On Friday, Steve Kerr decided to give Draymond Green a break from the starting lineup. Th result was the opportunity for rookie big man Jordan Bell to step up in his first career start against the Chicago Bulls—the organization that traded him away on draft night to the Warriors for cash considerations.
At the game's inceptions, Bell was sure to set the tone for reminder he intended to send the Bulls' way by rubbing his fingers together in a gesture signaling money, and he proceeded to deal a hand of karma to the Bulls' front office in an explosive starting performance. "At first, I was thinking of all types of things to troll the other team," he told reporters of his initial thoughts when he funds out he'd be starting against the Bulls.
In an effortless win of 143-94 over the already struggling Bulls, Bell racked up seven points, six rebounds, six blocks, four assists and two steals in 26 minutes of playing time. In the game's final minutes, the 6-foot-9 No. 39 draft pick converted an and-one basket over second-round pick Paul Zipser.
Soon after he'd declare "3.5," the reported number of millions that the Warriors gave the Chicago Bulls for Bell's draft rights. "In my mind, I think I was the first pick in the draft coming to the Warriors," Bell said. "I try not to think about it much as possible. Like today, I said I wasn't going to play into it, but he started me, we're playing them, my face is on posters -- this game, it was hard not to feed into it."
Right now, Chicago is facing a record of 3-14, standing at the fifteenth and final place in the Eastern conference. "I just wanted to see how 'cash considerations' was playing over there," Bell would note. Our guess is not so well.
