{"id":267491,"date":"2025-11-02T20:06:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T20:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/267491\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T20:06:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T20:06:27","slug":"aces-kierstan-bell-rediscovered-her-zeal-for-life-basketball-after-a-tough-start-to-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/267491\/","title":{"rendered":"Aces’ Kierstan Bell rediscovered her zeal for life, basketball after a tough start to the season"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the beginning of the WNBA season, Las Vegas Aces forward Kierstan Bell<\/a> said it felt like she was on the phone with her mom every night crying.<\/p>\n

This year has been a roller coaster for Bell, who is in her fourth season with the Aces. On the court, early in the season, she was a target for critics who questioned her place on the roster after a tough start to her WNBA career. The criticism grew louder after Las Vegas\u2019 sluggish start to the season.<\/a><\/p>\n

Off the court, Bell was carrying an immense weight as she grieved the loss of three people close to her. In late 2024, one of Bell\u2019s childhood friends died. In January, Bell lost her father, Perry Bell<\/a>. In April, her uncle died.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat am I doing wrong?\u201d Bell would ask her mom. \u201cWhy is life so hard?\u201d<\/p>\n

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There were days when Bell questioned her place in the WNBA. She questioned her ability to play basketball \u2013 and even questioned whether she still wanted to play. <\/p>\n

\u201cI questioned if I was good enough,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n

Staunch support from her teammates and inner circle, though, combined with an enhanced on-court role for the now-surging Aces has helped to turn Bell\u2019s year and confidence around.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jackie Young (from left) and Kierstan Bell of the Las Vegas Aces pose for a portrait after winning the 2023 WNBA Finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. <\/p>\n

David Dow \/ NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool to look at her now and see how far she\u2019s come,\u201d said Aces guard Jackie Young<\/a>, who calls herself a close friend of Bell\u2019s. \u201cIt was a difficult period for her in her life, but she has that joy back, that smile back on her face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell, who has a self-described \u201cgoofy\u201d personality, is known for her animated nature and positive light. That light was briefly dimmed for a portion of the season as she dealt with life. There were instances when Bell would come to practice and just emotionally shut down. She couldn\u2019t simply go through the motions as she continued to grieve the loss of those close to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo wake up every day and to go through something personal and then go to your job, and you don\u2019t want to be there, but you got to be there because that\u2019s the job you\u2019re getting paid to do,\u201d Bell said. \u201cBut then on the back side, it\u2019s like damn, like, for one, do I even feel like I should be here? Do I deserve to be here? Am I meant to be here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell found herself comforted by Aces head coach Becky Hammon<\/a> and teammates such as Young and center A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey just kept reminding me, like, \u2018Yes, life is hard, but lean on us. Lean on this organization. As Coach said, lean on your teammates,\u2019\u201d Bell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bell also leaned on players outside of the Aces. Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell<\/a>, whose father died in 2024<\/a>, has been a big resource for Bell. Mitchell and Bell are from Ohio and have walked similar paths from the youth basketball circuit to Division I college basketball and now the WNBA. The WNBA players grew closer through playing in Athletes Unlimited<\/a>, a stateside women\u2019s professional league that began its 2025 season shortly after Bell\u2019s father died. <\/p>\n

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\u201cWe kind of lived the same life: her father passing away, my father passing away. It helped bring us a little bit closer,\u201d Bell said. \u201cThe last time [the Aces] were in Indiana, we had a long talk about her dad, about mine. We talked about how proud they would be of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell also has been in close contact with Washington Mystics forward Alysha Clark<\/a>. Clark, who played with Bell in Las Vegas for two seasons, described Bell as her \u201clittle sister for life.\u201d She makes sure to check in on Bell through text, FaceTime or dinner when their teams meet. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know what it\u2019s like, how hard it is to go through things after losing someone you love so dearly,\u201d said Clark, whose father died in 2022<\/a>. \u201cI know her teammates there are doing a great job of making her feel loved and supported, but just giving her that extra little dose of it.\u201d <\/p>\n

When asked how she would describe her father to a stranger, Bell replied that to know her was to know her dad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you see me as a goofy person who\u2019s always full of energy, who\u2019s always dancing and laughing, I said, \u2018That\u2019s literally him,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Bell didn\u2019t understand just how alike she was to her father until some of her first interactions with him following his release from prison. Perry Bell was imprisoned for the majority of Bell\u2019s life for various convictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Las Vegas Aces forward Kierstan Bell (from left) poses for a photo with her father, Perry Bell, who died in January.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Kierstan Bell<\/p>\n

When he was released in 2023, he spent time with Bell in Las Vegas. When Bell picked him up from the airport, it was her first time seeing her dad as a free man.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bell recalled an eye-opening outing with her father at a restaurant. When a waiter asked Perry if he desired ketchup with his meal, Bell\u2019s eyes darted at her dad across the table. He declined the condiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like ketchup, so when he said he doesn\u2019t like ketchup either, I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, OK!\u2019\u201d Bell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the Ohio natives went to the soda fountain for some \u201cpop,\u201d Bell found herself pleasantly surprised again. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m drinking pop, it\u2019s only root beer,\u201d Bell said. \u201cWhen I saw him pouring root beer in his cup, I said, \u2018So you like root beer?\u2019 He\u2019s like, \u2018Yeah, that\u2019s my favorite pop.\u2019 I\u2019m like, oh, this might be my daddy then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell is grateful for the brief time she spent with her father before his passing. It was time spent and memories created that at one point in Bell\u2019s life she never thought she would experience. She said she never thought she would interact with her dad outside of the prison system. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was just happy for the first year. Like, I actually get to experience life with my dad,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was tough hearing that he had passed away, but I just continue to say that I was grateful for the time that I did have with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry Bell was in the stands when his daughter won her second championship<\/a> with the Aces in 2023, and he attended the parade<\/a> in Las Vegas. Even while imprisoned, he had closely followed Bell\u2019s career, exchanging letters with her as she ascended from high school to the pro level. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so glad that he was able to experience a championship,\u201d Bell said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leading into the season, critics flooded Bell\u2019s social media with comments calling for her to be moved by the Aces, expressing anger over the organization\u2019s decision to exercise the fourth-year option<\/a> on her rookie contract. Some even went so far as to create fake graphics of her being cut from the team. <\/p>\n

While Bell didn\u2019t respond to the many comments directed toward her on social media, she still consumed them. It caused her to question her self-worth as people questioned her work ethic, her ability and her place in the league. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think people forget that we aren\u2019t just basketball players, you know, that we\u2019re humans, too, and we have feelings,\u201d Young said. \u201cI think it was a lot early on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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For the most part, Bell blocked out the noise \u2013 except for one instance. <\/p>\n

In May, while streaming on TikTok, Bell did respond after reading a comment from a user who said they were \u201cgoing to law school to look at\u201d Bell\u2019s contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo ahead,\u201d Bell replied. \u201cHave fun. Ain\u2019t s\u2014 you can do about it. Have a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n

This, perhaps, isn\u2019t exactly how Bell saw the beginning of her professional basketball career unfolding \u2013 even after winning two championships in her first two seasons.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bell was the 11th overall pick<\/a> in the 2022 WNBA draft after ending a standout college tenure at Florida Gulf Coast. In high school, she became the first<\/a> player in Ohio state history to be named Ms. Ohio Basketball three times. Bell had been a top option on whatever team she played on. Her experience in the WNBA, at least so far, has been unfamiliar. <\/p>\n

FGCU\u2019s Kierstan Bell\u2019s love for ball led her to a smaller school and a tournament bidRead now<\/a><\/p>\n

That hasn\u2019t impacted Bell\u2019s presence on the team, though, Young said, adding that despite the adjustment period, Bell has always brought a joyful presence to the gym.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou go from obviously playing a lot in college, you\u2019re one of the best people on your team, you\u2019re getting a lot of minutes until coming to the pros and, like, everything changes,\u201d Young said. \u201cJust the smile that [Kierstan] keeps on her face and the joy that she plays with is what separates her from a lot of pros.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell\u2019s main objective this season hasn\u2019t been about proving others wrong but proving to herself that she\u2019s where she\u2019s supposed to be. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just continue every day to talk to myself and speak positive things to myself,\u201d Bell said. \u201cAnd every day my teammates remind me that I\u2019m meant to be here and I\u2019m meant to be on this team, and I\u2019m good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

On an afternoon in July in between game days for the Aces, Bell was on her way to a massage, trailing Wilson. As Bell approached, Wilson turned in her direction with a message to deliver.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Aces had just come off a 31-point loss<\/a> to the Minnesota Lynx and found themselves in need of a shakeup after suffering their sixth loss in 12 games<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that Minnesota game, Coach [Hammon] was like, \u2018S\u2014, y\u2019all can figure this out. Y\u2019all make the game plan, and we\u2019ll go with it,\u2019\u201d Bell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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As Wilson faced Bell, she told the Aces guard to get her mind right.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018What are you talking about?\u2019\u201d Bell said. \u201cShe said, \u2018Well, you\u2019re starting tomorrow.\u2019 I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Aces had made the decision to move veteran guard Jewell Loyd<\/a>, who had arrived in Las Vegas as one of the biggest acquisitions of the WNBA offseason<\/a>, out of the starting lineup. After a slow start to the season, Loyd, for the first time since 2019<\/a>, would come off the bench, with Bell starting in her place<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely shocking,\u201d Bell said. \u201cI think that lineup change, it kind of put the pressure off of [Loyd]. It kind of put a little bit more pressure on me, but it honestly made me want to step my game up. \u2026 You got to go out there and show why you should be playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell made her first start of the season against the Dallas Wings the following night. In 21 minutes<\/a>, Bell posted a career-high<\/a> 19 points, three rebounds and one assist in the Aces\u2019 106-80 victory. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives you a lot of confidence when you definitely see the ball going in the rim or you see you\u2019re having a really good game,\u201d Bell said. \u201cEvery game I go out there and just try to be the best version of myself. I think it\u2019s just been working out for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cIf I go out there and score zero but I make an impact in other ways, then I know I did my job,\u201d said Las Vegas Aces forward Kierstan Bell.<\/p>\n

Erica Denhoff \/ Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The decision to swap Bell and Loyd has proven to be the key to turning around the Aces\u2019 season. <\/p>\n

Since that 31-point loss to the Lynx on July 25, Las Vegas have won 19 of their last 20 games<\/a>. Bell averaged 4.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 15.8 minutes during that span. In the Aces\u2019 Game 1 win<\/a> over the Seattle Storm in the first round of the playoffs on Sunday, Bell played 15 minutes<\/a>, totaling five points and a rebound.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that just shows she\u2019s a true pro just being ready whenever her number\u2019s called,\u201d Young said. \u201cShe just brings a lot of energy to the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mystics\u2019 Clark said Bell\u2019s growth has been \u201camazing\u201d to witness.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been an easy road for her, but she\u2019s remained humble through it all,\u201d Clark said. \u201cShe\u2019s worked hard and now you see it\u2019s paying dividends.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Bell is on the floor for the Aces, they expect two things of her: bringing energy and getting down and defending. They need Bell to bring pace, space the floor and be confident in everything she does on the court, whether that\u2019s as a cutter or rebounder or on-ball defender. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I go out there and score zero but I make an impact in other ways, then I know I did my job,\u201d Bell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the Aces begin their playoff journey, they\u2019re happy to have their energetic spark plug in Bell. Her is confidence is reloaded, and she is returning to her familiar self. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been doing really well,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n

Sean Hurd is a senior writer for Andscape who primarily covers women\u2019s basketball. His athletic peak came at the age of 10 when he was named camper of the week at a Josh Childress basketball camp.<\/p>\n

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