DeShawn Stevenson: See games @Toronto, @Portland

DeShawn, oh ye of little historical knowledge. Do not make LeBron mad. After playing a solid yet unspectacular game in a win, Stevenson mouthed off about LeBron James and other things.

I was just trying to get up under his skin and make him think about me playing, competing and talking trash. I played with Raja Bell in Utah and I take a lot of things from him. He's a great defender. Sometimes you gotta do that with those guys. Those guys play guys that are scared of them all day so sometimes, you gotta get under their skin and talk some trash and tonight, I tried to do that."

"He's overrated," DeShawn told Mike. "And you can say I said that."

Stevenson was kind enough to mention opening round losses in the playoffs to the Cavaliers, with said overrated player leading the way. He also pointed out that last year was a massacre, although with all due respect, their two best players were missing. What he did forget to mention is that win in Cleveland right after the trade was finalized, when LeBron and a bunch of guys named Bob (two signed from the NBDL) beat these Wizards without any players at all. A game I feel might have shown how great LBJ was, in leading that team to that win.

But more than that, I would like to point out to DeShawn those lovely games @Toronto and @Portland. Each of these games had rather loud-mouthed fans in the front row spouting off and jeering LeBron on the way down. Results? Loss and loss, both in dramatic fashion, going off for 15-point-and-such quarters to lead his team to a victory. Cheeringly so, I point to the 50 point game at the Garden right after he mouthed his future stats to Spike Lee in the first row. But hey, if he wants to make The King mad, that's his prerogative, it makes the game that much more interesting.

This I have to admit, since that game against the Knicks, LeBron has been playing like a scorer instead of a winner. He's been missing easy shots as of late, and has been less aggressive (only 5 FGA in the loss last night). The 3 point shot to win the game was a great example of the last 5 games. Is he getting a little tired? Possibly. His teammates are bricking shots (Wally) and forgetting basic blockouts (Joe Smith), so maybe he's a little pissed off, annoyed, and bored. But certainly it's a difficult pill to swallow to call a guy averaging 30.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1 blocks a game overrated. Be my guest to give him a reason to play harder.

DeShawn, not a big fan of LBJ [Washington Post via Fanhouse]
Photo: Washington Post