Like so many other Washington Wizards fans who heard the comment that echoed around the NBA that DeShawn Stevenson called LeBron James "overrated,” I groaned.
Cleveland proceeded to take DeShawn's comment to heart and made sure Washington was down 2-0 before even touching its own court.
Great. Just what we need—another Anthony Smith (of the Pittsburgh Steelers) talking it up. To my pleasant surprise, Game 3 had the Wizards send LeBron and the Cavaliers reeling with a 36-point loss. I'm thinking to myself -- It’s on!
"There is no DeShawn-LeBron rivalry...," said LeBron James. I'm down with that. Let's play ball!
So I'm sitting with my brother-in-law dissecting the series in anticipation to the game later on this afternoon. And he drops the bomb on me. Apparently, LeBron hosts a party in D.C. where Jay-Z starts ripping the mic with a new song he wrote totally dissing DeShawn.
And to add insult to injury, Damon Jones is talking smack about DeShawn too—except the content isn't just about basketball. I'm like, what the ****.
Yep—the Washington Post just broke the story and you heard it right here.
So, my bro sits me down and deconstructs the back-story like it was some sort of X-Files subplot.
Go back two years to the NBA playoffs, and we find that bad blood is already brewing between the Wizards and Cavaliers. The famous Game 6 choke by Gilbert Arenas after LeBron stopped him and whispered in his ear junk. Gilbert ends up bricking the free throws and the Cavaliers took Game 6.
Though Gilbert took no offense to LeBron's trash talking at the time, he might've had a change of heart if he knew that after that game, LeBron gave the choke sign to his team-mates and proceeded to call him a BLEEPING wimp in the after-game huddle.
Spin it back up to the present and DeShawn contends that this "rivalry" stuff would never have even happened had it not been for some negative comments by LeBron on DeShawn Stevenson that were overheard by former teammate Drew Gooden (DeShawn's best friend).
And as if to agitate it further, now Jay-Z's comes out with a new rap to put down DeShawn on behalf of his friend LeBron at a party in D.C. at the Love??
It was reported that one Wizard did attend that party, Caron Butler. But after being turned off and feeling disrespected, quickly left the club and called DeShawn to tell him about it.
So now I am asking myself—who does this Lebron-guy think he is?
All of sudden, I don't feel the Cavaliers have the moral high-ground on this one (hey, I know its basketball). I'm starting to like DeShawn Stevenson. All of a sudden, the hand-in-da-face pose that DeShawn made at the game is hilarious!
You know, LeBron gets so much positive press—I hope this comes back to haunt him for running his mouth one too many times. One thing is for sure—now that Soulja Boy and Jay-Z are involved in this little spat—this has brought a whole new perspective to this series. And, I'm so looking forward to Game 4—it’s gonna be intense.
And as Paul Harvey would say...
"And now, you know the rest of the story."
comments (9) write a comment »
write a new comment
2 months ago
I still just find it hard to believe that LeBron would say something to DeShawn Stevenson, of all people, to start this thing. I'm not blind to the fact that LeBron is no angel, but he's never been one to instigate these types of things - he knows he has a rep to maintain. Other than Paul Pierce spitting on him in an exhibition game last year, LeBron really hasn't been one to get involved in stuff like this. And outside of, well, the District of Columbia, I think he still has a pretty positive impact on the league.
Good post. And, as Paul Harvey would say, "Good day."
from 2 months ago
Just a clarifying remark. Lebron didn't actually say anything to DeShawn directly and it wasn't really his intention to have those comments surface back to DeShawn. So in a sense, I agree with you its not his way to go out there looking for trouble in the public light. But, apparently he was making some negative comments (to put it mildly) to his teammates about DeShawn after he had heard that the media was saying that DeShawn was coming into his own in Washington. At the time, Dwight Gooden was also with the Cavs (and is also DeShawn's best friend) and it was he who told DeShawn what had been said. My understanding is that the comments were NOT just directed at DeShawn's basketball skills (or lacktherof).
I think DeShawn took offense because (in his own words) Lebron is suppose to be representing the league. To be caught making insults at other players in the league you don't even know -- well its wrong. And in the case of DeShawn -- he was apparently pretty offended.
2 months ago
uninteresting... whats the latest on Paris Hilton
2 months ago
Just so you're understanding the situation a little bit better, this isn't on LeBron at all. You don't goto the media and say "yeah I don't even know this guy, but I don't like him" (quote) and talk about how he is overrated. To start, it makes you look dumb when he is the leading scorer in the NBA, and he then proceeds to kick your ass in the playoffs. Saying he isn't a nice guy? That would make a little more sense. But the fact is, he's averaging 28 points a game in this series (nearly twice that of the Wizard's leading scorer in Jamison), and there is no way that you could have expected him not to post these numbers, because he does it all the time. Who is overrating him? Statistics?
In any case, going to the media and saying this crap is just dumb. There is one of two outcomes: A. You win the series and feel good about yourself, but the media and most of the nation sees you as immature for not controlling your emotions, or B. You lose and are humiliated. Oh really? That guy that just beat you is overrated?
People don't always get along, especially in professional sports, because they are supposed to be competitive. I'm sure LeBron made some off comment about DeShawn which DREW (not Dwight, you are confused there) Gooden heard, then blew out of proportion and told to Stevenson, who blew out of proportion and told to the media. There's no foul there on DeShawn now for not liking LeBron... as long as you keep it to yourself. If you wanna trash talk him in the huddle great. It'll get your team motivated. But don't talk to the media.
People in the NBA trash talk, and talk themselves up all the time. Granted, 90% of this whole ordeal is the media's fault, but really Stevenson should never have talked to the media in the first place.
The post about LeBron from the Japan Times isn't actually quoting him as calling him a "bleeping wimp." The writer seems to have a deep hatred for LeBron, and at the end he is saying "LeBron probably went over and said this."
The thing that really bothers me is the hand gestures from Stevenson... Its fine if you drain 4 in a row to bring your team back in the game but I saw him do it when his team was down by 25 points in Cleveland... and that just makes you look stupid. Also parading around the court when your team is up by 30 points, and you just scored on a non responsive BENCH team for Cleveland makes you look like a jackass. The fact that you make a symbol every time you scores just shows that you don't score very often. If LeBron made a gesture after every basket, do you think people would give him crap? Yeah they would, because he would be doing it every minute and it would look stupid. You'll look like a lot better player if you ditch the gesture.
ALSO: Jay-Z did that freestyle at some random club in Washington... I don't think LeBron was "hosting a party" as you say, and I don't even know if he was there.
To conclude, I'm not going trying to go on a lovefest for LeBron James. Am I going on a hatefest for Stevenson? Yes. But he deserves it. If you can logically explain to me HOW LeBron is at fault here, and Stevenson is not a jackass, then I will be impressed. I like Antwaan Jamison a lot, and Butler and Arenas are good players, along with Mason. But DeShawn Stevenson is a jackass, and no one would even know who he was if he hadn't opened his big mouth.
2 months ago
Just so you're understanding the situation a little bit better, this isn't on LeBron at all. You don't goto the media and say "yeah I don't even know this guy, but I don't like him" (quote) and talk about how he is overrated. To start, it makes you look dumb when he is the leading scorer in the NBA, and he then proceeds to kick your ass in the playoffs. Saying he isn't a nice guy? That would make a little more sense. But the fact is, he's averaging 28 points a game in this series (nearly twice that of the Wizard's leading scorer in Jamison), and there is no way that you could have expected him not to post these numbers, because he does it all the time. Who is overrating him? Statistics?
In any case, going to the media and saying this crap is just dumb. There is one of two outcomes: A. You win the series and feel good about yourself, but the media and most of the nation sees you as immature for not controlling your emotions, or B. You lose and are humiliated. Oh really? That guy that just beat you is overrated?
People don't always get along, especially in professional sports, because they are supposed to be competitive. I'm sure LeBron made some off comment about DeShawn which DREW (not Dwight, you are confused there) Gooden heard, then blew out of proportion and told to Stevenson, who blew out of proportion and told to the media. There's no foul there on DeShawn now for not liking LeBron... as long as you keep it to yourself. If you wanna trash talk him in the huddle great. It'll get your team motivated. But don't talk to the media.
People in the NBA trash talk, and talk themselves up all the time. Granted, 90% of this whole ordeal is the media's fault, but really Stevenson should never have talked to the media in the first place.
The post about LeBron from the Japan Times isn't actually quoting him as calling him a "bleeping wimp." The writer seems to have a deep hatred for LeBron, and at the end he is saying "LeBron probably went over and said this."
The thing that really bothers me is the hand gestures from Stevenson... Its fine if you drain 4 in a row to bring your team back in the game but I saw him do it when his team was down by 25 points in Cleveland... and that just makes you look stupid. Also parading around the court when your team is up by 30 points, and you just scored on a non responsive BENCH team for Cleveland makes you look like a jackass. The fact that you make a symbol every time you scores just shows that you don't score very often. If LeBron made a gesture after every basket, do you think people would give him crap? Yeah they would, because he would be doing it every minute and it would look stupid. You'll look like a lot better player if you ditch the gesture.
ALSO: Jay-Z did that freestyle at some random club in Washington... I don't think LeBron was "hosting a party" as you say, and I don't even know if he was there.
To conclude, I'm not going trying to go on a lovefest for LeBron James. Am I going on a hatefest for Stevenson? Yes. But he deserves it. If you can logically explain to me HOW LeBron is at fault here, and Stevenson is not a jackass, then I will be impressed. I like Antwaan Jamison a lot, and Butler and Arenas are good players, along with Mason. But DeShawn Stevenson is a jackass, and no one would even know who he was if he hadn't opened his big mouth.
from 2 months ago
Hey Brenton,
Thanks for pointing out the obvious error. I've made the correction in the article and noted in the history log. My apologies.
With regards to your comments about DeShawn's comments to the media about Lebron being overrated being plain stupid. With respect to the playoffs -- I heartily concur. It didn't help them one bit. The back story however is really something that has sorta been circulating among Wizards fans for some time now -- and as I said before it brings a different perspective. For us Wizards fans -- we have more empathy for young DeShawn. ;)
Your quote however is inaccurate. The comment DeShawn made about not knowing Lebron came long after that initial statement when he was getting pestered (again) by the media. The comment of Lebron being overrated was actually made in the locker room after they had beat the Cavs in March. Eye witnesses claim that in actuality DeShawn wasn't really trying to answer a ton of questions and wanted to just get out of the there. But, he eventually blurted it out.
With regards to the Club in DC. I can confirm from beat reporters in the area that in fact Lebron did hold an exclusive party at the Love. So it wasn't a random thing. To invite Jay-Z to do that was utterly intentional (and hilarious too). Did you read the Washington Post column by Mike Wise that I linked to this article as well as the Wizard Insider column I referenced (also from the Post)? Finally -- about the Japan Times? I picked that article for two reasons: 1) It was written by Peter Vescey -- a well known Sportswriter and NBA analyst. 2) It was the only article I could find readily that also talked about how refs were calling technicals on Mutumbo for wagging his finger but not on Lebron for messing with the shooter at the FT line. But, if you Google about this game --- you will see several people make mention of the derogatory flame by Lebron on Gilbert (i.e. like Michael Wilbon) after that game. It was most certainly NOT an estimation. If you take those two incidents (the comment about DeShawn to his teammates) and the comment about Gilbert (again to his teammates) -- you start to get a pattern about young Darth Vader -- er Lebron. Anyways, thanks for reading my columnn... ;)
2 months ago
Okay, I see where you're coming from, and it does start to look like LeBron isn't totally innocent in this situation. It is understandable for Stevenson to be upset, because (if this was the grown up world, and not professional sports) people shouldn't act like that and disrespect you blatantly.
But still, I guess the point of what I'm trying to get at is that in this series, who is the one who is worried about playing basketball, and who is the one who is bringing a bunch of extra stuff onto the court? On the court, I've seen LeBron play basketball. I've seen Stevenson making the hand gestures, havin Soulja Boy come to the game (which isn't really his *fault*, but its still a distraction), and clubbing LeBron in the face on a flagrant 1 foul (we can debate if he meant to do that or not, hehe).
From a maturity standpoint on the court, I think that LeBron is far outshining Stevenson, and to be honest I think it is hurting the Wizards. They are capable of beating Cleveland, as shown in game 3, but when Stevenson smacks LeBron on a foul, it sparks their team to react. Granted, as your comments point out, perhaps LeBron isn't as mature off the court, but just from the way that they are playing basketball, it seems that LeBron can handle it much better.
In reality, I don't really feel bad for LeBron and I'm not trying to defend him... he doesn't really care what DeShawn Stevenson says, and I don't think his feelings are hurt. He is probably (not inevitably, but probably) going to go on to win the series and everyone will forget about this. The people that I feel bad for are the Antawn Jamison's and Eddie Jordan's whose seasons could come to an end. If the Wizards had just played basketball and not worried about all this extra stuff, would they have had a better chance at winning? I think so.... although, they still might not have been able to handle Darth!
2 months ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdluT_DOxw
Here's a link to the song on youtube.
2 months ago
3-1 all that i'm saying
write a new comment