Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, as explained by Frank Sinatra’s Jingle Bells

Coming into the 2019-20 NBA season, Devin Booker is the Phoenix Suns’ alpha male. In the spirit of the holiday season, he and a Frank Sinatra Christmas carol share a lot in common.

With Christmas carols on everyone’s both radio and mind this time of year, there is no holiday jingle that matches Phoenix Star better than Frank Sinatra’s Jingle Bells.

Frank “The Voice” Sinatra is one of—if not the—most iconic vocalist of all time. He’s the swinging alpha male of jazz band crooners, adored by 1950’s housewives, respected by mafiosos. Men wanted to be him, and women wanted to be with him.

With songs like Fly Me To The Moon and Strangers in the Night, Sinatra was a self-made man who made it to the top by doin’ it his way. And that’s exactly how he sang his Christmas classic, Jingle Bells.

Is it the best Sinatra song? Not by a long shot. Not even sure it is his best Christmas song. That might be I’ll Be Home for Christmas, a song of longing and heartache. A song tailor-made for his sturdy smooth vocals.

But yet somehow Jingle Bells has become his most iconic. With the Barbershop Quartet opening, singing—

I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells

Those holiday J-I-N-G-L-E bells

Those happy J-I-N-G-L-E, B-E-double-L-S

I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells

It takes a confident man to follow that comically cartoonish opening, and somehow make it swingingly masculine, which is why Sinatra is the most alpha of all male crooners.

Devin Booker is the closest thing the Phoenix Suns have to an alpha male. At 20 years of age, he was the youngest player in history to score 70 points, joining the likes of Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlin, Black Mamba, and The Admiral.

But Booker isn’t on that level, not yet. With 24 being the highest number of games a Booker-led team has won in a year, winning only 19 total games last season, it’s been a frustrating start to his career.

Things are looking better this year. It is surprising what competent management can do.

Taking the ball out of Booker’s hands as the primary ball handler has made him a more efficient player. Booker has the potential to be a better Reggie Miller, but he needs help.

Up to this point, he’s been playing with his own comically cartoonish barbershop quartet and it was up to Booker to give the team some semblance of dignity. That seems to be in the past now.

So regrets? Sure, he’s had a few. But things are finally looking brighter in the Valley.

The 70 point game is the most iconic moment of Booker’s young career, but it is not his best. I’ve got a feeling the best is yet to come.