Sports

Celtics cut Alaska's Bell-Holter

His tryout with the Boston Celtics over, Alaska's Damon Bell-Holter next job in basketball is to decide what to do next.

Bell-Holter, who grew up in Hydaburg and played for Ketchikan in high school, was one of two players released by coach Brad Stevens following the final preseason game of the NBA season on Wednesday, according to several news websites, including an NBC Sports regional affliate in New England.

An undrafted rookie from Oral Roberts University, Bell-Holter told Comcast SportsNet that he planned to spend time with his infant son and figure out what to do next.

"I'm just going to go home for a couple of days, evaluate everything, and figure out what I'm going to do this year," Bell-Holter, 23, told the network. "I'm going to weigh options. Apparently they want me to do D League, and it's looking like that."

The D League is the NBA's Development League, and Boston's affiliate is the Maine Red Claws.

But before he makes any decisions, Bell-Holter will spend a few days in Tulsa, Okla., he said on his Twitter account Thursday.

"The journey is only beginning," he tweeted.

ADVERTISEMENT

Bell-Holter, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound forward, appeared in three of Boston's eight preseason games. He averaged 1.7 minutes a game and was credited with one rebound and one turnover.

Bell-Holter was attempting to join the Miami Heat's Mario Chalmers of Anchorage and the Chicago Bulls' Carlos Boozer of Juneau as the only Alaskans in the NBA.

Bell-Holter told Comcast SportsNet that his time with the Celtics was valuable.

"I'm going to keep working," he said. "I got good reviews that I was professional and showed good work ethic. I learned about being a true professional, handling everything like business, I learned a lot from the veterans and the older guys."

Bell-Holter was playing professionally in Europe when the Celtics called, offering him a spot on the training camp roster. He was one of four free agents invited to Boston's training camp. Just one, Chris Babb, is still with the team.

A few hours after learning his time with the Celtics was over, Bell-Holter tweeted a quotation from author Napoleon Hill: "Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit."

Reach Beth Bragg at bbragg@adn.com or 257-4335.

By BETH BRAGG

bbragg@adn.com

ADVERTISEMENT