Long Beach's Jordan Bell looking forward to NBA Draft

Life will change forever today for one Long Beach product, as Poly alum Jordan Bell eagerly awaits the NBA draft. The former Jackrabbit and Oregon Duck is projected as a low first-round draft pick by most major mock drafts. The NBA draft begins at 4 p.m. and both rounds will be televised on ESPN.

The 6-foot-9 forward has been touted as one of the best defensive players in the NCAA the last two years, and eaed All-American honors this year and Defensive Player of the Year honors from the Pac-12. He’s projected as a defensive stopper and rim protector in the NBA.

Back in high school he was known as the best shot blocker in the nation in the prep ranks, but also as an elite dunker too, competing in the Ball is Life All-American dunk contest after his senior year. Bell’s windmills would come in so hard that his high school coach, Sharrief Metoyer, had to tell him to stop working on them during practice.

“I told Jordan we couldn’t afford to keep replacing rims,” said Metoyer.

The high-flying Bell had ripped a rim off of the backboard in the Jackrabbits’ small gymnasium, and then done the same in the Ron Palmer Pavilion on campus a few weeks later.

All is forgiven, of course, as Bell has become one of the school’s best examples of a gritty, defensive-minded star, the kind they’ve been known for across generations and sports, from Mark Carrier to Willie McGinest to Chase Utley.

“Jordan has green and gold in his veins,” said Metoyer. “He’ll always represent Poly and Long Beach, because that’s where he grew up. He leaed about basketball, and he leaed about life.”

Bell opted to stay in Southe Califoia for his draft party, eschewing the bright lights and ESPN cameras of the live event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Instead he’ll be at a private party with his closest friends and family at a house nearby, because he said he wanted to have as many people that helped him on his road there as possible.

Bell has spent much of the last two months flying around the country working out for different teams, sometimes more than once. He’s worked out for the Portland Trail Blazers, Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Brooklyn Nets, Sacramento Kings, and more, and multiple reports have said the Lakers, Trail Blazers, and Spurs (all of whom have late first round selections heading into Thursday’s draft) were all high on him.

Bell said he enjoyed the process but is looking forward to having the suspense over with, celebrating with those close to him, and then getting to work.

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“I’m excited to find out where I’m going and to start proving myself,” he said.

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