Phoenix Suns: How can Devin Booker become an all-time great player?
By Kenny Glenn
Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker vs All-Time Greats
Players such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Jerry West, John Havlicek, Clyde Drexler, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Mullin all had two things in common. They all had almost two times or more steals for their career average per game than Devin Booker, and they are better rebounders.
The NBA didn’t start keeping track of steals and blocks until the 1973- 1974 season, that was Jerry West’s 14th season, an All-Star in each of those 14-seasons. It’s no wonder the NBA Logo is the silhouette of the Lakers great.
West averaged 2.6 steals a game at 35 years of age during that 1973-1974 season, the first year of keeping steals as a stat! To date, the most steals that Devin has averaged in a season has been 0.9 per game.
To put a stamp on the all-around point that Booker needs to work harder, Devin had his best statistical year as a pro in 2019-2020. For his career averages, Jerry West at 6 foot 2 inches, 175 pounds, bested Devin’s best year in every category except the shooting ones (which weren’t far off), as “Mr. Clutch” still averaged 27-points a game over his entire14-NBA seasons.
Here are two more things that the best players have in common, the “Logo”, MJ, Hondo, the Black Mamba, and Clyde the Glide all made the NBA All-Defensive team 7-times each on average, with a couple of them “only” making the NBA All-Defensive team 5-times each.
The last thing in common, they are all in the NBA Hall of Fame.
If Devin Booker ever wants to be a complete great player, the NBA All-Defensive team should be his goal, he has the tools. Does he have the mentality?