WASHINGTON — Teenage recording artist Soulja Boy won’t be at the Verizon Center for Game 4 Sunday afternoon, but Washington Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson seems determined not to let his “overrated” — and by this time over-reported and over-hyped — feud with LeBron James come to an end.
Asked his response Friday to James’ claim that he has no rivalry with Stevenson, the shooting guard said, “Obviously, there is (a rivalry) if he’s doing my move. Obviously, he’s worried about what we’re doing to him.”
Stevenson was referring to the fact James and Damon Jones imitated the hand-in-front-of-face move he does after a successful 3-pointer during the Cavs’ 30-point win in Game 2 at The Q.
The Wizards came back home to win Game 3 by 36 points, with Stevenson scoring a team-high 19 points and making five 3-pointers Thursday night with Soulja Boy in attendance. The one-hit wonder was on hand as a response to James’ initial comment that worrying about being called overrated by Stevenson would be akin to music mogul Jay-Z being concerned with something Soulja Boy said.
“LeBron had his fans have his back and I had my fans have my back,” Stevenson said. “That’s what it’s all about.
“I don’t go out of my hotel room when I’m in Cleveland. I did one time and a Foot Locker guy got mad at me. It’s pretty tough there.”
For his part, James has remained cooperative with the media, but it’s becoming increasingly clear he’s grown tired of the storyline.
“It’s no big deal to me,” he said. “Everybody else is making it a big deal. I said what I had to say and moved on.
“There is no rivalry with DeShawn Stevenson. There will never be a rivalry between me and DeShawn. I don’t even know DeShawn Stevenson.”
The 23-year-old said he has absolutely no plans to invite close friend Jay-Z to The Q for Game 5 on Wednesday or, if it’s necessary, Game 7.

Arenas helps even when hurt

Gilbert Arenas had exactly two points and three assists after being moved into the starting lineup for Game 3 of a best-of-seven playoff series with the Cavaliers, but Washington Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said the guard played a pivotal role in his team’s 108-72 victory.
“It was like (injured Knicks center) Willis Reed (trotting onto the court for Game 7 against the Lakers in 1970) in reverse,” Jordan said Friday. “We saw him walking out limping instead of walking in, but we already had our juice.”
Arenas, who missed most of the regular season after undergoing serious knee surgery, limped to the locker room late in the second quarter with what was originally called a bone bruise. He returned to the bench in uniform later in the game, but did not play again.
Jordan and Arenas said Friday the injury might actually be a pinched nerve in the back of the knee, but the Wizards are optimistic the colorful veteran will be on the floor for the opening tip when they try to even the series Sunday at 1 p.m.
“Once I’m warm, I can take the pain,” said Arenas, who played 10 minutes before leaving Game 3. “Once I sit down, I stiffen up. That’s when we have the problems.
“You’ve got to make sacrifices. If it takes playing three or four minutes to get everybody involved, that’s what I’ll do.”

Home cooking

Home-court advantage has held up in the series, with each team owning one blowout win. Cleveland won Game 2 by 30 points, with the Wizards taking Game 3 by 36.
“Both teams succumbed to the home crowd,” Jordan said. “We did it up there (in Cleveland) and they even admitted doing it somewhat here.”
For the series, the Cavs have outscored the Wizards by a point.

Love-hate relationship

Like Cleveland’s LeBron James, Arenas enjoys the back-and-forth banter with fans at Quicken Loans Arena.
“It’s one of those love-hate things,” he said. “You feel loved, because they have to love you enough to hate you. … I like those fans. Those are great fans. They read everything and they boo you.”

Pressure-packed

With the Cavs still up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, an argument can be made that there will be pressure on both teams to win Game 4 at the Verizon Center.
“They need to win,” James said. “It’s a big game for them, but it’s a big game for us, too. We have to see how we respond.”

Quote of the day

“We respect each and every one of them as players. We respect everyone, but we fear no one.” — James on all the talking being done by the Wizards.

Quote of the day II

“We shut up the critics for a little bit. We’ve still got another game (at home) on Sunday.” — Arenas on Washington’s 36-point win in Game 3.
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

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