Rookie Jordan Bell lets loose on the Bulls, on and off the court

As Jordan Bell approached the podium following Friday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, there was a tangible sense of relief fuming from the rookie having gotten a first NBA start under his belt.

More importantly though, there was a feeling of triumph as Bell contributed to a 49-point blowout with seven points, six rebounds, six blocks and two assists against a team that sold his draft rights to the Warriors for $3.5 million.

Said Bell:

“I wanted to see how cash considerations were playing over there.”

In perhaps a moment of pettiness by adding insult to the injury of a 143-94 slaughter showcased on the Warriors home floor, Bell finally embraced the grudge many have expected him to be holding after being passed on in the second round by Chicago.

Earlier in the afternoon, during Warriors shoot-around, Bell was asked about playing against the Bulls after what happened, only to downplay the situation in humble fashion. But after releasing all of his draft-day frustrations in his 26 minutes on the floor, Bell chose to travel down a different path in his post-game press conference.

When asked if the start felt sweeter considering the opponent, Bell said:

“Yeah, I ain’t gonna lie, it was. Just because of everything that happened. I know I said at first it didn’t matter at first coming to the game I wasn’t thinking about it but then everyone kept reminding me about it today so it felt pretty good.”

Bell also admitted to the plans of trolling the Bulls during the game, including flashing Johnny Manziel-like money signs after scoring on an and-one play.

“At first, I was thinking about all types of things to like troll the other team. Like doing (money signs) and 3.5 but I think as we got closer to the game, i was like ‘let me focus on the basketball game and just try to win it,’ and then when I saw we won the game, I started trolling a little bit.”

With six blocks in his starting debut, Bell now becomes the first rookie to record that many rejections since DeAndre Jordan in 2008. That feat may also confirm Chicago’s mistake in letting the physical freak that is Bell go to the reigning NBA Champions to stuff the stat line.

Bell sat at the podium with a puzzled look on his face as he stared at the rest of the stats from the game. When asked what he was looking at, Bell told SFBay:

“I’m still looking for cash considerations but I cant seem to find it.”