Wizards-Cavaliers: A Rivalry Greater Than Individuals?

{flickr/Keith Allison}

Tonight, the Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers face off for the first time this season. These teams have differing aspirations, the Cavs aiming for a title and the Wizards desiring a return to playoff relevancy. But when it comes to a single game, the animosity, competition, and surrounding circus has proved to be valuable entertainment in the past, and there’s no reason to think spirited matchups between these two franchises won’t continue for the foreseeable future.

I’d thought about it before Matt Moore ever posed the question: With the looming ‘Summer of 2010 Issue’, where would the Wizards-Cavs stand if LeBron left? Would hatred still be aimed from the D.C. to Cleveland and vice versa? Would the “rivalry” still exist?

First, let’s address this so-called rivalry. Many don’t even call it one. Maybe they’ve latched on to the morsels of food spewing from Charles Barkley’s mouth, maybe they’ve come to the conclusion on their own cognizance. The reasoning is, how can it be a rivalry when the Cavaliers have absolutely owned the Wizards? The regular season series stands at 12-10 in the favor of the Wizards since Bron-Bron entered the league, but the playoffs is where it counts. And no matter how many times Wizards fans use injuries as an excuse, the fact is that Cleveland has won all three series by a total of 12 games to four.

Sorry folks, you’re wrong … it’s a rivalry. The dictionary definition of rivalry doesn’t mention anything about wins and losses. Rather, it speaks of two forces that try to “equal or outdo another” or one side that is “in a position to dispute another’s preeminence or superiority.” The Wizards-Cavaliers certainly fall into the realm of this defined role.

Sure, it’s hard to argue that without sustained meetings of each team exchanging victories, that Wizards-Cavs is a classic NBA rivalry. The teams don’t have the benefit of long-term history nor a geographical connection. But a temporary rivalry among the league’s current generation? Undoubtedly. Whether Wiz-Cavs eventually invokes the romanticism of two teams going head-to-head until their children’s children despise the other team simply remains to be seen.

All they have now is the protagonists of LeBron James, Gilbert Arenas, DeShawn Stevenson, and a cast of characters who get just a little more “up” when it’s time to play against each other. The Cavs hate the Wizards and the Wizards hate the Cavs. Clevelanders hate Stevenson just as much as Washingtonians hate James … in fact, probably more. I can’t see a worker at Ronald Reagan National Airport tapping LeBron on the shoulder and saying, “I hate you.”

You’ll hear old participants such as Lebron claim there is no rivalry, despite his peppered words to the contrary. Via Michael Lee, Wizards Insider, May 2009:

Before the Cavaliers played Detroit, James talked about how the motivation to beat the Pistons was simply to win and advance, unlike their previous first-round matchups against the Wizards.

“We really hated them,” James said. “It was easy to dial in against them.”

Oh, and not to forget LeBron playing the air guitar in last season’s final meeting in Cleveland. Do you think he acts in such a manner against any other team? (Maybe he’s always a bad winner, I haven’t been keeping track.)

{via Truth About It.net}

And on the Wizards’ side, elder statesmen like Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler refuse to add fuel to the fire by downplaying the rivalry. DeShawn Stevenson, on the other hand, doesn’t mince words by calling LeBron ‘The Golden Child’ and asserting that it will be a rivalry as long as he, Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler are around.

But the most telling take of the perception from the Wizards’ end comes from newcomer Randy Foye, who has been “educated” about the rivalry by his teammates, YouTube, and the Cleveland fans.

If “rivalry” doesn’t describe how each of these factions want to beat each other just a little bit more than any other NBA team, then I’m just not sure what word could accurately depict ‘Washington Wizards vs. Cleveland Cavaliers’. And if LeBron leaves Cleveland next summer, where will the rivalry go?

It’s safe to say that most Wizards fans would root against whatever team LeBron played. Hell, many fans league wide would do same. LeBron’s attitude as a budding superstar concerned with self-serving preservation and protecting it in such a sophomoric manner has rallied anti-LeBron haters extending way beyond the realm of the Wizards Nation. It’s also safe to say that Wizards fans would relish the idea of Cleveland’s misery in losing James, basking in the irony of both sides despising the Golden Child.

Without LeBron at the root, the rivalry loses a ton of luster … but it’s not necessarily dead. It began with the so-called ‘Chosen 1′ versus ‘Agent Zero’, and was accentuated by the absurd antics of DeShawn Stevenson, but doesn’t have to end with individuals. If the Cavs and Wizards continue to meet on a significant stage, a greater competitive animosity will be built upon what was created by mere beings. But who are we kidding anyway, LeBron isn’t leaving Cleveland and Arenas is signed through 2014. This thing has plenty of life left. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

{flickr/Keith Allison}

Oster-Tags: cleveland cavaliers, deshawn stevenson, lebron james, rivalry, washington wizards