"Bell's talk of a signal to keep the ball away from Bryant almost certainly won't be the last.In fact, he admitted in 2016 that he "choked out" Giricek during the 2008 season.The former Phoenix Suns player, who clashed with Kobe Bryant during his career, recently revealed on his podcast that Shaq and the Los Angeles Lakers employed a hand signal to keep the ball away from Bryant if they felt he was being too much of a ball hog.Bell will almost certainly always be remembered in Phoenix for the time he clotheslined Bryant in the 2006 NBA playoffs.He said that Shaq taught him the signal, and his Suns teammates, when O'Neal played in Phoenix.The Suns employed it to keep the ball away from Gordon Giricek when they felt he shot the ball too much.
Raja Bell clotheslines Kobe Bryant in game 5 of the Lakers/Suns series. "Shaq told me a story," Bell said on the Kannell and Bell podcast. Raja Bell (born September 19, 1976) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Charlotte Bobcats, and Golden State Warriors.He is the Director of Player Administration for the Cleveland Cavaliers.He was twice named to the NBA All-Defensive Team in his career. A post shared by … Gordan Giricek was a member of … Raja Bell stopped by Highly Questionable and revealed a story about his infamous clothesline of Kobe Bryant in the Suns' 2006 first-round series victory. And I'm like, 'Dude, what is the background on that...where'd you come up with that? '”Shaq played 103 games in Phoenix over two seasons (2007-08) and clashed at times with Giricek.Bryant has said that he has no "beef" with Shaq.But, stories keep coming out about how the former Lakers teammates have clashed through the years.Raja Bell has put himself in the middle of the Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant "beef. Shaq responds to Kobe https://t.co/cC2Tn1Et59"And he was like, 'When Kobe was young, he would be going in and just trying to get 'em, so the rest of us had a universal kind of code that if we looked at each other and went (gives signal) then that meant Kobe didn't get the ball anymore. '"But Bell's comments show there's likely still even more to the story from their time together in L.A."But Shaq started saying, 'Hey guys, this is the symbol (twitches thumbs downward). Raja Bell recounts a story Shaq once told him about a secret code Lakers players used to have when it was time to stop giving Kobe the ball. '," Bell said.Kobe says Shaq could’ve been the greatest player of all time if he had stayed in shape and they could’ve won 12 rings ( @ValuetainmentTV ) https://t.co/TNsFBS6SnD@kobebryant It’s all good bro, when I saw the interview, I thought you were talking about Dwite, is that how u spell his name lolKobe and Shaq have little to gain from relitigating their old feud, and it ultimately won't change much regarding the perception of their respective legacies. “Shaq started saying ‘hey guys, this is the symbol’ (twitches thumbs downward) ‘when I give you this, Gordon doesn’t get the ball anymore.’ And I’m like ‘dude what is the background on that, where’d you come up with that?’ And he was like ‘when Kobe was young, he would be going in and just trying to get ’em, so the rest of us had a universal kind of code that if we looked at each other and went (gives signal) then that meant Kobe didn’t get the ball anymore. Bell has always matched up well defensively against Kobe and his physicality has, on occasion, stifled him (Clothesline excluded). When I give you this, Gordan doesn't get the ball anymore.' "We had a kid named Gordon Giricek on our Suns team, he had gotten there, and Gordon would go in the game, and Gordon was about his buckets.
It's only a matter of time before Bryant joins O'Neal in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Raja Bell has put himself in the middle of the Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant "beef." One game suspension? Gordon was my guy, I played with him in Utah. So Gordon would get in, and no matter what we were doing, no matter what the flow or the chemistry was, Gordon would be just, you know, shooting the ball. Raja Bell recently revealed the Lakers’ solution for Bryant’s selfish spurts. Bell played with Shaq in Phoenix, where they had a teammate – Gordan Giricek – several Suns thought shot too much.