Minutes after a Golden State Warriors‘ $3.5 million sum bought the Chicago Bulls‘ rights to the No. 38 pick Jordan Bell, the Oregon Ducks forward soon knew what he was in for coming into the organization.
Forward Draymond Green, curious about the new addition to the team, demanded to get Bell's cell phone number from president Bob Myers and attempted to FaceTime him to congratulate him on his night.
Unfamiliar with the number, Bell didn't pick up, but texted back instead.
“‘I was like, `Who is this?”' Bell recalled Friday, after he was formally introduced and given his new No. 2 Golden State jersey.
”He didn't reply so I called the number and said, `Who is this?' Then he was like, `Yo, I FaceTimed you, hang up right now and FaceTime me right back, don't call me,”' Bell said. ”I FaceTimed him and he didn't answer. I was like, all right. I waited like five seconds and I called him back FaceTime and he answered… and we started talking about it. He was like, `Enjoy this night, celebrate, it only happens once, but after this time we have to get back to work, we're trying to get rings over here.”'
Bell was to many the steal of the draft, a dangerous shot-blocker with an intense motor, much like Green's at Michigan State, with a still unpolished offensive game that can see some improvement over the offseason and summer league.
The 22-year-old averaged 11 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 2.3 blocks in his junior season at Oregon, becoming a much-improved free-throw shooter from his prior years and a defender that can wreak havoc at the rim and in passing lanes.
Green was selected with the 35th overall pick in 2012, just three picks ahead of Bell was in this year's NBA Draft — making for an eerily similar success story in the works.
The Warriors actually had Bell going in the first round and after seeing him slip through the first phase of the second round, called the Bulls proposing the transaction.
”Draymond will be a fun challenge for you,” Myers said. ”Draymond texted me as I was driving home and he said, `What the' and then expletive `is your problem' to me? So you can fill in the blank. Then he said, `I have to hear about this' expletive `on the internet, you didn't' expletive `tell me about it.' So I couldn't text and drive so I called him and I said, `OK, all right, calm down.”'
Myers gave in and gave Green the rookie's number. Green's teammates and even some of the coaching staff and front office are accustomed to his intensity, yelling at them from time to time.
”He's like our team mom in a way,” joked Myers. ”He's the one that you have to kind of get through him.”
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