Sometimes it is not good to be King. Cleveland Cavaliers mega-star LeBron James learned that recently when he was embarassed by Xavier sophomore Jordan Crawford. Crawford had a highlight reel slam dunk on the Akron native at the LeBron James Skills Academy sponsored by Nike and held right here in Cleveland.

If you are saying to yourself, "Why haven't I seen that yet?" there is a reason. Apparently the King and his court (that being Nike) confiscated the video tapes from the people who were taping the session. Nike officials explained:

"Nike has been operating basketball camps for the benefit of young athletes for decades and has longstanding policies in place regarding what events are open and closed to media coverage. Unfortunately, for the first time in four years, two journalists did not respect our "no videotaping" policy at an after hours pick-up game Monday evening following the LeBron James Skills Academy."

It appears that Nike only likes to promote dunks when LeBron is doing the posterizing.

1. It’s amazing to me how many people who clearly don’t know what they’re talking about (I’m referring to you, Cleveland.com comment-writers) are freaking out about the Cavs off season moves and calling for Danny Ferry’s head. Here’s another example of that negative, woe-is-me Cleveland attitude I’ve railed against recently. Could we please try to remember that this team won 66 games last year and recently got one of the all-time great centers for what amounts to beads and trinkets? Seriously, it’s not like the team has to be completely revamped!

2. It was pretty much universally agreed upon that the Cavs’ two biggest off-season needs were a reliable shooting guard/swingman with size and a “stretch-forward.” They started off by grabbing Shaq which didn’t solve either of those problems, but solved another one by adding a true low-post presence on both ends of the floor. It now seems that the Cavs will sign Anthony Parker, who should be the reliable shooting guard they were looking for.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are close to coming to terms with Anthony Parker. The signing of the former swingman of the Toronto Raptors would be the teams first move in free agency off-season.

Plain Dealer reporter Brian Windhorst who covers the Cavs writes:

According to a league source, the team has agreed to the structure of a contract with veteran guard Anthony Parker. The deal is not finalized, but is expected to be completed in the next several days.

Last week the Detroit Pistons fired Michael Curry as coach after he was on the bench for just one season. Now, a source close to negotiations has linked the Cleveland Cavaliers' assistant coach John Kuester as the team's next head coach. Once finalized, Kuester would be Detroit's fifth coach in just nine seasons.

Kuester has close ties to Detroit General Manager Joe Dumars after Kuester worked as an assistant coach under Larry Brown. Dumars was initially interested in TNT analyst Doug Collins, who eventually removed himself from consideration, and then shifted his focus to former Dallas Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson. Talks with Johnson fell through on Tuesday, so Dumars next choice was Kuester.

The Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James is not just the 2008-2009 NBA MVP, he's also a highly successful brand and marketing powerhouse. So it's no surprise that he received a coveted invitation to Allen & Co.'s annual media mogulfest in Sun Valley, Idaho, which kicks off tonight with an opening-night barbecue.

This marks the first time that James has been invited to the get-together, and he plans to "listen and to learn" while he's there. You see, while is popularity rivals that of Tiger Woods in golf or Peyton Manning in football, his endorsement deals haven't quite risen to their levels. So, James and his LRMR Marketing company CEO Maverick Cole are hoping to obtain information on how to change that.

James will have a captive and interested in audience. His two biggest corporate sponsors - Coca-Cola and Nike - will be there, but Cablevision CEO James Dolan will also be there. And Dolan's presence has a lot of New Yorkers pretty excited.

According to Chris Broussard of ESPN the Magazine, LeBron James told free-agent Trevor Ariza that he plans on staying in Cleveland for awhile. With rumors swirling that the King has his eyes on the Big Apple, this is exactly the kind of news that Cleveland Cavaliers fans have been looking for. Whether or not we can trust that this is the truth, however, remains to be seen. After all, he did say this in the midst of trying to recruit Ariza rather than publicly make a statement to fans who have been asking the question for quite a long time now.

A source revealed to Broussard:

"Trevor asked LeBron if he would be in Cleveland after next season. And LeBron said, 'I'll be there. Of course, I'll be there.'"

Ariza, however, wasn't convinced. The source said:

"He thought it was just a recruiting tool. "LeBron definitely said it, but until he signs the contract it doesn't mean much."

Cavs GM Danny Ferry and head coach Mike Brown flew out to Los Angeles to meet with Ariza on Sunday. In addition to the call from James, Ariza also got a phone call from the Cavs newest member - Shaquille O'Neal.

Shaquille O'Neal lived up to his larger than life persona as he was welcomed to Cleveland with a press conference earlier this afternoon. The star brought an embarrassing picture of Danny Ferry from his playing days when the two met in an awkward way on the court. As for his goals for the 2009-2010 Cleveland Cavaliers, well that is all business. The 37 year old stated:

"My motto is very simple. Win a ring for the King."

The 15 time all star also broached a subject that will heat up as the year goes on. On LeBron James, who can become a free agent next year, O'Neal stated:

"He's an intelligent young man. Sure he is going to do the right thing. Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Ferry have given him the world right here. If we do what we came here to do, everything will fall into place."

In a shock move Monday, the Milwaukee Bucks announced that they would not re-sign power forward Charlie Villanueva. This set off quite a ruckus locally as most fans assume he will soon be a Cleveland Cavalier. The NBA free agency officially begins at midnight on July 1.

It’s worth noting that the Cavs’ situation is way more complex than most fans can appreciate. Everyone wants to win now, but everyone also wants to have a team set up to jump at a major free agent in 2010 like Chris Bosh. Danny Ferry has to figure out if he wants to do both and if so, how to do it.