{mosimage} There are a lot of candidates for the World's Dumbest Sports Team (WDST), but over the past few weeks one team has risen head and shoulder above the rest. I know it's not even halfway through the year, but I don't see another contender rising above the clubhouse leader. I give you the runaway champion as WDST 2008, the Washington Wizards.

A dumb team would call out LeBron James, the most talented player to grace the NBA hardwood since MJ, as being overrated. A dumb team would call LeBron, who single-handedly took his team to the NBA Finals last year, overrated. A dumb team would say that LeBron isn't clutch and that his team couldn't beat them again. But when a team does all three of these things, as the Wizards did, you become the World's Dumbest Sports Team.

Gilbert Arenas decided that the law of averages factors into the NBA, even if one team is consistently stronger. He said the Cavs couldn't beat the Wizards a third straight year, despite the fact that they had dropped six consecutive playoff games to The Fighting LeBrons entering this postseason. He also said that he would prove that he is the game's best clutch player, not the guy on the other side of the floor who had two game winning baskets the first time these teams met in the playoffs two years ago.

After Arenas airballed his first attempt in Game 1, he caught fire. As always, he put on the cocky look like he had it, even though he never has. After professing his superior abilities in the clutch, Arenas went on to miss FOUR STRAIGHT SHOTS in the final three minutes as LeBron made two very tough baskets inside to seal the victory. That should have been a lesson learned for Washington, but it wasn't. Deshawn "Soulja Boy" Stevenson was the culprit when it came to calling LeBron overrated. Stevenson, probably fueled by a legendary 1-for-9 performance in Game 1, decided to fuel the fire by escalating the You Can't See Me saga. After hitting a three when down by 19 points in Game 2, Deshawn waved his hand over his face as he did many times over the remainder of the series, seemingly failing to realize his team was being destroyed by Mr. Overrated, who put up 30, 12, and 9 despite sitting most of the fourth quarter. This was a direct affront to LeBron, who had done the same move in Game 1, when his team was actually winning.

This was Stevenson's move for the rest of the series, despite being consistently torn up by LeBron in one-on-one situations and being an average player in general. It's amazing to me that people with so little qualification talk so much, even when their team (and this is a team sport) is being decimated.Then we come to Brendan Haywood. All series long, the Wizards hit LeBron legally and illegally. It was obviously their game plan, and there's nothing wrong with that. LeBron is the Cavs best weapon by a wide margin and is not a particularly good free throw shooter, so fouling him hard and often is a good game plan. The problem comes when these hard fouls enter the category of cheap. LeBron dealt with the situation pretty well, basically saying that if that's the Wizards' game plan, so be it. He almost got into a few scuffles on the court, but justifiably so.

One case inparticular came when Haywood extended both arms in a purposeful shove as LeBron was cruising past him in midair for a layup. LeBron got in his face about it, which isn't exactly an overreaction. Haywood later taunted LeBron in the media, using a high pitched voice to mimic James' alleged complaints about fouling. The best part of this story comes in Game 4, the game after Haywood called James a crybaby. As LeBron put up a ho-hum 34, 12, and 7 in a Cavs victory, Haywood managed to post 4 points and 6 fouls. Nice work big man.Game 5 was difficult to watch as a basketball fan as it was plagued by inconsistent shooting and plays that left you saying "is this pro ball?" LeBron didn't have his usual aggressiveness, and it cost the team offense. He still almost posted a triple double, but the Cavs lost by one when his last second attempt rimmed out. Caron Butler, one of the few Wizards players I still respect, had a huge game that included the game winning bucket. The series was at 3-2, and it looked like Washington actually had a shot. Maybe this wasn't all empty talk. A Game 6 in Washington seemed like a daunting task, and it was until the second half.

The Wizards, after all the talk and hand waving and hard fouls, laid down on their home floor as LBJ rallied the troops for a resounding 17 point victory. James was screaming at his bench after the third quarter telling them to step on the collective throats of the Wizards, essentially saying "this ends tonight." Twelve minutes of game time later, the Cavs were moving on and the Wizards were taking most of May off as usual. For the third straight year, the Wizards were all talk. Now they're at home. I wonder if Deshawn Stevenson is yelling overrated at his television as LeBron and friends take on an actual contender in Round 2 of the NBA playoffs, a foreign country to the Wizards. Despite arguably having three of the top four players in the series (though Gilbert Arenas played hurt and later in the series not at all), the Wizards managed to lose in six to what the national media said was an inferior team. For the most blatant violation of talking the talk without walking the walk I've ever seen, the Washington Wizards are the 2008 World's Dumbest Sports team.

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JEH45 said:

	Good thing these players make a pile of money because they are stupid! Maybe once their playing days are over they go do politics.
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May 10, 2008
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Lloyds Apple said:

	Dude, for a hockey guy you stepped it up on the NBA front. Funny read bro. Stevenson got bitch slapped. Lebron's got his hands full with the Celtics, though. The Playoffs are getting fun as hell.
	report abuse vote down vote up

May 12, 2008
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