Lakers - Suns Game Proves One Thing: NBA Players Still Hate Raja Bell

"Nice job taking him out, Shaq!"

In his debut, Shaq scored 15 points, surpassing experts’ predictions that the only thing he would produce would be more racist Chinese jokes. I’m sure he’ll deliver those soon. Though, Amare scored 37 points and Nash had 8 assists, Kobe’s 41 points and Gasol’s 29 proved to be too much for the Suns to handle. Barbosa also had 17 points, as well as Grant Hill. The more important stat for Hill was that he had no injuries.

However, the most curious stat though was the number one, as in one teammate to teammate injury that happened during the game. The victim: Raja Bell. The culprit: Big Diesel himself. Now, for those who may not remember, Raja Bell is the same guy who decided to go JBL on Kobe’s ass and knock him a Clothesline From Hell late in the 4th quarter of the 2006 NBA playoffs.

Bell claimed that Kobe was getting away with cheap shots the whole series and that his clothesline was sweet, sweet redemption. Bell’s original reaction:

“It's a personal thing when someone continually hits you in the face. That's the only way I can put it. I've been playing as hard as I can play. I've been trying to do a good job, I've been trying to be what my team needs me to be, and I continually get hit in my face. There doesn't seem to be any boundaries or limitations for what he's allowed to do to me, and at that point, I kind of lost my cool and I took it into my own hands."

Kobe’s reaction:

"I think he overreacts to stuff. ... I don't think about him. ... I don't know this kid. I don't need to know this kid. I don't want to. We go out there and play the game and leave it at that. Maybe he wasn't hugged enough as a kid. I look at him a little bit and he gets a little insecure about something."

So basically Kobe asked the question everyone was asking back then: Who the fuck is Raja Bell?

Flash forward to yesterday. With about 4 minutes left, Raja Bell is prancing around the court when all of a sudden, BOOM! Elbow to the head. Raja is out. Shaq has been informed that he just knocked his teammate out of the game, to which Shaq probably replied: Who the fuck is Raja Bell? The game goes on.

Now, I don’t know what the deal is with Bell. Maybe fresh elbows to his face gets him pumped up for the game. Maybe he has an uncanny mutant power to drawn in elbows like Magneto drawing in metal. Or maybe, in a universal theory everyone can agree on, no one likes him. I think the last theory is the best one.

I’m sure Shaq barely knew the guy and STILL wanted to take him out the game. I can only imagine all the bitching the Raja is going to be doing during the next few practice days.

“Yeah, I respect Shaq, but it’s definitely personal when someone accidentally knocks you out of the game. I mean he has no class. I’ve been busting my ass out there for weeks, then all of a sudden Shaq arrives to the Suns and then he thinks he can start making me his punk. That ain’t right.”

Shaq’s reaction:

“I told you for the last time, I don’t know who Raja Bell is. Raja, is that like an Indian name or something? Tell Raja this…” [insert hilarious racist Indian impression here]

Now I don’t know Raja Bell personally, but I’m pretty sure my theory is concrete. But it’s okay, people can change. Maybe all he needs is a few more hugs.