Re-post: Raja Bell Day Part 2

[Editor's Note: Ordinarily, I wouldn't recycle a post from just a few days ago, but like a couple of readers have pointed out, our official Raja Bell Day on Wednesday got utterly obliterated by the whole Shawn Marion debacle. And since I'm not in the mood to write yet another Marion piece, and I can't think of anything non-Marion-related to write about either at the moment (other than the upcoming start of training camp, the upcoming public scrimage, and the new look Suns.com), how about we re-run Raja Bell Day again over the weekend. In the meantime, if you are looking for more Marion stories, check out this piece by Steve Weinman at Taking it to the Rack. He has a great writeup about the awesome way some of our guys (including Raja) have come out in support of their wayward teammate this week. Enjoy and have a great weekend!]

Many, many thanks for all the YouTube recommendations posted in the comments for Part 1. In fact, this was the least amount of work I've had to do for one of these so far. We had enough user-suggested YouTubes that I didn't even need to go looking for any of my own! Several users also had some nice things to say about Raja as well. He is obviously a fan favorite around here.

From JSun about the Suns-Clippers Game 5 in the 2006 playoffs, where Raja nailed the buzzer-beating three that sent the game into overtime and an eventual Suns victory:

From PurplePinoy on that same buzzer-beater: From jasonsuns1: Paul Coro at AZCentral joined in on the fun with a Raja Bell-themed article of his own. (OK, that was probably a coincidence). As for me, my favorite Raja moment is one that probably won't ever show up on YouTube or even be remembered by most people. It happened in his first year with the Jazz after the Mavericks had failed to make any real effort to keep him following the 2002-03 season. It was the Mavericks' first game at Utah that season, and Raja had a career night as he led his new team to victory over his former one. It was clear he was absolutely having a blast. At one point, he was literally dancing as he headed off the floor during a timeout. It was one of those "victory is sweet" moments, made even sweeter in light of how hard it was for him to make a place for himself in the NBA.

First up on the YouTubes is the aforementioned buzzer-beater that sent that Suns-Clippers Game 5 into overtime. As someone who follows this team from afar, there are a handful moments every season that stand out as making me really wish I could have been there to see it in person. This one is near the top of the list. Thanks go to JSun for suggesting it and SwingMan for finding the link.

Next up, we have Raja Bell - Heart of a champion. I concur with SwingMan's assessment: AWESOME production on this one.

Lastly, here is that infamous Kobe clothesline you've all been waiting to see. I have to confess, I'm not as much a fan of this play as a lot of people are. While I'll admit it was satisfying to see Kobe (who may be my least favorite basketball player ever) hit the floor, this play could very well have caused serious injury and/or cost the Suns the series. However, I can't deny that it is a favorite among Suns fans, and I would be negligent not to include it on a post featuring YouTubes of Raja. So, here it is - feel free to hit "replay" as many times as you like. And thanks, SwingMan, for posting the link in the Part 1 comments!