The Phoenix Suns might not win a first NBA Championship this season - but as long as Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are teammates in The Valley - then they will have a chance. Thursday's loss to the Boston Celtics may have shown that there is work left to do, but you couldn't blame Booker and Durant for the team's inability to consistently win games this season.
That is down to the fact Bradley Beal has missed nearly half of the regular season through injury, while Booker himself is only back from four games missed with an ankle sprain. After a dodgy landing on that same ankle against the Celtics - which Booker was quick to provide an update on - it is unclear how close to 100 percent the Suns' superstar is right now.
One thing that cannot be questioned about this duo is how close they have grown since becoming teammates, and Booker has now explained why that is.
Booker recently sat down with JJ Redick on his always entertaining Old Man and The Three podcast, and the pair went through all sorts of topics around Booker's upbringing and career in the league to this pont. Booker has always been one to keep it real, and this conversation was no different.
Over the course of the chat between the two, the subject of Durant as a player and as a teammate came up. Redick asked Booker what it is like to be around somebody who loves the game as much as Durant does every day, and thankfully the cameras were in place to capture Booker's genuinely enthusiastic reaction to sharing the court with one of the all-time greats as he responded;
"You're just dealing with a guy that really loves his craft and for me to be a really big fan first, you know I had a tweet from 2011, I said "Kevin Durant is my favorite player, but LeBron (James) is the best". I found it when I got drafted and everybody started retweeting it."Devin Booker on Kevin Durant
Booker didn't stop there though, delving more into what it is like to be around the 35-year-old every day. Even better, the stories that we all hear about Durant's love for the game have not only turned out to be correct, but in the eyes of Booker his teammate has surpassed everything that he'd heard about him before they joined forces.
"Always being a fan and hearing those types of stories about how obsessive he is with his work and how he gets after it and how much of a hoops junkie he is, and then for all of those stories to be living up and him surpassing those and you really find out that he only cares about hoops. It's a match for me."Devin Booker on Kevin Durant
Redick would also go on to point out that Eric Gordon - who joined the Suns last summer - mentioned when he was on the podcast himself late last year that a large part of the reason he ultimately chose Phoenix was because of the bond that Booker and Durant had. For that to be known throughout the league is not nothing, and it surely helps in their quest to try and win a championship together.
It is clear Booker learnt a lot from playing with one of the best point guards of all-time in Chris Paul, but the dynamic with Durant is different. Whereas before it was a "teacher and pupil" vibe with CP3 and Booker, Durant said as far back as training camp that this was Booker's team, and he was absolutely fine taking a back seat to that.
Which again speaks not only to the greatness of Booker as he approaches his prime, but also how much Booker understands the moment and that the best way for him to scale the mountain again, is to pick and choose his spots with this team. Which he has had to do a lot this season, as the most healthy member of their star trio. The pairing of Booker and Durant then, is one for the ages.