STUART v DEVIN: CALM DOWN PEOPLE!!
10/16/2008 Stuart Tanner v Devin Harris - the truth!

WOW...the power of the internet!

When I posted the clip of my brother (Stuart Tanner) playing Devin Harris in a one-on-one, I thought it'd get maybe 50,000 views from ballers here in London and people who visit basketball247.co.uk

How wrong I was.

ESPN got hold of it, and it all went crazy. It was apparently on SportsCenter last night, ESPN want to interview him, it's been on every news website on earth (pretty much).
Yahoo featured it on their front page....and the Ball Don't Lie article alone has attracted more than 2,000 comments.

But a lot of these comments show that loads of people have taken the whole thing wrong.So let me please dispell a few myths:

NOT A HUSTLE
Firstly, this was not a hustle. We went to the court dedication event to cover it for Basketball 24/7. It was never anyone's intention for Stu to play - that's why he was dressed like that.
However, when Stu saw Devin so close to him, he wanted to go against him...and Devin was a GREAT sport for accepting. He is a seriously nice guy.

FREE THROW NOT DELIBERATELY MISSED
Stu did NOT deliberately miss the free throw. He wanted to start with the ball.

SPECIAL NEEDS??
There were quite a few special needs kids at the court for the photo opportunity...however, there's no way Devin could have thought Stu was one of them!

TRAVELLING???
On Stu's first made shot, he did not leave his feet. He stopped quickly, pump faked (staying on the floor) and shot.

CARRYING??
I didn't see Stu carrying any more than Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury or any number of NBA players do.

BETTER THAN NBA?
Please, please, please do not for one minute think that Stuart believes he is better than Devin. He and everyone else knows that Devin is in a whole different league (literally!!)
Stu is just a kid who loves the game...but due to some fairly serious health problems in recent years (he has the same condition that forced Dejuan Wagner to retire) hasn't made much noise. Not that the NBA would ever have been possible anyway!

NOT THE FIRST TIME
Worth noting though, this was not the first time Stu has embarrassed an NBA baller. Years ago he got Tony Delk. And fellow south Londoner, Luol Deng, once told me that Stuart is the only English guy he'd pay to watch play!

Stuart and I would like to thank Devin for being such a good sport. It was just a bit of fun which some people are taking WAY too seriously.

I'll be putting a clip up in the next few days featuring some of Stu's old moves...as the world seems to be wanting more!

GT