Source: Matthew Stockman / Getty
On Wednesday afternoon, the Golden State Warriors sent out a brief press release stating that second-year center Jordan Bell would be suspended for one game for “conduct detrimental to the team.”
He hadn’t done anything on court, there was no yelling at officials, no spats with teammates, no run-ins with fans—just a press release with a punishment and no details about the crime. No one knew what Bell had done, and when asked about it, head coach Steve Kerr was as brief as the press release.
“The release was self-explanatory,” said Kerr. “He’s suspended for tonight’s game for conduct detrimental to the team. Beyond that, it’s our business and nobody else’s. We’ll move on.”
That business, however, happened the night before when a suspicious charge appeared on assistant coach Mike Brown’s hotel room bill. The charge is still private, but what happened isn’t anymore. Bell had put an item he ordered on Brown’s tab, according to The Athletic.
“That, league sources say, was the reason for his team-issued one-game suspension, which Bell served during the Warriors’ 118-103 victory over the Grizzlies on Wednesday night, the reasoning announced officially as ‘conduct detrimental to the team,’” they reported.
“Brown was alerted to the charge. He inquired about it. The staff at The Peabody hotel, where the team stayed, confirmed its purchase. So the Warriors launched a quick investigation and it became clear that Bell is the one who put it on Brown’s bill. There was concern, sources say, that this wasn’t the first time Bell has pulled this maneuver on some unknowing member of the organization.”
Bell has had an up and down season with the Warriors following a decent rookie campaign. He’s failed to pry away minutes at the five from more veteran players, and when DeMarcus Cousins was officially inserted into the lineup, he saw those minutes shrink even more. Now, with Andrew Bogut in the fold and this incident, it wouldn’t be surprising if Bell is only getting minutes for specific matchups and during blowouts.
Bell is averaging three points and 2.7 rebounds on the season.
Warriors’ Jordan Bell Was Suspended for Putting Hotel Charges on Coach Mike Brown’s Bill was originally published on cassiuslife.com
