A debate raged Monday night in Dallas in the aftermath of the Warriors stapling a 133-103 rout on the Mavericks. At issue was the decorum of dancing over a battered opponent.
If there is, or should be, decorum at all.
Jordan Bell certainly danced. The Warriors marveled. The Mavericks, at least coach Rick Carlisle, were no less than annoyed.
Bell saw a chance to pull off the kind of daredevil play attempted maybe once in a decade in the NBA but surely would be seen countless times on the highlight shows. So he literally leaped at the opportunity.
With the Warriors leading Dallas by 25 and 2:46 left to play, the outcome was beyond doubt. But the game doesn't stop. The players keep playing. So when Mavericks forward Dwight Powell pulled up on the left wing to launch a 3-point shot, Bell activated.
He thought it would be "fun," he told reporters at American Airlines Center.
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Bell sprang forth, deflecting the shot, with the ball dropping toward teammate JaVale McGee, who batted it forward toward Bell, who was sprinting toward the Warriors basket at the other end. As the ball bounced in front of Bell, the rookie from Oregon timed his steps and grasped it ever so briefly, just long enough to control it, before flipping it up against the backboard.
Bell had a solitary purpose and it wasn't simply to score. He wanted to bring down the house.
Bringing down the house is what the Warriors aim to do on a nightly basis, and the rook wanted to earn his stripes, utterly disregarding his opponent.
Taking flight while approaching the rim, Bell grabbed the carom off the backboard with both hands and flushed it through the rim, completing his mission.
In his fourth NBA game, Bell had already checked off a line on his NBA career bucket list: blocking a shot, leaking out into transition, having the ball come back to him so he could arrange a pass off the glass to himself and dunk it.
"It was surprising but it was incredible," Warriors forward Kevin Durant said. "He's an amazing athlete and that was an incredible play that I'm sure the fans loved.
"But we told him to just protect himself on the next couple plays down. You know how that is, you know how it is in the league.
"But that was an incredible play."
Incredible, yes, but Durant has a point. The NBA has its own code of ethics and though the lines can get blurred, using a reeling opponent to record your own personal highlight can sometimes invite retaliation.
The Warriors felt the need to advise Bell to watch his back.
It is to Bell's credit that he did not prance or preen. He most assuredly was proud of his work, which stunned the Warriors and left the Mavericks, now trailing by 27 before a sellout crowd, bristling. So he simply walked away as if this were something he had done many times before, which he has in practices and in open gym sessions.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, realizing the potential for umbrage, made a point of approaching Carlisle, whose winless team was being blown out and has a bleak outlook for the season.
"I just told Rick I would talk to Jordan," Kerr said.
"He's a young guy. He's having fun out there. He didn't even realize he had offended anybody."
Despite the wordless disapproval of Carlisle and maybe some of the Mavs, Warriors forward Draymond Green, Bell's personal Yoda, could not have been prouder of his understudy.
"When you get on the basketball floor, and I don't care if it's two minutes to go up 25 or two minutes to go down 25, somebody's evaluating you," Green said "So you've got to play the game just like you have to play if it's tied up, or if you're up four, or if you're down 4. You've got to play the game the same way.
"If you want to throw it off the backboard, feel free. And dunk the ball. He got an and-1. It's a great play."
Green simply wasn't buying the "poor sportsmanship" side of any debate.
"What was the difference if he threw it off the backboard and dunked it, as opposed to just grabbing it and dunking?" he said. "It's a dunk."
Indeed it was. And, debate ongoing, it will be seen for many years to come. That may be reason enough for Bell to be careful, even if most will shrug it off.
