Stevenson doesn't feel welcome in Cleveland

4/30/2008 5:43 PM

By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer

CLEVELAND (AP) -Walking through a mall, DeShawn Stevenson learned quickly he's made more than LeBron James mad.

The whole city dislikes him.

Stevenson has been branded Public Enemy No. 1 in Cleveland for calling James ``overrated'' and then committing a flagrant foul against the Cavaliers' star in Game 4 on Sunday. He also was fined $25,000 by the NBA for making a throat-slashing gesture in the first quarter of Cleveland's 100-97 win, which gave the Cavs a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

On Monday, Stevenson took a walk with a few teammates in a mall near the team's hotel and says he was approached by Cavaliers fans ready to rumble.

``About five people wanted to fight me,'' he said. ``Lucky I had (teammates). If I went to the mall by myself I probably would have got jumped.''

So what kind of trash talk did he hear?

``What didn't they say?'' said Stevenson, who also has riled up Cleveland fans with his talk and tough play.

The Stevenson-James feud is one of the many subplots in this series - the third straight year the Cavs and Wizards have met. In addition to Stevenson's comments and his hard foul, Gilbert Arenas angered Cavs fans by saying in his blog, ``I think everyone wants to play Cleveland'' in the first round.

Also, center Brendan Haywood was ejected for a two-handed shove on James and rappers Jay-Z (pro James) and Soulja Boy (new Wizards fan) have been dragged into this strange, soap opera-like series.

Stevenson didn't take long to add to his notorious reputation in Game 5. He was called for a technical foul after Wizards forward Darius Songaila gave James a forearm to the face on a baseline drive in the first quarter. Songaila and Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao were also assessed Ts.

Stevenson said Cleveland fans gave him an earful on his shopping stroll.

``They talked about Jay-Z all that stuff,'' he said. ``About how I fouled LeBron - I didn't do it on purpose. It was kind of tough, but I don't care.''

After the Wizards arrived from Washington, it wasn't as if Stevenson tried to avoid being seen in Cleveland. He wore a No. 7 Michael Vick jersey, which surely turned a head or two.

Stevenson said his wardrobe choice was not done intentionally to make Cleveland fans hate him more.

``If I did,'' he said. ``I would have had a Soulja Boy shirt on instead.''