Rivalry stews between Cavs’ James and Wizards’ Stevenson

The two players harbor unfriendly feelings in the first-round playoff series.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When LeBron James arrived for practice Friday, he spotted Gilbert Arenas in the hallway near the locker room. The two high-profile stars shared a hug while Arenas’ father, standing nearby, gave James some good-natured banter about the ongoing series between Cleveland and Washington.

“Off the court, me and Gilbert are really, really good friends,” James said. “I’m not going to let some trash talk get in the way of our friendship.”

When the subject turned to DeShawn Stevenson, however, James struck a totally different tone.

“I don’t know DeShawn Stevenson at all,” James said.

James might not know Stevenson, but he certainly knows about him. As odd as it seems, the Cavaliers-Wizards first-round playoff series has evolved into a grudge match of sorts between one of the NBA’s biggest stars and a role player who — until now — was arguably the least prominent starter on his own team.

Even a teenage rapper has been snared into the fray, which is how Soulja Boy ended up dancing by his front-row seat during the second half of Washington’s 108-72 Game 3 victory Thursday night.

“It’s a lot of antics going on,” said Stevenson, who is quickly earning the title of Most Hated Man in Cleveland.

The first indication of bad blood between the two came March 13, when they jawed at each other during a game in Washington. After James missed a potential game-winning shot in the Wizards’ 101-99 victory, Stevenson was more emotional than usual in the locker room. He managed to bite his tongue until he started to walk out the door, when he told a Washington Post reporter: “He’s overrated, and you can say I said that.”

LeBron? Overrated? He’s been called lots of things, but that’s nowhere near the top of the list. James’ response came a few days later: “With DeShawn Stevenson, it is kind of funny. It’s almost like Jay-Z saying something bad about Soulja Boy. There’s no comparison. Enough said.”

Translation: “DeShawn, you are not on my level.” It’s an attitude James has since maintained whenever Stevenson’s name has been raised.

Then it was Stevenson’s turn. He talked about inviting Soulja Boy to the playoffs if the Wizards faced the Cavaliers. He also said his beef with James stemmed from a personal matter, but he didn’t elaborate.

“We don’t need to talk bad about one another,” Stevenson said. “So, that’s how it happened. ... It goes back further than people think.”

Unwittingly cast into the saga, Soulja Boy, whose real name is DeAndre Way, told The Plain Dealer in Cleveland that he felt disrespected by James’ comments, so he was more than happy to show up Thursday night and do his little dance to his one big hit, “Crank Dat.”

There’s more. When Stevenson makes a big shot, he often waves his hand in front of his face, a gesture he calls “can’t feel my face” because he’s so hot. He started doing it spontaneously last season, then quit for a while because some people thought the gesture was gang-related. Arenas talked him into bringing it back.

“Gilbert got on me, the fans loved it, and ever since then I’ve been doing it,” Stevenson said.

Sure enough, when the Wizards were getting routed by 30 points in Game 2 on Monday, James and Cleveland’s Damon Jones mockingly copied Stevenson’s gesture.

Then, when Washington pounded Cleveland by 36 in Game 3, Stevenson not only did the gesture but added a nice little strut to go along with it as he scored a team-high 19 points.

Stevenson, therefore, doesn’t buy it when James claims there is no “DeShawn-LeBron rivalry.”

“Obviously there is,” Stevenson said after Friday’s practice. “If he’s doing my move in Cleveland.”