's antics while jawing with Kobe. Kobe's Lakers got the last laugh with the series win and eventual championship, and then quickly gobbled up the defensive stalwart Artest in a move to help solidify their chances of a repeat. Add Artest in with Gasol, Bynum and Odom, and you've got some nice frontcourt depth going.

Meanwhile, a team that definitely was disappointed this postseason was the Boston Celtics. They were hurt most by Kevin Garnett's injury which caused his playoff absence. Although they outlasted the Bulls in 7 games, they just didn't have the frontcourt presence to compete with Orlando, who eventually went on to the NBA Finals. Smartly, the Celtics just recently signed Rasheed Wallace from the Detroit Pistons. The move comes right after Detroit landed free agents Ben Gordon from the Bulls and Charlie Villanueva from the Bucks. Cleveland also added Shaquille O'Neal in the past few weeks, Vince Carter went to the Magic during the NBA draft, and Pistons guard Allen Iverson has been hunting for a new team.

It's ironic that the Celtics and Lakers signed two of the more controversial players in the NBA, but also two extremely talented stars. These teams most likely will embrace these two hotheaded stars who tend to rack up the technical fouls, and they have the coaches and other players capable of keeping them in a less volatile state. At Boston you've got KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, three amigos and class act workmen on the court, who Rasheed should fit in nicely with. Artest will be aligned with Kobe which can't be a bad thing either, and Phil Jackson is no stranger to coaching bizarre, hard to handle talent, such as Dennis Rodman.

It's hard to speculate which team has made the best moves this postseason but it seems several of the top dogs are looking to once again fight for the top position and records en route to an NBA title.

Detroit signs Gordon & Villanueva

The Detroit Pistons looked to keep themselves alive in the hunt for another NBA Title by adding two new stars to their lineup. According to the Detroit Free Press the Pistons signed Ben Gordon, shooting guard from the Bulls, and Charlie Villanueva, forward from the Milwaukee Bucks. Gordon was the Bulls' leading scorer for the past four years, and Villanueva has been coming into his own as an impressive rebounder and potential scorer. There had been rumors going around that Villanueva might end up on Cleveland as well. Gordon's signing is estimated at $55 million while Villanueva's is at $35 mill.

Both guys are also products of the University of Connecticut, and they'll now be aligned with another UCONN alumni, sharpshooter Richard Hamilton. Hamilton's got the NCAA Title, the NBA Title. Gordon's got just the NCAA title while Villanueva has yet to taste any championship champagne. That may change now that the Pistons have added more talent to their already interesting lineup which includes All-star Allen Iverson and Rasheed Wallace.

The question is what will Chicago and Milwaukee be looking to do now that they've cleared some salary cap room? Will these teams look to add a superstar to their teams? No disrespect to either Derrick Rose or Michael Redd, but adding someone like Dwyane Wade wouldn't exactly hurt their chances at making a deep run towards the NBA Finals.