Suns teamwork is breaking down at the most fundamental level

Devin Booker’s realization comes too late to save the Suns season.

When discussing the foundation of effective, winning basketball, you might focus on offense. The ability to score, to scheme, to create easy buckets. Talent matters. So do size, length, and skill. But none of it works without putting those abilities in the right positions. Or perhaps defense is the key. Athleticism, basketball IQ, and, above all, the ability of five players to move as one across 4,700 square feet of hardwood.

But at the core of it all, the element that makes both offense and defense function is communication. Without it, success is impossible. I’m doing it right now, aren’t I? Laying out a perspective, shaping an argument, offering something to understand. And where do teams, where do entire organizations fall apart? When communication breaks down, the door to failure swings wide open.

Every night, as we watch the Phoenix Suns struggle, regardless of the opponent, one question lingers: is communication the true root of their problems?

After yet another disappointing loss, this time at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans, Devin Booker addressed the Suns’ struggles in his postgame press conference. His focus? Communication…or the lack of it.

“Everybody has to be on the same page. Starts with the leaders of the team…me, Brad, and K and coach,” Booker stated. “It’s ongoing communication. I’d rather two people say the wrong thing to each other out there than nobody talk at all and leave the gray area. It’s like any job or any group project that you do. You have to do it together. Even once you have a game plan. You think everybody knows it. There’s nothing wrong with reiterating it. Keep the conversation going throughout the whole game.”

“I always look at myself first,” Booker noted. “But I also talk a lot.”

Why? That’s the question left lingering after Devin Booker’s comments. Why does this team go silent? Why aren’t they talking to each other? When adversity strikes, why does communication suddenly disappear?

Theories abound. Have they convinced themselves that no matter what happens tonight, they’ll just fix it tomorrow? If so, that’s a dangerous mindset. There’s always another game—until there isn’t. And at this rate, their season may be ending far sooner than they expect.

At its core, this is the mark of a team that isn’t fully connected. A team that isn’t comfortable enough to communicate. We’ve all worked with people who make collaboration difficult. Maybe they lack tact when offering feedback, snapping at suggestions or making you feel small for simply asking a question. These are often the same people who say, “There are no dumb questions,” yet somehow make you regret asking one.

And when communication becomes uncomfortable, what do people do? They stop communicating. They retreat into silos, assuming others will pick up on what they’re thinking or feeling. That seems to be where the Suns struggle. Off the court, they may be great teammates. I’m sure they laugh together, enjoy each other’s company, and genuinely get along. But when it comes to the work itself — the collaboration required to succeed in high-pressure moments — there’s a gap.

Booker says he talks. The assumption is that Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal do as well. But maybe it’s not just about talking. It’s about how they talk. How they hold each other accountable. How they offer feedback when a play breaks down. Because communication isn’t just about saying the right thing. It’s about saying them the right way.

Sometimes, when you’re the one doing the talking, it feels like you’re the one providing the solution. But if the results remain subpar, maybe it’s not just about speaking. It’s about how you’re speaking. And that’s okay. Communication isn’t just about volume or frequency; it’s about effectiveness.

It starts with a willingness to adjust, to ask from a place of vulnerability: “How can I be better for you as a teammate?” Those are the conversations that can happen in the locker room, in practice, in moments away from the game. “What can I do differently to make you more comfortable so that, as a team, we communicate better and execute more effectively?”

The best teams don’t just talk. They listen, adapt, and refine their interactions until every voice strengthens the collective.

I appreciate Devin Booker acknowledging that it’s time to draw the line, while also recognizing that the line should have been drawn long ago. It’s a moment of realization, an admission that this season is a sunk cost. That the switch they believed could be flipped purely on talent doesn’t work that way. Winning at the highest level demands more. It takes cohesion, trust, and above all, communication.

Maybe that’s the real takeaway for Booker this season. A hard-earned, sobering lesson in leadership. A realization that talent alone isn’t enough, and that waiting for things to click is just another way of watching opportunities slip away. It’s a mature perspective, but one that comes with an unfortunate ending.

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