“It was just a random joke” - Former NBA big man recalls the bizarre rookie mistake that got him suspended by the Warriors - Australia News Beep

An 82-game NBA season is a long grind that presents various difficulties. Long road trips and sleepless nights, as well as a strict, tiring schedule with continuous games, are just the tip of the iceberg. Understandably, during those grueling six months, players need some entertainment and constant positivity to avoid going off the grid amid unprecedented stress.

Thanks to that, each team has its own preferences and ways to stay entertained, as well as to stay focused and locked in through all the challenges the season brings. Depending on the team’s age, some may prefer playing cards and gambling on the plane, while others enjoy isolating themselves with personal tech to unwind from the intense pressure of work.

For the peak Golden State Warriors, however, their way of staying entertained while also building team chemistry came through a running team joke where players would charge small items to each other’s hotel rooms, such as food.

“So we had a team joke going on, and I found out the hard way,” said Bell. “We would put things on each other’s rooms. So when you go through our team list, you have a bunch of alias names, because you are not supposed to let anyone know who you are.”

“So, yeah, it was a joke. It was my rookie year, and it was little things, like my coach was late coming out to warm-ups, so I would put something on him, on his thing, or it was just a random joke, so you never expect to put food or a meal, just little things,” he added.

Bell received a suspension for pranking an assistant coach

As Bell saw it was his turn to perform the prank on somebody else, he decided to keep it within lines by choosing a small item. However, the team’s big man would wind up with the short end of the stick after pranking an assistant coach.

“I put two candles on Mike Brown’s room. It was as soon as I got to the hotel, I opened up the envelope and said I’ll put it on Mike Brown’s. And I was like, ‘he got it.’ And so I go up the next day, they call me and are like, ‘Coach wants to talk to you,’ and I’m like, ‘I didn’t go out last night, I didn’t do anything,’ so I don’t know what this is, I didn’t do anything wrong,” said Bell.

“They call me to the room, and they are like, ‘Did you do this?'” he continued. “I was like, ‘Yeah, it was a joke. My fault. But for you guys to call me here, obviously, you guys thought it was a serious offense,’ so I was like, ‘Yeah, I am sorry, I will pay it back, it was like $30. So they were like, ‘Yeah, we are going to have to suspend you’ and all of that. So when they suspended me for the game, the team never says what it was. It says ‘breaking team rules for this player’s action’ or whatever.”

Nevertheless, the suspension wasn’t that drastic for Jordan, as it was for only one game. Still, the locker room must have been dying of laughter, saying to each other, “That’s such a rookie thing to do.”

Bell only received candles as a gift after the incident

It didn’t take much time for Bell’s incident to blow up on the internet. Due to the lack of context in the statement, the initial narrative was that the former big man was watching adult videos in his hotel room.

As the real context emerged, Bell admitted to receiving numerous candles as gifts from multiple people, including his college teammate, Dillon Brooks, who was on the Memphis Grizzlies at the time.

As for Mike Brown, he didn’t appreciate the prank at first, but later on, the two would end up laughing about it.

This story was originally published by Basketball Network on May 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

“It was just a random joke” – Former NBA big man recalls the bizarre rookie mistake that got him suspended by the Warriors

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