Jordan Bell inspires 11-year-old basketball player after special moment at Warriors parade

ByEric Thomas KGO logo

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Jordan Bell inspires 11-year-old basketball player after special moment at Warriors parade

Every Golden State Warriors fan was excited to see the team at the victory parade in Oakland, but not every fan received special treatment from the Warriors' heralded rookie, Jordan Bell.

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (KGO) -- Every Golden State Warriors fan was excited to see the team at the victory parade in Oakland, but not every fan received special treatment from the Warriors' heralded rookie, Jordan Bell.

Bell may have provided us with a clue as to what was going to happen when he shared his championship joy with ABC7 News reporter Lyanne Melendez. "For them to want to take a chance on a second-round pick from Oregon who started playing basketball in the 9th grade is amazing."

Bell may have been thinking about the past when he spotted a younger face in the crowd and gave the young man a hug. He said something in his ear that no one else could hear.

That youngster was 11-year-old Mekhi Johnson of Fairfield, a guard on his middle school basketball team, who had no idea what was about to happen.

The crowd was going wild as Jordan Bell ran along the parade route, giving Warriors fans high-fives. He even gave one young fan a hug!

"I thought he was going to keep walking down and not come to our side," said Johnson.

His dad, Cecil Banks, took the whole family to the parade as he has in years past. "I expected to see guys excited but I didn't expect to see him, Jordan, hug my son."

The hug was one thing, but the message he shared -- that was something special.

"He told me to keep doing what I'm doing, young king, and someday I would be like him," Johnson said happily.

That was confirmed almost word for word when Bell retweeted our cameras catching the moment it happened.

Johnson, who would like to play in the NBA one day, says he was excited but you could never tell from his poker face.

Just as important as his hoop dreams, Johnson's parents say, he is a straight-A student and in the long run that may count most of all.

Watch Jordan Bell and Mekhi's special moment from a different perspective:

Every Golden State Warriors fan was excited to see the team at the victory parade in Oakland, but not every fan received special treatment from the Warriors' heralded rookie, Jordan Bell.

Full coverage on the Golden State Warriors's 2018 parade here.

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