By Mike Tulumello
East Valley Tribune
Oct. 2, 2005
Even if you’re the hardest of hardcore Suns fans, you can be forgiven if you don’t know much about a guy who could well be a starter this season.
Raja Bell is known more for his exotic first name than his basketball output. He’s been a role player who came up the hard way: from the obscure Florida International University, to the alphabet soup of minorleague basketball and a brief stint in Europe before finally making the NBA.
Even then, Bell had to scrap for one-year deals every offseason, before finally believing he’d arrived for good after his first year with the Utah Jazz in 2003-04.
As the Suns head for their first training camp in Tucson on Tuesday, Bell’s role hasn’t been defined yet, but it’s clear that he and returnee Jim Jackson will take most of the time vacated by Joe Johnson at the off guard spot.
"I’m not set on anything right now," coach Mike D’Antoni said. "Both of them will play major roles and major minutes."
Still, traditional basketball theory — and surely, the Suns are more traditional these days — says that a defensive-oriented player like Bell would be more likely to start while Jackson’s offensive abilities would suit him best as a sixth man.
After all, the Suns will have plenty of offense among a starting unit that includes Amaré Stoudemire and Shawn Marion at forward, Kurt Thomas at center and Steve Nash at the point.
For more coverage of Phoenix sports,
be sure to visit eastvalleytribune.com
"I’ve played in so many situations . . . that it’s really irrelevant whether I start or come off the bench," Bell said. "At the end of the day, it’s a cliché, but it’s real for me: I want to be a contributor on a winning team."
Bell sounds so selfless, that one wonders if this is all rehearsed, that he’s too good to be true.
And yet, the proof seemed to come in August, when the Suns were trying to woo Michael Finley, the free-agent off guard who’d been drafted by the Suns and blossomed to All-Star status in Dallas.
The club sent a group to Chicago to try to convince Finley to pick the Suns over the champion San Antonio Spurs. Among those making the pitch was Bell, even though his playing time would have been cut back directly because of a Finley signing.
In the end, Finley opted for the Spurs, but Bell’s reputation as a team player was enhanced.
"They asked me to help, so I got on the first plane to Chicago," he said. "For me, it’s all about winning. Whatever pieces we can put on the court, I’m all for it."
Said D’Antoni, "He’s a great teammate, a great guy, a consummate winner. . . . Around the league, he’s huge."
Bell, 29, grew up in the Virgin Islands, the son of teachers. His dad’s name is Roger, which came out on the islands sounding like "Raja", so that carried over to the son.
The family moved to Miami when he was 12.
His father, now an associate athletic director at the University of Miami, was a coach, so Bell got involved in all sorts of sports.
In basketball, Bell always had been considered a defensive specialist.
He started to make a name for himself toward the end of his season in Dallas (where he got to know Finley), when he was a factor in the Mavericks’ drive to the conference finals in 2002-03.
Then he became a solid contributor for the Jazz, where he averaged 12.3 points and shot 40 percent from 3-point range last season.
That he was so readily available for the Suns this summer surprised Bell, though the choice itself was a "no-brainer," he said.
Much like their pursuit of Steve Nash the previous year, the Suns went after Bell in the opening hours of the free-agent signing period, offering a five-year, $23.75 million deal.
"I didn’t think twice about it when the number was there," Bell said. "When I heard the number, I was ready to go."
In Suns-land, the thought was that Bell would replace some of the qualities they lost in Quentin Richardson (traded to New York for Thomas); Bell can shoot, but he’s also faster than "Q" and a better defender.
Of course, the idea was that he’d be coming off the bench to spell Johnson.
Now, the question is whether he’ll be able to handle a significant role on a team that will be trying to show that Johnson’s loss hasn’t knocked them from the contenders’ ranks.
