Buzzer beaters a habit for Booker
Suns guard thrives on chance to take big shots
Moss Point (Mississippi) High was down two points to rival Harrison Central High. Fans on both sides of the court were standing and screaming. The clock ticked down. Five, four, three, two …
Sophomore Devin Booker got the ball just beyond half court and let it fly. The buzzer went off. The ball went in.
“It was a high-intensity game,” Booker said. “That was a big shot.”
Fast forward six years. Four seconds are left in the Suns’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday. Phoenix trails by three. The inbound pass from Marquese Chriss is supposed to travel the length of the floor to Tyson Chandler, who will then pass it back to Booker. But Chandler is covered so Chriss passes the ball to Tyler Ulis.
Booker is a few steps up the court, smothered by Milwaukee’s DeAndre Liggins.
“I looked at Tyler and he looked at me and he threw the pass where only I could get it,” Booker said. “Once I caught it I knew I was going to have to create a little bit of space because I knew I wasn’t going to get a lot. So I went away from the basket toward out of bounds, where I figured I’d get a better opportunity.”
His shot from 29 feet didn’t even graze the rim. As pandemonium erupted at Talking Stick Resort Arena, a stone-faced Booker walked back toward the Suns’ bench.
“Time for overtime,” he said. “You can’t celebrate yet.”
Two shots. One in high school. One in the NBA. But something in common. A player who accepts the responsibility and thrives on it.
“He’s got that special skill,” Suns interim coach Jay Triano said. “He’s the guy that knows how to create a shot, how to take a shot and make the shot. That’s who he is. He exudes that confidence. He is good and he believes he is good. That’s a big thing.”
At the age of 21, Booker already is one of the NBA’s premier last-second, game-on-the-line shooters. He led the league last season with two buzzer beaters, banking in a jumper to give the Suns a 105-103 win over Sacramento on Feb. 3 and hitting a fadeaway jumper to give Phoenix a 100-98 win over Dallas on March 11.
He also made a baseline jumper at the buzzer to force overtime at New Orleans in November 2016.
“Must be in my DNA,” Booker said. That’s part of it.
Even when he was a boy on the playground, Booker embraced the challenge – and the burden – of the last-second shot.
“I always wanted the responsibility to win the game or lose the game,” he said.
He also spent countless hours pantomiming those situations, whether it was counting down the seconds to himself on his driveway or having his father, Melvin Booker, a former University of Missouri standout, train him in lategame situations.
Former Suns coach Earl Watson deserves an assist, too. When Watson was an assistant player-development coach during Booker’s rookie season he repeatedly told Booker, “You’ll be taking those shots.”
“At every point of my basketball career I’ve always been trusted to take that shot and deal with the consequences good or bad,” Booker said.