“Told LeBron James I’ll slap the sh-t outta him at tipoff”: DeShawn Stevenson reveals his trash talk to the Heat star before the 2011 NBA Finals

Akash Murty | 05/07/2022
“Told LeBron James I'll slap the sh-t outta him at tipoff”: DeShawn Stevenson, one of the Mavericks heroes from 2011 Finals

DeShawn Stevenson might be one of the reasons why LeBron James averaged 17.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 6 games in the 2011 NBA Finals 

The “Wh*re of Akron,” as dubbed by Esquire’s Scott Raab, “We Are All Witnesses to a Fraud” a Bleacher Report article after the Mavericks won Game 5 in the 2011 NBA Finals and a million other critiques obliterated LeBron James after losing the Championship to Dirk Nowitzki and Co.

Even after winning 4 championships since then, apart from his 4 MVPs, 18 All-Star appearances, 18 All-NBA selections, over 37k points, 10k rebounds, and 10k assists, he hasn’t been able to cover those tracks which still reads “the greatest bust” to many.

The year that followed “The Decision” is the biggest barrier to The King’s 19-year career being declared as the best. Because whoever has Jordan over him in the GOAT debate says MJ never played a Game 7 in the Finals while James lost it while playing in arguably the greatest team of all time.

One of the most famous LBJ-critique, actor and comedian Michael Rapaport, thoroughly enjoyed that failure and ran circles around the NBA media taking and giving interviews saying atrocious things about James.

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Michael Rapaport interviewed DeShawn Stevenson in which he revealed what he said to LeBron James in the 2011 Finals

In his 13-year NBA career, DeShawn Stevenson was nowhere close to the player a high school James was, but the man played his heart out whenever he played the basketball juggernaut.

Their rivalry dated back to James’ first few years in the league when D-Steve played alongside Gilbert Arenas in Washington. He might be the man who brought out the Jordan and Kobe in LeBron, who otherwise never was or is a trash-talker.

In one of their Playoffs series in 2008, even Jay-Z got involved in the two players’ beef. But James later publicly “There is no DeShawn-LeBron rivalry…,” in trying to settle down the unnecessary hype he was giving to Stevenson.

But “The Locksmith” will soon have his revenge when he moved to the Mavericks in the very same year they would deny James, D-Wade and Chris Bosh their first championship. Destiny.

He played a massive role in stopping the James dynamic duo of James and Wade.

But it was also what he said that might have tickled something in James’ otherwise brilliant mind, that he had his career’s worst playoff series at the worst possible time. Here is DeShawn revealing what he said to the King before a tip-off in the NBA Finals in a hilarious interview with Michael Rapaport.

Also read: LeBron James and Co made Jeanie Buss $316 million in 2020-21, $84 million more than an average franchise but the Lakers still wanted to be under Luxury Tax

 

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
2011 NBA Finals Dallas Mavericks deshawn stevenson LeBron James Miami Heat

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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