WASHINGTON: The question made LeBron James smirk.

His eyebrows raised and he smirked. As if a bunch of white shirt-wearing folks with a half-hearted chant had ... gulp ... gotten in his head. That was what the questioner stated, at least, and James smiled ever so slightly.

Joe Average Cavs Fan might have been worried about his team after that Game 3 debacle Thursday night in the Verzon Center.

But had Joe Average Cavs Fan been present at James' news conference late Thursday night he would have left disappointed but not worried. Because the last thing James seemed was worried.

The fun started close to midnight, after James had gotten through talking about how well the Washington Wizards had played and how poorly the Cavs had done.

Someone brought up the notion of James being ''affected'' by the crowd chanting ''O-ver-ra-ted'' to him.

Now, this Washington crowd cheers for its team, and it wore white T-shirts and all that, but it's hardly among the louder or more rowdy crowds in sports.

It's, shall we say, governmental.

Yes, they make noise. Yes, they cheer. But the Roman Coliseum it isn't.

So when maybe one-half of a crowd of 20,000 — not sure if Colin Powell was chanting — yells overrated, it's pretty clever ... in a governmental kind of way.

But when James heard the word ''affected'' about the chant his face changed immediately.

''Huh?'' he said, sounding startled.

Without turning his head, he rolled his eyes to his left to look at the questioner, a slight smile on his face.

The implication was pretty clear: This little piece of nail here that I didn't bite off during the game is bothersome. That chant ...

''I've played in more hostile environments than this crowd,''he said — politely.

''I've played in the Eastern Conference Finals in Detroit. That's a lot more hostile than the crowd saying overrated. ... It's no big deal. I have fun with the fans. It's no big deal.''

James missed a free throw when the chant first was heard, which really isn't all that unusual. He followed seconds later with a flying dunk, with a takeoff from Anacostia.

Of course, overrated came from DeShawn Stevenson's comment about James, and that led to James comparing Stevenson to Soulja Boy (a hip-hop guy some consider a one-hit wonder) and that led to Soulja Boy saying James disrespected him and sitting in the front row wearing the only other Stevenson jersey in the arena. During one timeout, the Wizards put Soulja Boy on the big screen and had him do his Crank Dat dance.

So someone asked James about Soulja Boy being disrespected — and that smile returned to James' face.

The question that followed: Does Soulja Boy being there make him think, ''I don't need Soulja Boy against me.''

''I know, for sure, if my son was watching, he really enjoyed Soulja Boy at the game,'' James said. ''My son knows every last dance Soulja Boy does and every last song he's ever made. So if my son was watching, he enjoyed it.''

For the record, James' son is 3.

The last question of the night brought another smile to James' face. It dealt with a DeShawn-LeBron rivalry.

''There is no DeShawn-LeBron rivalry,'' he said.

Then he paused.

''There's no De-Shawn-LeBron rivalry,'' he said again. The media laughed because, well, the way he said it made you laugh.

It was as if someone asked James whether the lyrics to Oh My Darling Clementine affected his shooting.

Stevenson had a good game Thursday night. Made some 3-pointers. Waved his hand in front of his face. Slapped his hip and gyrated like he was riding a horse. Stomped his way down the court.

Then he apparently had a party after the game with Soulja Boy.

Caron Butler ended his news conference by saying to the media: ''Y'all have a blessed night. I'm going to get some sleep.''

Stevenson went out with Soulja Boy.

Stevenson has shown his true colors during this series. He's a guy who has had personal issues in the past — some pretty eyebrow-raising — and who, like James, came to the NBA right from high school. Yet he has not come close to being the kind of player or person James is. Not in the same stratosphere, in fact.

As James left the arena, he talked with some friends in the corridors. At one point, a young boy who looked about 7 walked near him.

James turned around, shook hands, asked ''What's going on, my man?'' He then chatted for a few seconds — like he was talking to a friend.

James did not dismiss the loss, nor will he.

He's aware of things like getting the ball to Zydrunas Ilgauskas more, making shots, moving the ball, not turning it over, being more aggressive.

But his words and actions late Thursday led to one inescapable conclusion: No need to make too big a deal about one bad night.