Bell ready after slow recovery

Suns fans' last basketball vision of Raja Bell was a picture of frustration — a guy gutting through pain and dragging his torn left calf muscle up and down the floor in the NBA's Western Conference finals.

A shadow of the player the Suns had come to rely on.

The playoff run ended in early June, but Bell's calf problems were far from over. He aggravated the injury again in late June, was unable to do any running in July and was well into August before he was finally cleared for basketball activities.

"I anticipated being ready to go much earlier. It was pretty frustrating," Bell said. "I was home, thinking it would heal on its own. But there was a lot of scar tissue in there, and when I tried to get back on it — there was just no way. It was still hurting quite a bit."

Bell was shut down for all of July and finally gave the calf a test run during an early August trip to Switzerland for a basketball camp, and is now running without pain. He took part in pickup games Monday at US Airways Center, and while he's behind where he was last year from a fitness standpoint, he will be ready to go when the Suns travel to Treviso, Italy, to begin training camp this weekend.

"I'm careful to get everything stretched out before and after, but it doesn't affect me when I play," he said. "More than anything, it just slowed down my summer. We had to cancel a lot of trips, and I didn't spend the time I wanted in the gym. I would have been working a lot harder."

After tearing the calf late in Game 1 against Dallas and sitting out Game 2, Bell played 37 minutes in Game 3, scoring 20 points and playing a key role in a Suns win. He played 28 minutes in Game 4 and 30 in Game 5.

Looking back, he said that was probably more than he could handle at the time and likely led to his slow rebound in the offseason.

"But you only get so many chances, once in a blue moon, to get that close to a championship. When will you get another shot?" he said. "At the time, I don't think I understood the seriousness of what I was dealing with. I just saw an opportunity, and I wanted to try. I told (Coach) Mike (D'Antoni) to play me as long as he thought I could help."

BONUS SHOTS:

Shawn Marion, Steve Nash and Amaré Stoudemire were in Los Angeles Monday to film commercials for Nike — including one Suns-themed spot featuring all three players. The spots will be seen beginning in November. . . .

Forward Jeff Varem, who holds a passport from Nigeria, will know today if his travel visa to Italy will be approved. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed; it would be horrible if I don't get to go," Varem said. If Varem doesn't get the go-ahead, former Phoenix North High and Cal State Northridge point guard Davin White would replace him on the 14-man training camp roster. . . .

After fairly significant talks with the Charlotte Bobcats about a sign-and-trade deal involving 6-foot-10 power forward/center Melvin Ely, the Suns have cooled on the idea. With both Kurt Thomas (foot stress fracture) and Stoudemire (two knee surgeries) returning, Ely would have served as an athletic insurance policy inside.