So the obvious question here is, why?
Why would Bell turn on Pastner -- the man he once described as a brother, the man he many times said saved his life -- in such a vindictive and public way? Asked that question several times, Bell explained it in a variety of ways. He said he feels Pastner has failed to compensate him properly for the "work" he's done. He said Pastner didn't call him on his birthday this year, which is something he interpreted as disrespectful. He said he has for a while had a bad relationship with Georgia Tech's program and operations manager, Ellie Cantkier, and that when the two had a disagreement recently he felt Pastner "took her side."
"I just started to realize he's not a friend," Bell said. "I told him 'I hold your career in my hands. You're going to show me respect.' ... I said, 'I've been protecting you for two years. And if you don't watch yourself, if I start self-reporting, you're going to be coaching high school basketball.' And he said, 'Are you threatening me?' And I remember it like it was yesterday. I said, 'Josh, I don't make threats. Everything I say I'm going to do, I do it.'"
Wow...the depths of this guys mind in trying to rationalize his actions. Man. Pastner doesn't look great, but more so in the fact that he would let someone with this mindset close to any program and threaten his livelihood and the eligibility of his players.
