Mike Brown reacted to Jordan Bell's embarrassing missed dunk in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals how any assistant coach would. Reminding the Golden State Warriors big man of a previous time in his basketball career, in high school, when he clanked an uncontested dunk off the rim, of course.
Brown's son, Elijah, played against Bell on several occasions when both were high-schoolers in Southern California. After his gaffe on Friday night, Brown quickly reminded Bell that he “saw about three or four of [missed dunks] back in the Long Beach days” and that Bell always managed to bounce back. Clearly, Brown's tactic paid off, as Bell put down a thunderous two-handed dunk less than two minutes of game time later, and ended the third quarter with a ridiculous block of Zach Collins at the rim.
“I just laughed, man,” Bell said of Brown's pep talk, per The Athletic's Ethan Strauss. “He gave me something to get my mind off it. Next play I was guarding (Damian Lillard), got a block, ran the floor and got a dunk. It was funny.”
An afterthought for most of these playoffs, Bell has played a larger role for the Warriors since Kevin Durant went down with a calf injury in Game 5 of the second round. The sophomore big man has averaged 6.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 12.7 minutes per game off the bench in the last four contests, playing a pivotal role in the Warriors' hyper-aggressive perimeter defense.
It's unclear if Bell will play in the NBA Finals should Durant return. If he does see the court with a championship on the line, though, it's safe to say Bell will go to Brown to calm his nerves.
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