Rough start to summer for Bell
SACRAMENTO — In the closing minutes of the Warriors’ Summer League win over the Heat on Monday night, Jordan Bell picked up his dribble near the foul line and tried to throw an alley-oop to himself off the backboard.
Bell couldn’t get a grip on the rebound and his dunk attempt clanked off the front of the rim and bounced out of bounds. Bell, wearing an aw-shucks grin, shook his head in disgust. It was the type of learning moment that Summer League was created to provide.
“I told him, ‘This is Summer League, you can get away with that. But with one minute left in the game and we’re up six or seven points, just make the basket so we can win the game,’ ” Warriors Summer League head coach Willie Green said after his team’s 79-68 win at the Golden 1 Center. “It was a little too close, but that’s just JB for you.”
Monday’s gaffe wasn’t the first time Bell’s sportsmanship has been questioned.
With Golden State on its way to an Oct. 23 rout of the Mavericks, Bell caught a downcourt pass in stride and, with one foot in the paint, lobbed the ball to himself off the backboard. While drawing contact, he soared, caught the ball and dunked, sending his teammates on the bench into a frenzy.
The Mavericks weren’t so pleased. After the game, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said, “It caught me off guard. … The main thing he needs to understand is that that’s going to offend some people.”
Figuring out when to throw an alley-oop to himself isn’t all Bell needs to work on. Less than a month removed from playing a role in the Warriors’ NBA Finals sweep of Cleveland, he opened Summer League with a four-point, fourturnover, five-foul dud.
Damian Jones, Golden State’s only other Summer League player who was on last season’s roster, wasn’t much better. Though he scored 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, Jones committed eight fouls — two shy of the maximum allowed in Summer League — in just 25 minutes.
“I told them they had 10 fouls, but I didn’t expect those guys to use all of them,” Green said. “It’s an opportunity for those guys to experiment, but we also don’t want them to get into the habit of fouling that much.” Evans injury: Warriors rookie Jacob Evans missed Monday night’s Summer League opener with a toe injury.
After stubbing his toe in Friday’s practice, Evans sat out Saturday and Sunday before missing Monday’s shootaround at Golden 1 Center. Green is hopeful that Evans, the No. 28 pick in last month’s draft from Cincinnati, will play Tuesday night against the Kings.
Evans will have other opportunities to get game experience before training camp. After the California Classic Summer League in Sacramento ends Thursday, the Warriors will play in the MGM Resorts Summer League in Las Vegas from Friday through July 17.
“I’ve only seen him in one practice so far,” Green said of Evans. “He’s been hurt with a toe injury. But from what I know about him, he’s No. 1 a great kid who fits into our chemistry. He can defend, he’s smart, he can pick up things pretty quickly.”
Elijah Brown, son of Golden State associate head coach Mike Brown, is in concussion protocol and also missed Monday’s game.