reassessing Booker

[elindholm]

As a Durant hater, I've been tempted to blame all of the franchise's current woes on him, including Booker's regression. But another thought has occurred to me.

It's possible Booker has never really cared about winning all along. During his first five seasons, the Suns were awful, and we admired how he continued to stick with the team, gradually improve his game, and show some leadership. But maybe part of the picture was that the losing didn't bother him that much. He was emerging as a celebrity, dating a Kardashian, getting endorsements. He made his first All-Star team in 2020 and his brand was taking care of itself.

When Chris Paul led the Suns to the 2021 Finals, Booker's three-point shooting deserted him, but otherwise he played well, especially considering that he was a young player getting his first playoff experience. But, as others have noted, his game has plateaued since then, and he was terrible in the infamous Game 7 loss to Dallas in 2022 that prompted the trades that would destroy the franchise.

He is curiously calm about the Suns' current predicament. Others have puzzled that he seems not to care "anymore." But maybe the reason he has always wanted to be Durant's teammate is because they are fundamentally pretty similar. He gets paid to play basketball, not to win, and whether his team is good enough to compete at the highest level is fundamentally not his problem.

 

[Superbone]

Why no capital 'R'? OK, getting past my OCD, I'm not so sure. I feel like something changed for him. He used to be really fiery and loved to trash talk. Along the way he's become much more passive and less aggressive. I don't know why. I think I like your line of thinking to blame KD.

 

[Mainstreet]

The game 7 loss to the Mavericks in 2022 is a puzzler. Booker is the only player left from that team. Because of this, it's tempting to put the blame on him, but I think it's more complicated.

Kobe Bryant inspired Devin to take his game to new heights. This part of the equation doesn't fit so neatly. Are we to think Devin quit caring?

Also, players seem to go out of their way to play with him. And then there is the respect he gets from coaches such as Steve Kerr in the Olympics.

I think it's more likely the Suns front office and ownership broke up the team prematurely by making the trade for Kevin Durant.

 

[ProdigalSun]

Its arguable that shoe contracts are more important than trophies to this generation of players

 

[how_sweet_it_is]

Personally, since I am neither a hater nor a fanboy of Booker, I welcome this discussion the same way I welcomed hearing opinions (which were new to me) that Shawn Marion was overrated. But this post is all about unanswerable questions. I commented recently that most players today neither show us their true colors nor say anything meaningful. Regrettably, this very much includes Booker. I have no idea what he thinks about anything on or off the court. Same with Durant. However, I can't claim you were wrong to accuse Booker of not caring, because you didn't do that--not exactly. All you said is "it's possible." Sure it is, and if true, it would explain why he laughed. I wonder.

 

[boisesuns]

It seemed like he was approaching the superstar level, but that he’s still missing something to put him over the top.

I fear it’s possible he’s peaked already and is going the wrong way. Kinda like my posting. I was better back in the day, but I’m content to just show up here and there and still get paid the same