Kevin Durant is on Devin Booker’s side in that the NBA should extend to 15 All-Star honorees for each conference.
Devin Booker was clearly snubbed of a spot among the reserves for the West in the 2025 NBA All-Star Game.
Duane Rankin, who is our friend over at The Arizona Republic, uploaded the following video in which Durant made an interesting point about Booker’s non-call:
Kevin Durant on Devin Booker #NBAAllStar2025 snub: “You know how politics get. We’re playing in a narrative based game. Sometimes it don’t really matter what you do on the court. You’ve got to kind of sell your play, sell your personality a little bit and Book not even close to… pic.twitter.com/DuFal1zS5h
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) February 1, 2025
“We’re playing in a narrative based game. Sometimes it don’t really matter what you do on the court. You’ve got to kind of sell your play, sell your personality a little bit and Book not even close to being that type of person.”
Wow. That’s quite a point there.
I have long made the case about Book being severely underrated. If you remember me when I reported for the Phoenix Suns at another outlet, I made the extremely controversial point in 2023 that Book is a top-3 player in our league.
The stats and resume backed it up. Book’s 2023 playoff run included the greatest degree of difficulty I’d ever seen from a shotmaker. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Book’s first nine games of the playoffs matched output from Michael Jordan, as he scored 331 points through the first two rounds and after a blistering-hot, 20-of-25 shooting game against the Nuggets in Game 4, had done so on a 70% true shooting clip, which had never been done before.
This came right after Book led the Suns to a 64-18 record. If we didn’t move the goalposts like we always do, in my opinion, for the NBA MVP, he should have been awarded it in 2021-22.
You can make the case that Book has been playing his best ball since that playoff run. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is considered for the Player of the Month in January, but it won’t matter in the eyes of the voters, the NBA coaches, who picked the 12 reserves for the All-Star Game.
Book was clearly frustrated he was not picked. Via Rankin:
“Obviously something I wanted to be a part of, but definitely not going to complain about taking a week to regroup.”
Devin Booker on #NBAAllStar snub. #Suns pic.twitter.com/CjDkcJxoWw
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 31, 2025
“I think there’s enough talented guys (to have a 15-man roster).”
What do you think, fans?