Amazing NBA YouTube video: is it an ad?

This YouTube video was shot in Stockwell, London. (So were several innocent passers-by.)

But that's not what makes it just a teeny bit suspicious.

It features Devin Harris, the point guard of the New Jersey Nets, who happened to be in London last week on a promotional tour. (Part of which included the onerous task of playing the Miami Heat in a game that mattered not at all.)

Out of a seeming nowhere appears Englishman Stuart Tanner. He looks frightfully underdressed for the task at hand. His sweater and jeans are out of place next to Harris's Nets t-shirt and sweat pants.

Yet, in a miracle that defies logic, reason, credulity and eyesight, Tanner enters into 1 on 1 combat with Harris.

First, he feints Harris into an abject misdirection. Then, in an act of blindingly arrogant brilliance, he bounces the ball through Harris's legs (in European football, we call this a 'nutmeg'. Oh, don't ask me why) before sinking a perfect jump shot. It is all quite life-affirming.

How far does the Brotherhood go?

(Credit: CC Howieluvzus)

If not exactly David and Goliath, this is certainly David Beckham being humiliated by something of a Holly Golightly.

Which is exactly what gives one pause to wonder.

Firstly, Mr. Harris takes his humiliation far too well. I know he was once part of Mark Cuban's Dallas Mavericks team, one that got used to winning every game but the big one. But still, his generosity is peculiar. A real pro would, like John McCain, wear his irritation on his lips.

Secondly, Mr. Tanner is a 28-year-old basketball coach who failed to make the Milton Keynes Lions squad five years ago. For American readers, this might be the equivalent of failing to make an intramural scrimmage. At Appalachian State. British basketball is little stronger than Fijian ice hockey.

Mr. Tanner would normally have as much chance of beating Mr. Harris as Mark Cuban has of becoming the Commissioner of the NBA.

So, as with so many of the more amusing, daring or just plain fascinating YouTube videos, one is tempted to be suspicious. One is tempted to wonder if it's an ad. And one is tempted to search for the money.

Could it be that this is the work of Adidas, the company that sponsored the coaching clinic that Mr. Harris attended?

Or could it be that Mr. Tanner somehow managed to outwit an NBA star not once, but twice, with moves that would have jerked Jack Nicholson's ample buttocks up from his Lakers courtside chair?

Mr. Tanner's brother, Greg, who shot the video, says that Stuart was a streetballing legend in the early years of this century. This was, he says on his blog, a genuine rekindling of his brother's 'old magic' at the expense of an NBA star.

The video has already enjoyed more than 3million views. Perhaps you could add to those numbers and let me know if you think it's an ad.

And then if all of you at Google could let me know if Mr. Schmidt charged Adidas for it. Thank you.

[fulhamfc00]

Give me a break. I know Greg Tanner and luckily for us he always has his camera with him. He's trying to break in with his website www.basketball247.co.uk, a site devoted to basketball news in the UK, which is just about a thankless task.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. This is the best thing to happen to British basketball in years.

[ChrisMatyszczyk]

If it is a cigar, then it is a quite wonderful cigar.

Fulham? You sure?

Chris

[voxstin]

Even NBA players get scored on...Normally the difference between an NBA player and a really good non-NBA player can't be seen in one play. It's the level of consistency that they can keep up over an entire game and entire season. If I and the best NBA player had a contest of 10 shots from the top of the key...I could get lucky and beat or tie even the best shooters. Now if the contest was...best of 100 or 1,000 shots...I'd have no chance versus even an average NBA shooter. I'd make about 40 MAX....and they'd make about 60 MINIMUM out of 100. Out of a thousand, they'd probably make more shots than I was even capable of shooting.

Any decent basketball player can score ONE basket on an NBA player...now try doing that again, and again...and you'll realize why these guys are pros. As you get weaker and weaker with each play, they're still at the exact same or near the exact same level throughout the game. Consistency.

From this short video..the guy scoring on Harris seems like a good basketball player with abnormally good ball handling skills, better than many NBA guards, better than Harris from what I can see. So the odds that he could legitimately fake out an NBA guard twice, isn't really astonishing. Now if he had to run up and down the court and bump with huge NBA guards that are taller, faster, stronger than him 48 minutes a game, 82 games a season...I doubt that the guy would stand a chance. But for two baskets..It's definitely believable that he scored on an NBA guard.

[jietjiang]

wow. i think you can put them you can iphone, or ipod and enjoy or share for every guys:)

http://www.convertdirect.com

Convert any online flv / youtube video to iPod / zune / PSP / MP3 / MP4 Portable player directly.it is full free!!

[jietjiang]

<a href="http://www.convertdirect.com">http://www.convertdirect.com </a>