<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Raja Bell broke into a grin at the memory. "That was the flukiest basket in my NBA career," said Bell prior to Wednesday night?s 76ers-Suns game at the Wachovia Center. The bucket in question was a twisting overtime layup against Kobe Bryant that helped the Sixers to a victory in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals. L.A. went on to win the next four games and the series. "It does seem like a lifetime ago," Bell said. "What?s it been - six years? I?ve played a lot of games since then." Bell, who had been playing basketball in a South Florida YMCA League and then the CBA before signing with the Sixers, had joined the Sixers for the final month of the season. His head was spinning so much from the playoff run, which included Game 7 home wins over the Raptors and Bucks, that he regrets not appreciating the experience more when he went through it. "It?s definitely spoiling when your introduction to NBA basketball is a ride like I took with the Sixers that year," Bell said. "But I?ve been blessed to be on some really good teams and got to go to the Western Conference Championships twice." Bell, 30, has worked hard to become a starter on a Phoenix team with the league?s second-best record and a chance to get back to the Finals. Bell is averaging careerhighs in scoring (14.9), minutes (37.7) and rebounds (3.3). He also leads the Suns in 3-pointers made with 138 - putting him third in the league in that category - on 40.9 percent shooting. "I knew he was a good defender, but I didn?t know he was going to be the offensive threat he has become," said Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks, who was a Philly assistant in the 2000-01 Finals season. Bell?s post-Philadelphia pro basketball journey took him to Spain, Dallas and then Utah, where he established himself as a double-digit scorer and quality defender before signing with the Suns in 2005. The 2001 playoff high didn?t last with the Sixers, as Bell and young point guard Speedy Claxton were pressed into starting roles at the outset of the next year due to injuries to Allen Iverson, Eric Snow and Aaron McKie. The Sixers began the season 0-5 and Bell?s minutes slowly decreased to the point that he barely played in the final months. "I was fragile," Bell said. "I was still tender. I was trying to find my way in the league. That?s the name of the game. You get your opportunities and sometimes you?re ready to make the most of them and sometimes you aren?t. It was a lot for two young guys to shoulder coming off the Finals." </div> Link Not a big Raja Bell fan at all, but it is nice to finally see an ex-Sixer speak something positive about this organization
