Devin Booker Torches Ref After Suns Fall 0-2 to Thunder in Controversial Playoff Game 2 Loss
Devin Booker has played more than a decade of professional basketball. In all that time, the Phoenix Suns guard says he never singled out an official by name — until Game 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The defending champion Thunder took a commanding 2-0 series lead with a 120-107 win over the Suns on April 22 in their Western Conference first-round playoff matchup. But it wasn’t the score that had Booker fuming afterward. It was the officiating.
Booker was assessed a technical foul in the third quarter for arguing calls. What made it worse, he said, was how it happened.
“I heard (the Thunder’s Alex) Caruso tell them to call the tech and he ended up doing it. In my 11 years, I haven’t called a ref out by name, but James (Williams) was terrible tonight,” Booker told reporters, according to USA TODAY.
His frustration centered on what he described as inconsistent foul calls — specifically an offensive foul called on him compared to a similar play drawn by Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Booker seemed ready to accept whatever financial consequences came his way.
“Whatever I get fined for, everybody can pull the clips and see where the frustration comes from,” he said.
Booker wasn’t alone. Suns forward Dillon Brooks, who fouled out of Game 2 with just 25 seconds remaining, took aim at both the officiating style and SGA’s ability to draw fouls.
“He a little frail, and that’s what the refs are going to call,” Brooks said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “Like, I used to watch this back when Michael Jordan was playing or whoever else, when LeBron was younger. This is physical basketball. I don’t get why all the dropping and the falling and the flopping and the flailing and all this stuff is allowed when we get to the playoffs.”
Brooks’ comments tap into a broader conversation around the league about how officials respond to Gilgeous-Alexander’s drives to the basket. New York Knicks coach Mike Brown raised a similar point back on March 4 after his team faced the Thunder.
“SGA, he’s a tough cover,” Brown said. “And he does a great job of convincing the referees – probably better than anybody in the league – that he’s getting hit.”
If the Suns hoped their complaints would rattle the reigning MVP, his Game 2 performance suggested otherwise. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points and went a perfect 9/9 from the free throw line — the very trips to the line Phoenix was protesting.
His response to the criticism was measured.
“I can’t control what Dillon or anybody else on the other side is going to complain about,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “All I can do is try to go out there and win basketball games for my team.”
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
