April 28th, 2008 – Dr. J-Water
This whole DeShawn Stevenson/Soulja Boy vs. Lebron/Jay-Z fiasco is getting old, and fast. There is something really unsettling about the fact that a player of such mediocrity as DeShawn Stevenson can dominate the NBA media during playoff time by simply attempting to call out a player with some of the highest caliber of skill and dominance as Lebron James. Hasn’t this song been played already? Maybe not as extreme but don’t you remember when John Starks attempted to start a rivalry with Michael Jordan during all those Knicks-Bulls playoff battles? How about when Ruben Patterson decided he’d tell the media he was the one and only “Kobe-Stopper” and could shut down the Black Mamba? I’m pretty sure we all remember how those situations turned out. My guess is this won’t be much different. In a week the name DeShawn Stevenson will be a thing of the past, and the NBA playoff media can once again focus on the “on-court” play of some of the great players that currently inhabit our professional league.
I have been thoroughly impressed with the maturity Lebron James has shown in handling the situation. After the notorious Stevenson statement saying James is “overrated,” Lebron made the initial mistake of telling reporters he wouldn’t respond as it “would be like Jay-Z saying something bad about Soulja Boy.” Since then he has continually attempted to deflect the media back to basketball by repeating “there is no DeShawn-Lebron rivalry.” Just when you think the situation is finally over and we could get back to focusing on the team match ups, Stevenson keeps the gossip bus rolling by inviting Soulja Boy to Game 3 of the series in an attempt to taunt Lebron. The Wizards supporters will undoubtedly point to the recent leak of a Jay-Z diss track cutting up Stevenson in a futile attempt to vilify King James in this situation. Incase noone has noticed, Lebron James is not Jay-Z. I’m pretty sure Jay-Z is his own man, and makes his own decisions (given the news of his recent nuptials with Beyonce, he’s making wise ones). For those of you who haven’t heard about the diss track, it’s a Jay-Z freestyle to the beat of the “Blow the Whistle” by hip hop artist Too Short. Apparently it was played repeatedly on Friday night at the nightclub Love in Washington D.C. Those in attendance claim that Cavs guard Damon Jones got on the mic to introduce the track and was talkin’ smack about Stevenson and the Wizards.
Listen to the full Jay-Z diss track about DeShawn Stevenson.
So that was the lead-up to Game 4 this weekend between the Wiz and Cavs. And what happened in Game 4? As expected Lebron James was dominant in all facets of the game. Also as expected, DeShawn Stevenson was hardly noticeable aside from his flagrant foul on Lebron James late in the first half. After the flagrant hit to the head, Lebron again showed a great deal of maturity and restraint towards Stevenson. James did what any Superstar would do following a flagrant attack of this kind; he punished the Wizards on both ends of the floor, finishing the game with 34pts, 12 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals, and leading the Cavs to a 3-1 series lead in this best of 7 series.
So as the Lebron’ Cavs look to close out the Wiz in Game 5 on Wednesday night, hopefully the players and rappers can shelf the off-court antics for the remainder of the series and let their game speak for itself. And if that’s the case, I wouldn’t want to be Stevenson standing on the tracks as the L-Train rolls full-steam ahead.
