LeBron defends Jordan Bell’s dunk shenanigans
Warriors rookie Jordan Bell received some harsh criticism for his late game showboating dunk against the Mavericks, but Bell has one unlikely ally: LeBron James.
Late in the fourth quarter of Monday’s matchup with the Mavericks in Dallas, Bell threw himself an alley-oop off the backboard on a breakaway while his Warriors team was up by 25 points.
Jordan Bell 😱😱😱 Bringing back the old school T-Mac pic.twitter.com/idl2FZvWks
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 24, 2017
As you can see from the video, his teammates loved it. Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, on the other hand, did not.
According to The Athletic reporter Anthony Slater, Bell’s head coach Steve Kerr approached Carlisle after the game to apologize for the rookie’s antics. Carlisle wasn’t having any of it.
Steve Kerr tried to apologize to Rick Carlisle postgame about the Jordan Bell dunk, Carlisle zipped right past, displeased.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) October 24, 2017
Carlisle is probably the league’s best example of an “old school” head coach. Respect means a lot to him and he likely felt Bell’s late game highlight dunk was disrespectful to his team.
Coming to Bell’s aid in the matter is Cavaliers forward LeBron James — who could probably compile an entire reel of highlights some might consider disrespectful.
As Cavs reporter Chris Fedor reports, James told reporters that players are told to play until the the score is final.
"Listen, we’re all men. Stop me from dunking. We’re not trying to hurt nobody.Trying to play hard until the final buzzer."
LeBron posits that had Bell missed the dunk no one would be upset and the alley-oop controversy would be non-existent. And he has a point.
Carlisle probably urges his players to play hard for 48 minutes night in and night out, so you can’t fault the Warriors rookie for going hard with a double digit lead. Is there any doubt that human highlight reel Dennis Smith Jr. wouldn’t do the same in the situation?
Besides, the dunk was awesome and the NBA needs more awesome things.
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The winless Mavericks will look to defend their home court for the full 48 on Wednesday during a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Warriors play the Toronto Raptors at home on Wednesday as well. We’ll see if Kerr rewards Bell with more playing time or sends him to the bench to teach him a lesson in humility.