Warrior Gives His Team
an Emotional Jolt
By Scott Bordow
East Valley Tribune
May 31, 2006
Mike D’Antoni got a call from Raja Bell’s agent, Herb Rudoy, Monday night.
Rudoy told D’Antoni that if the Suns weren’t going to play Bell in Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks, they “might have to shoot him.”
“So it was like, ‘Do we kill the guy or let him play?’ ” D’Antoni said. Well, when you put it like that. Bell’s return Tuesday night was a great surprise — but the chemical reaction wasn’t. The Suns are a different team when their emotional leader is on the court, and inspired by the sight of Bell in uniform, they spanked the Mavericks, 106-86. The series is now tied, 2-2, and Suns fans can take comfort in one statistic: Dallas hasn’t beaten Phoenix when Bell has played. “It’s night and day what he means,” Steve Nash said. Bell, who partially tore his left calf late in Game 1, wasn’t supposed to play until Game 5 Thursday — if then. But he told Rudoy on Monday that he wanted to give it a try, then showed up at US Airways Center at noon Tuesday, and the Suns’ training staff went to work on his calf.
“I was pretty committed to trying to give it a shot,” Bell said. “It was a big game for us. We couldn’t afford to go down 1-3 and go back to Dallas.”
The vibe in the building changed from the moment word spread that Bell not only would play but start.
Anxiety gave way to anticipation.
Fear gave way to hope.
When Bell was introduced, the crowd went nuts. It wasn’t quite Willis Reed hobbling onto the court for the New York Knicks before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, but Bell gave the fans — and his teammates — the shot of adrenaline they needed.
“I can’t really talk about it enough,” Eddie House said. “He comes in a game like this and it’s a real big emotional lift for us.”
Bell didn’t put up great numbers — nine points on 4-of-7 shooting, with three assists and four rebounds in 31 minutes of play. But Bell never has been defined by statistics. His contribution goes beyond the box score. The Suns need his attitude and nastiness as much as they need his jump shot.
“Half our team is a bunch of quiet guys,” Nash said. “He gives us another guy who opens his mouth once in a while and gives us some toughness and bravado. I just can’t say enough about how much personality means to our team.”
Bell wasn’t sure how long — or how well — he could play. He told D’Antoni that he thought he could spell Leandro Barbosa for a few minutes here and there. He also promised the Suns’ coach he would step aside if he felt he was hurting the team.
Bell’s decision was questioned before he had a chance to take off his warm-ups. The crew of TNT’s pregame show — Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson and Kenny Smith —wondered if Bell would do the Suns more harm than good.
All that did was make the chip on Bell’s shoulder a boulder.
“I heard them say . . . it was too big of a game to hurt my team,” Bell said. “I know who I am and wouldn’t do that. My ego is not in the way of our goal here.”
D’Antoni did wonder how effective Bell would be. But he knew that Bell’s presence — if nothing else — would help the Suns.
“My thinking is, ‘If he goes out and messes up, if he goes out and gets hurt again and we lose, it’s a disaster. But I think it’s more important the character that he shows and to go into the foxhole with him no matter what happens, ” D’Antoni said. “To me that’s what sports are all about. He’s a team guy. He’s been a team guy. He’s never asked for anything. To be able to coach a guy like that is precious.”
Bell was more than just a lit match under the Suns’ flame. He held Jason Terry to 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting, drew three offensive fouls and enabled Phoenix to play a three-guard offense that took Dallas center DeSagana Diop out of the game.
Bell tweaked his calf when he made a running 7-foot jump shot with 9:15 left and asked out of the game.
“The one thing I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do was really explode off the left leg,” Bell said. “I kind of forgot I was injured at that point.”
Bell’s calf will be sore and stiff today, but he was told by the Suns’ trainers that he should feel even better in Game 5 than he did Tuesday.
“I’m excited about that,” he said.
So are the Suns.
They have their warrior back.
