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 (NBAE Photos/Getty Images) |
By Jeramie McPeek, Suns.com
Commentary posted: May 6, 2006
The war of words is over.
Raja Bell and Kobe Bryant went the entire 48 minutes of Game 7 Saturday night without so much as a word shared between them. No, “Congratulations” from Kobe. No “Good series” from Raja.
Bell’s mother, however, did have a parting gift for the Lakers’ superstar, as he passed by the Suns’ family room after his team was eliminated from the 2006 NBA Playoffs with a 31-point loss.
“Need a hug, Kobe?”
Of course, you can’t blame Mrs. Bell for needling No. 8. Or is he No. 24 now that his season is over? I know my mother would have given her two cents to Kobe if he had suggested that I didn’t get enough hugs growing up, as he said about Raja earlier this week. Your mom would have, too, I’m sure.
But Raja himself didn’t have anything to say about his arch-nemisis on this memorable night. Well, not much anyway. Although the two traded verbal shots throughout a physical series… although Bell was suspended for Game 6 after throwing his antagonist to the hardwood the game before… although he took yet another sharp Bryant elbow to the jaw Saturday night… the Suns’ defensive specialist is leaving it all in his rearview mirror.
“I can’t worry about whatever happened before, man,” he told reporters in the Suns’ clubhouse. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry now.”
Zing!
Okay, so there might have been a jab or two thrown out after the game, but for the most part Bell let his play (13 points on 5-of-7 FGs) and his quickly expanding fanbase do the talking for him.
In case you missed it, US Airways Center was filled with signs of support for Bell on Saturday night. There were the familiar bell ringers in the upper level. There was the group wearing “Raja Rules” and “Kobe Who” T-shirts. There were several fans who brought posters picturing the infamous clothesline that got him ejected from Game 5, and even some creative fans waving an actual clothesline. But my personal favorites were the dozens of fans sporting Bell masks (see above).
[Editor’s Note: If anyone has any extras, I'd love one for my office:
201 E. Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ, 85004]
“I did see my face down there along the baseline,” Bell laughed. “It was a little spooky, like ‘Whoa!’ But it was cool.
“You know, I’ve been in a few Game 7s. I’ve played in some big games in some pretty cool places to play, but this was by far No. 1, man. It meant the world to me to have all those people out there having my back like that. I could feel it and it bolstered me, man. It was what I needed.”
Bell’s toughness, determination and heart are what the Suns needed in this series, too, not to mention this season. As humble and easy-going as they come off the court, Phoenix signed the veteran shooting guard last summer for that intensity and competitiveness that he provides on it. It's what earned him the 2005-06 Majerle Hustle Award last month and what has earned him a following of die-hard fans. Fans like me.
Raja’s just thankful that he got a chance to play another game in front of the home crowd this season, after watching Thursday's overtime thriller from a bar full of Lakers fans in L.A., and was focused on keeping his emotions in check for the final game in the first round.
“I would have been really hurt if we lost that series and I wasn’t able to participate (in Game 6),” he admitted. “So to be able to get the opportunity to kind of redeem myself a little bit tonight was really special for me, and for us to come out firing on all cylinders and really just have them down from the beginning of the game, it really couldn’t have been scripted any better.”
