Wizards-Cavs: a statement game even before it's played

Remember when LeBron James said there was no rivalry between the Wizards and the Cavaliers, because the Wiz haven't yet won? DeShawn Stevenson was asked about that comment Monday afternoon, on the eve of the rivalry's first 2009-10 incarnation.

"He's the Golden Child, he's gonna say that," Stevenson said. "He has a lot of stuff to lose. I don't. I don't care."

Later, Stevenson was asked about ex-teammate Antonio Daniels possibly signing with the Rust Belt infidels.

"I have nothing against [Daniels] as a person," Stevenson said. "It's just that jersey and that person that's over there."

By "that person," Stevenson meant one of the two greatest basketball players in the world. And that's why this rivalry is so awesome, no matter what the adults say.

"I think some guys have a distaste for Cleveland on this team, but me personally, it's just another game," Brendan Haywood said, with a straight face. "I can foul you hard, you can foul me hard, I can be mad at you that day, but the next time we see each other, it's a different game, it's a different day. I don't need to hold a grudge. Life's too short."

"Just ready to play man, just ready to play," Caron Butler said, when I asked if this rivalry was still a going concern. I pointed out he hadn't technically answered my question.

"I'll tell you half the story, the rest you fill it in," Butler said. "I'm just ready to play."

Luckily, there were some less guarded souls out there, who were willing to help us fill in the rest.

"That's been the talk from day one of training camp, that we got to go out there [hard] whenever we play them," Randy Foye said. "As soon as they take steps on that Cleveland soil, guys are ready to go."

"That Cleveland soil?" See, the Wizards don't say such things about the soil in, say, Oklahoma City. Foye said he already knew a bit about this rivalry from watching the playoff battles on TV, but that he learned more after arriving in D.C.

"I just YouTubed DeShawn Stevenson versus LeBron, to see what came up, because I heard them talking about it," Foye said. "From then on, I understood."