SI

Friday’s Hot Clicks: Warriors’ Jordan Bell Was Reportedly Suspended Over a $15 Candle Prank

Is that really it?

Dan Gartland

Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

This is so stupid

When the Warriors announced Wednesday that forward Jordan Bell had been suspended one game for “conduct detrimental to the team,” my ears perked up immediately. That’s the same phrasing the Cavaliers used when J.R. Smith was suspended for throwing soup on an assistant coach. Bell’s suspension could have been for something lame like being late to a meeting, but I still held out hope it would be something ridiculous.

And sure enough, The Athletic reported Thursday morning that the reason behind the suspension was an unauthorized hotel charge made by Bell on assistant coach Mike Brown’s bill. The next logical question is to ask what the charge was. Was it room service champagne? An expensive massage? Something salacious on pay-per-view? No, according to some guy on Twitter, Bell charged a $15 candle to Brown’s room as payback for a prank the veterans played on him last season. 

There’s no reason to believe an anonymous guy on Twitter who identifies himself as a “Dollar Store Basketball ‘Insider’” except that the San Francisco Chronicle confirmed his version the story. The Twitter thread is a “pretty accurate account of how things went down,” the Chronicle quotes a source as saying. 

So that’s it? The Warriors decided a $15 prank is worth suspending a player without pay? That missed game check cost Bell $9,505, or more than 630 candles. Seems a little harsh.

The Twitter thread also says that “one of the All-Stars” tried to explain the prank to Brown and offered to pay the charge but to no avail. The Chronicle points out that Bell’s behavior has been less than perfect, showing up late to workouts and drawing the ire of Andre Iguodala for skipping an “optional” practice after an early playoff game last year. So Bell was already on thin ice but a suspension still seems a little aggressive. You could have just quietly fined him rather than draw attention to the incident by forcing him to miss a game.

This call might have cost Tennessee the game

Tennessee mounted a ferocious comeback from down 18 points and force overtime, but the Vols could have won if not for this horrible foul call. The play came on a Carsen Edwards three-point attempt with Purdue down by two points in the closing seconds.

Edwards was given three foul shots and sunk two to tie the game. Tennessee was unable to get a shot off before the end of regulation and then the Boilermakers won in overtime. (Tennessee’s loss marked the death of the world’s last perfect bracket.)

Do you see a foul there? I sure don’t. 

At least they didn’t burn them

Bryce Harper was still very much a part of Opening Day in Washington, even though he plays in Philadelphia now. A bunch of Nats fans wrecked their Harper jerseys to show how mad they are at them. 

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My favorite was definitely the guy who cut a hole in his shirt. You can see the rest of them here. 

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Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.

Published
Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

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