Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune reports (via blog):

Raja Bell struggles with addiction to strawberry bubblegum

For Jazz guard Raja Bell, it is complete, unfiltered obsession.

Bell has such a drug-like affinity for Bubblicious strawberry chewing gum that he requests the candy during games, hand-selecting a single, special piece from a tupperware container that features an assortment of delicacies.

“I was having a bad game and was looking for something to do to get my mind off of it,” Bell said. “There was this fragrant piece of gum that stood out amongst the others. Ever since then, I’ve been popping ‘em.”

He added: “The good thing about it is, the flavor runs out really quickly. So you only got to chew it for like five minutes, and you’ve got what you need out of it.”

InsideHoops.com editor says: This is obviously a serious problem. NBA fans everywhere need to let Bell know that he has support. And Bell needs to realize that strawberry bubblegum abuse can lead to other serious addictions like grape or cherry bubblegum addition, which are known as gateway substances leading to things like chocolate milk abuse, or even worse, being an adult who loves Justin Bieber albums. Get help, Raja.