Make of it what you will but before the foul that led to Booker hurting his foot/ankle, he had made 61 of his 95 shots. After that injury, he shot 8 for 28. It's not intended as an excuse but as one more example of why he really isn't in that elite class. He has to be in perfect health to excel. His defense, his efficiency and his turnovers when he isn't quite healthy move him down the star list IMO.
I think this is pretty fair. His pure motivation and ability to get the absolute most out of his God given skills is what makes him so great, but when even a little dinged, the lack of great size and elite athleticism takes just that much away from him where he can’t be special.
He’s a superstar. But despite some incredible performances this season, he’s still not a unicorn superstar. More in the mold of a Butler/Tatum-esque Superstar as opposed to the young LeBron/Curry/KD/Giannis/Embiid (when healthy)/Jokic type superstars.
I think the other thing that keeps him from those guys is how often those guys can or could dominate multiple games in multiple ways. LeBron (younger LeBron) and Jokic are like walking triple-doubles, Giannis can absolutely dominate a game on both ends. So can Embiid when healthy. Curry is literally an offense unto himself.
Booker can light up a scoreboard, and is usually solid in other areas and sometimes (rarely) elevated to triple double level, but those games are few and far between.
Saying all that, we’re still incredibly lucky to have him, but I still don’t think you can win a title with him as your #1 superstar… which was why I was in on KD, thinking he could be and then Booker’s the best 2 in the game. Sadly, that doesn’t even look close to the case for KD’s ghost and why we very well could be totally screwed for a while.
