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William Wesley's friend "Michael" asserts that Wesley was integral to LeBron James's signing with Nike.

As of yet I have no real way to confirm or deny that.

But I can tell you this: the most detalied account I have ever seen of how Nike won James is this award winning Oregonian article by Jason Quick and Boaz Herzog. It's not new, but it's great. Here, for instance, is their account of the James family's visit to the Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.

Inside the John McEnroe building, where the company's power brokers have offices, CEO Phil Knight led off a series of brief speeches, said Greene, the Nike sports marketing director. The speeches were punctuated with PowerPoint slides displaying Nike's commanding position in the industry -- a U.S. market share for athletic footwear that is double that of Adidas and Reebok combined.

The group then walked across campus for a product presentation in the Mia Hamm building. Tinker Hatfield, the architect behind Jordan's line of shoes, showed off some ideas. Months earlier, he and two other designers had visited James in Akron to get direction on how to build a shoe for him, said Goodwin, James' agent. They knew James had an artistic side; he had designed the green and gold uniforms his high school basketball team wore the past three seasons.

So Hatfield was ready when James came to town. He and other Nike employees began opening drawers that revealed one spiffy new sneaker after another -- all in his size 15 and sporting his initials.

James and his entourage were impressed, Goodwin said.

"Nike had shoes he could actually put on his feet," he said. "There is a difference between concepts and actual shoes."

The show wasn't over. They moved to another room, where models paraded through wearing matching clothes and accessories -- from boots and sunglasses to watches and bags.

After a quick lunch break, they gathered in the Tiger Woods conference center. On a big screen, images of Nike-sponsored athletes in action rolled by, spliced together with highlight footage from James' high school games.

"Picture yourself here," the message conveyed.

Up next, a team of four poets took turns rapping customized tributes to James and his talents.

"Nike's entire presentation truly blew the family away," Goodwin said.

William Wesley's friend "Michael" asserts that Wesley was integral to LeBron James's signing with Nike.

As of yet I have no real way to confirm or deny that.

But I can tell you this: the most detalied account I have ever seen of how Nike won James is this award winning Oregonian article by Jason Quick and Boaz Herzog. It's not new, but it's great. Here, for instance, is their account of the James family's visit to the Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.

Inside the John McEnroe building, where the company's power brokers have offices, CEO Phil Knight led off a series of brief speeches, said Greene, the Nike sports marketing director. The speeches were punctuated with PowerPoint slides displaying Nike's commanding position in the industry -- a U.S. market share for athletic footwear that is double that of Adidas and Reebok combined.

The group then walked across campus for a product presentation in the Mia Hamm building. Tinker Hatfield, the architect behind Jordan's line of shoes, showed off some ideas. Months earlier, he and two other designers had visited James in Akron to get direction on how to build a shoe for him, said Goodwin, James' agent. They knew James had an artistic side; he had designed the green and gold uniforms his high school basketball team wore the past three seasons.

So Hatfield was ready when James came to town. He and other Nike employees began opening drawers that revealed one spiffy new sneaker after another -- all in his size 15 and sporting his initials.

James and his entourage were impressed, Goodwin said.

"Nike had shoes he could actually put on his feet," he said. "There is a difference between concepts and actual shoes."

The show wasn't over. They moved to another room, where models paraded through wearing matching clothes and accessories -- from boots and sunglasses to watches and bags.

After a quick lunch break, they gathered in the Tiger Woods conference center. On a big screen, images of Nike-sponsored athletes in action rolled by, spliced together with highlight footage from James' high school games.

"Picture yourself here," the message conveyed.

Up next, a team of four poets took turns rapping customized tributes to James and his talents.

"Nike's entire presentation truly blew the family away," Goodwin said.

The oddsmakers believe the Pistons have a much better chance of winning two straight than Cleveland has of scrouging one measly victory. (Weird to think that the smart money agrees with Rasheed Wallace, whose credibility is at an all-time low.)

The Mavericks, however, are expected to handle their series lead with professionalism.

The oddsmakers believe the Pistons have a much better chance of winning two straight than Cleveland has of scrouging one measly victory. (Weird to think that the smart money agrees with Rasheed Wallace, whose credibility is at an all-time low.)

The Mavericks, however, are expected to handle their series lead with professionalism.

The oddsmakers believe the Pistons have a much better chance of winning two straight than Cleveland has of scrouging one measly victory. (Weird to think that the smart money agrees with Rasheed Wallace, whose credibility is at an all-time low.)

The Mavericks, however, are expected to handle their series lead with professionalism.

The oddsmakers believe the Pistons have a much better chance of winning two straight than Cleveland has of scrouging one measly victory. (Weird to think that the smart money agrees with Rasheed Wallace, whose credibility is at an all-time low.)

The Mavericks, however, are expected to handle their series lead with professionalism.

When it comes to criticizing the Sonny Vaccaros and George Ravelings of the world (there are whole books about how they have messed with American player development) Brian McCormick is as vindictive as they get. I didn't have to look very hard on Brian's blog to find this:

Nobody is willing to (1) Name the true problem; (2) Point of the hypocrisy of guys like George Raveling; or (3) Start with the solutions. Fortunately, I have and I will.

First, the problem starts with the shoe companies who use the AAU programs to reach players and clothe a generation. The shoe companies, of course, are in collusion with the NCAA, which certifies tournaments where its coaches can recruit. The AAU-generation is based on the ease of college recruiting in basketball's off-season.

Second, the "exposure gurus" or "shoe pimps" like Sonny Vaccaro, George Raveling and Joe Keller are complete hypocrits when they criticize a system bult largely on their success. These and many others working under them expolit parents and players dreams for personal profit, which now includes $300/weekend regional adidas Phenom Camps to assist Clark Francis and HoopScoopOnline identify the best 5th graders in the country.

Brian even wrote a book about how basketball development needs to be fixed.

But get this! Brian e-mailed me last night to say that one of the king "shoe pimps," George Raveling, has been in touch to ask for some copies of Brian's book. Brian writes (yesterday):

i sent him the book because supposedly he is hosting a summit with various people today in beaverton to talk about the state of the game. three people told me about it and they finally told me he was the one organizing it

What's more, Raveling might want to meet.

That's like Luke meeting Darth Vader.

What does that mean? Is this a cultural shift in the sneaker wars? A victory for the power of blogs in putting Brian McCormick on the map? A sign George Raveling is attempting a new approach to secure his place in the Nike hierarchy (Lynn Merritt and William Wesley seem to be among the key players now, when, at least in the media, it used to be all about Raveling)? A red herring that's not important at all? I'm interested to see.

When it comes to criticizing the Sonny Vaccaros and George Ravelings of the world (there are whole books about how they have messed with American player development) Brian McCormick is as vindictive as they get. I didn't have to look very hard on Brian's blog to find this:

Nobody is willing to (1) Name the true problem; (2) Point of the hypocrisy of guys like George Raveling; or (3) Start with the solutions. Fortunately, I have and I will.

First, the problem starts with the shoe companies who use the AAU programs to reach players and clothe a generation. The shoe companies, of course, are in collusion with the NCAA, which certifies tournaments where its coaches can recruit. The AAU-generation is based on the ease of college recruiting in basketball's off-season.

Second, the "exposure gurus" or "shoe pimps" like Sonny Vaccaro, George Raveling and Joe Keller are complete hypocrits when they criticize a system bult largely on their success. These and many others working under them expolit parents and players dreams for personal profit, which now includes $300/weekend regional adidas Phenom Camps to assist Clark Francis and HoopScoopOnline identify the best 5th graders in the country.

Brian even wrote a book about how basketball development needs to be fixed.

But get this! Brian e-mailed me last night to say that one of the king "shoe pimps," George Raveling, has been in touch to ask for some copies of Brian's book. Brian writes (yesterday):

i sent him the book because supposedly he is hosting a summit with various people today in beaverton to talk about the state of the game. three people told me about it and they finally told me he was the one organizing it

What's more, Raveling might want to meet.

That's like Luke meeting Darth Vader.

What does that mean? Is this a cultural shift in the sneaker wars? A victory for the power of blogs in putting Brian McCormick on the map? A sign George Raveling is attempting a new approach to secure his place in the Nike hierarchy (Lynn Merritt and William Wesley seem to be among the key players now, when, at least in the media, it used to be all about Raveling)? A red herring that's not important at all? I'm interested to see.

When it comes to criticizing the Sonny Vaccaros and George Ravelings of the world (there are whole books about how they have messed with American player development) Brian McCormick is as vindictive as they get. I didn't have to look very hard on Brian's blog to find this:

Nobody is willing to (1) Name the true problem; (2) Point of the hypocrisy of guys like George Raveling; or (3) Start with the solutions. Fortunately, I have and I will.

First, the problem starts with the shoe companies who use the AAU programs to reach players and clothe a generation. The shoe companies, of course, are in collusion with the NCAA, which certifies tournaments where its coaches can recruit. The AAU-generation is based on the ease of college recruiting in basketball's off-season.

Second, the "exposure gurus" or "shoe pimps" like Sonny Vaccaro, George Raveling and Joe Keller are complete hypocrits when they criticize a system bult largely on their success. These and many others working under them expolit parents and players dreams for personal profit, which now includes $300/weekend regional adidas Phenom Camps to assist Clark Francis and HoopScoopOnline identify the best 5th graders in the country.

Brian even wrote a book about how basketball development needs to be fixed.

But get this! Brian e-mailed me last night to say that one of the king "shoe pimps," George Raveling, has been in touch to ask for some copies of Brian's book. Brian writes (yesterday):

i sent him the book because supposedly he is hosting a summit with various people today in beaverton to talk about the state of the game. three people told me about it and they finally told me he was the one organizing it

What's more, Raveling might want to meet.

That's like Luke meeting Darth Vader.

What does that mean? Is this a cultural shift in the sneaker wars? A victory for the power of blogs in putting Brian McCormick on the map? A sign George Raveling is attempting a new approach to secure his place in the Nike hierarchy (Lynn Merritt and William Wesley seem to be among the key players now, when, at least in the media, it used to be all about Raveling)? A red herring that's not important at all? I'm interested to see.

When it comes to criticizing the Sonny Vaccaros and George Ravelings of the world (there are whole books about how they have messed with American player development) Brian McCormick is as vindictive as they get. I didn't have to look very hard on Brian's blog to find this:

Nobody is willing to (1) Name the true problem; (2) Point of the hypocrisy of guys like George Raveling; or (3) Start with the solutions. Fortunately, I have and I will.

First, the problem starts with the shoe companies who use the AAU programs to reach players and clothe a generation. The shoe companies, of course, are in collusion with the NCAA, which certifies tournaments where its coaches can recruit. The AAU-generation is based on the ease of college recruiting in basketball's off-season.

Second, the "exposure gurus" or "shoe pimps" like Sonny Vaccaro, George Raveling and Joe Keller are complete hypocrits when they criticize a system bult largely on their success. These and many others working under them expolit parents and players dreams for personal profit, which now includes $300/weekend regional adidas Phenom Camps to assist Clark Francis and HoopScoopOnline identify the best 5th graders in the country.

Brian even wrote a book about how basketball development needs to be fixed.

But get this! Brian e-mailed me last night to say that one of the king "shoe pimps," George Raveling, has been in touch to ask for some copies of Brian's book. Brian writes (yesterday):

i sent him the book because supposedly he is hosting a summit with various people today in beaverton to talk about the state of the game. three people told me about it and they finally told me he was the one organizing it

What's more, Raveling might want to meet.

That's like Luke meeting Darth Vader.

What does that mean? Is this a cultural shift in the sneaker wars? A victory for the power of blogs in putting Brian McCormick on the map? A sign George Raveling is attempting a new approach to secure his place in the Nike hierarchy (Lynn Merritt and William Wesley seem to be among the key players now, when, at least in the media, it used to be all about Raveling)? A red herring that's not important at all? I'm interested to see.

The San Antonio Express-News columnist tells it as well as anyone:

Bruce Bowen scored zero points. He took zero shots. He attempted zero free throws.

No wonder he reached up at the end to put his hand on Dirk Nowitzki's jumper.

Bowen wanted to see what the basketball felt like.

Everyone else wanted to see what a defensive stop looked like between these two teams. And when it happened — when the final moment between Bowen and Nowitzki framed the opposite of Monday — the Spurs got to see what a win feels like.

I ran across this on the Wall Street Journal's excellent Daily Fix by Carl Bialik and Jason Fry. They don't link to a lot of stuff, but everything they link to is good.

The San Antonio Express-News columnist tells it as well as anyone:

Bruce Bowen scored zero points. He took zero shots. He attempted zero free throws.

No wonder he reached up at the end to put his hand on Dirk Nowitzki's jumper.

Bowen wanted to see what the basketball felt like.

Everyone else wanted to see what a defensive stop looked like between these two teams. And when it happened — when the final moment between Bowen and Nowitzki framed the opposite of Monday — the Spurs got to see what a win feels like.

I ran across this on the Wall Street Journal's excellent Daily Fix by Carl Bialik and Jason Fry. They don't link to a lot of stuff, but everything they link to is good.

The San Antonio Express-News columnist tells it as well as anyone:

Bruce Bowen scored zero points. He took zero shots. He attempted zero free throws.

No wonder he reached up at the end to put his hand on Dirk Nowitzki's jumper.

Bowen wanted to see what the basketball felt like.

Everyone else wanted to see what a defensive stop looked like between these two teams. And when it happened — when the final moment between Bowen and Nowitzki framed the opposite of Monday — the Spurs got to see what a win feels like.

I ran across this on the Wall Street Journal's excellent Daily Fix by Carl Bialik and Jason Fry. They don't link to a lot of stuff, but everything they link to is good.

The San Antonio Express-News columnist tells it as well as anyone:

Bruce Bowen scored zero points. He took zero shots. He attempted zero free throws.

No wonder he reached up at the end to put his hand on Dirk Nowitzki's jumper.

Bowen wanted to see what the basketball felt like.

Everyone else wanted to see what a defensive stop looked like between these two teams. And when it happened — when the final moment between Bowen and Nowitzki framed the opposite of Monday — the Spurs got to see what a win feels like.

I ran across this on the Wall Street Journal's excellent Daily Fix by Carl Bialik and Jason Fry. They don't link to a lot of stuff, but everything they link to is good.

Ford's the man with the connections, and this is some of what he's hearing:

The Hawks roll into the summer with roughly $15 million of cap space and are considering passing the free agent market altogether and make a trade pitch to the 76ers for Allen Iverson.

Knight knows he needs to start adding some star power to the team and Iverson would be a good complement to Joe Johnson in the backcourt.

The Hawks might have the goods to pull it off. Knight could offer Harrington (in a sign-and-trade) and one of their young players (Josh Childress or the draft rights to this year's lottery pick) for Iverson.

That would free up some of the logjam at the three and four and fill in a serious hole in the Hawks' backcourt.

If the Sixers are intent on moving Iverson this summer, they'd have to seriously consider an offer like that. There aren't many teams willing to give up much to bring Iverson into the fold -- but Atlanta might actually be a decent fit.