#5: Devin Booker Double Team Controversy
Embarrassing might not be the first emotion Suns fans felt when Devin Booker became the source of sports talk shows around the country for 72 hours after video surfaced of him arguing with Joakim Noah during a pick up game.
To recap the incident, Noah yelled for Booker to get double teamed, which ticked off the Suns star, who claimed there’s no double-teaming in open gym, he gets enough of that in the season and they’re just there to work on their games.
Booker isn’t wrong. It is a valid defense, and one I felt confident backing myself. But, man, it sure put him in the negative spotlight as seemingly every talking head and street ball player sided with Noah in this debate.
The problem is, this is not an argument to be won with nuanced rationale.
The term wasn’t ubiquitous yet, and Booker is significantly younger than Noah, but in hindsight, this is the perfect application, “Okay, Boomer.”
An old curmudgeon playing pick up at the YMCA strictly for the cardio might make a similar argument. It just makes you look kind kind of weak, soft, and generally not very cool.
And once that sentiment sets in, no matter how much you back Booker or how much he might be technically correct, the culture debate on Twitter and TV is lost.
From that sense, you can’t help but feel a little embarrassed for the guy, and by proxy, the Suns. He was already facing criticism for skipping out on the FIBA World Cup, and this served as an unfortunate pile-on.