BELL FINDS LIBERTY IN PHILLY.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

Pat Croce, hyper-active president and part-owner of the Sixers, had the same reaction as everyone else on planet Earth.

``Who's Raja Bell?'' Croce asked.

Maybe that's what people were wondering in that basketball hub of Sioux Falls, S.D., when the Sixers called in late March with an invite.

``I was in a Denny's restaurant,'' Bell said. ``I had gone out there to play in the IBL.''

Bell had gotten all these professional basketball abbreviations down in the past year after stops in the International Basketball League, the Continental Basketball League, the United States Basketball League - except for the three letters he longed for the most.

Only the NBA wasn't acting too interested in the reed-thin shooting guard from little Florida International. He made it into one exhibition game with the Hawks before being cut in 1999. Made it until the day before the season started with the Spurs in 2000.

But then he broke his right thumb in a pickup game in Miami. Then he broke a leg. He worked himself back into shape and was about to make his debut with the Souix Falls SkyForce in March when the Sixers called and offered him a 10-day contract.

``I'd never heard about Raja Bell until coach brought him on the team,'' Sixers forward Tyrone Hill said.

The Sixers know who he is now. The Lakers are getting an idea, too. So is all of basketball America.

Bell has gone from unknown to unbelievable in a matter of weeks.

That was Bell who played 19 minutes against the Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, helping to shut down Kobe Bryant, pulling down four rebounds, picking up a pair of steals and scoring on a slightly remarkable 360-degree drive with a left-handed scoop shot in overtime.

``He had been playing at the YMCA with his dad!'' Croce said. ``I love that story. That's a true story. It tells all the kids out there when your time comes, be ready. That's special.''

Go from Sioux Falls to the NBA Finals on national TV, and there just might be a suspicion that Bell is a tad overwhelmed. It's doubtful the Yakima Sun Kings ever had to face the likes of Shaquille O'Neal.

Only Bell looks more at home than another tattoo on Allen Iverson. He is playing like a cool vet, not like some starry-eyed refugee from the CBA.

``If this is a dream, I'm not trying to wake up,'' Bell said. ``It's all happening so quick, I haven't had time to take it all in.''

Bell is 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds but long-armed, quick and plays tough defense. He is guarding Bryant and not backing down. He is going aggressively to the basket. He is playing like somebody who plainly doesn't understand he's not supposed to be here.

A few months ago he was playing at the local YMCA and now he's in the NBA Finals. This stuff just doesn't happen in the real world.

``It's the biggest stage in the world and I'm on it,'' Bell said. ``It's exciting feeling.''

And not one that just maybe is completely blowing him away?

``These games are coming quick,'' Bell said. ``There's no real time to get caught up in the moment. We won (Wednesday) night and that's done. We have another one (tonight). I really don't have time to be thinking about that right now. I guess when it's all over, I will sit back and say, 'Wow, I was in the NBA Finals guarding Kobe.' ''

The Sixers had a feeling Bell wasn't the typical 10-day fill-in. He appeared briefly in only five games, but they signed him to a multiyear contract just before the regular season ended. Still, as the playoffs began, Bell mostly watched. In Philadelphia's first eight playoff games, he played 2 minutes.

``When he's first got out there playing and making our guards work in practice, I knew this kid could play defense,'' Hill said. ``My thing was, when was he going to play?''

In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, he scored six points and had three steals in 16 minutes. In Game 7, he had 10 points by the half. By the time the Finals rolled around, he had become a regular part of the Sixers rotation, even if one the Lakers weren't too familiar with.

``Some of my teammates were teasing me about that today, saying they don't really know what I'm going to do,'' Bell said. ``Nobody does. Nobody's ever seen me. There's not much tape on me. I'm kind of unknown.''

It's a long ways from the Denny's in Sioux Falls to Staples Center, but they're loving it in Philly.

``This kid has talent,'' Hill said. ``He doesn't really think about what's going on, he just goes out and plays, and whatever happens, happens. He's quiet and a pretty-boy type, but he has heart. I like him.''

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Philadelphia's Raja Bell has managed to stay with the Sixers and the NBA after a pro career mostly in lesser leagues.

Rusty Kennedy/Associated Press