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Raja Bell and Steve Nash were on some absolutely incredible Suns teams that helped shape the NBA into what it is today. The "Seven Seconds or Less" Phoenix teams might have changed basketball, but they never won a title. In the season where the Suns arguably had their best shot at a title it was taken away from them due to a suspension.

Most NBA fans know the story by now. Game 4 of the 2007 Western Conference semis between the Spurs and the Suns ... the top-seeded Mavericks had been upset in the first round and a young LeBron James was about to tear through the Eastern Conference apart to reach his first NBA Finals. In retrospect, the winner of the San Antonio-Phoenix series was going to decide that season's champion.

Nash is dribbling up the court when Robert Horry gives him a hip check into the scorer's table. Players from both teams get into it while replay video catches Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw leaving the bench. At the time, the NBA was making leaving the bench during scuffles a point of emphasis and suspended Diaw and Stoudemire one game during a crucial point in the playoffs. 

The Suns won Game 4, but lost Game 5 without Stoudemire and had to go back to San Antonio for Game 6. The Spurs won the series and the title, their third in five seasons. One of the league's most influential teams lost its best chance at a title because of this. Bell went into detail on the whole thing on the Off The Bench podcast with Kanell and Bell where he revealed the real kicker in all of this. According to Raja, Nash flopped.

"It's the dumbest rule. It's ridiculous. There has to be a level of intent ... Four years later I'm hanging out with Steve at a bar in Santa Monica somewhere or somewhere in L.A. and he says that he gave that hip check a little bit of flare."

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Bell gives a really great retelling of the entire situation through his eyes, but the reason any of this even came up has to do with the bench rule in basketball. This season in particular it feels like that old rule has been put under a spotlight. CJ McCollum had to miss the season opener cause he walked on to the court during an altercation. Alabama basketball just had to finish a game 3-on-5 because their entire bench got ejected from a game.

So, of course, when that happens, everybody looks back at the most infamous moment of the rule. It's hard to disagree with Bell, a former player, that the rule just doesn't look good. It feels like it has been hurting teams more than it's been preventing fights. This is something the NBA needs to look back on and find a change for.