Wednesday night’s match-up between the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks was memorable for a normal regular season game, and some of that had to do with Stephen Curry‘s heroics. However, a couple of on-court altercations between Warriors rookie Jordan Bell and Mavs big man Salah Mejri are drawing increased attention after the fact.
The reason? Well, Mejri told Def Pen Hoops that the second dust-up between the two front-court players was instigated by Bell using a racial slur in his direction.
“He called me the N-word and I was not happy about it. I told the referee, ‘Hey, he can’t call me that.’ I don’t want to be called that word. I don’t think it’s a big deal, but for real, I don’t know the kid, I don’t know his name, I don’t know his number.
“The only thing I remember is the dunk he made against us [in October], but he can do whatever he wants. Backboard, behind-the-back, throw it to the fans, he can do whatever he wants. We’re playing basketball.”
On Bell’s side of things, he caught up with Chris Haynes of ESPN with less than flattering words for his opponent.
Rookie Jordan Bell to ESPN on the two mini altercations last night with Salah Mejri and Devin Harris in Dallas. Asked if he felt targeted from when he threw the ball off the glass and dunked it with the game already decided on Oct. 23. pic.twitter.com/2F0VYm4cZt
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 4, 2018
Because of the relatively low profiles of the two players, this incident hasn’t received quite as much as buzz as it may have in a different case, but there is clearly no love lost here. The Warriors and Mavs face off only one more time this season, but given the backdrop here, it might be wise to keep a close eye on the festivities on Feb. 8 in Oakland.
