Devin Booker was frustrated. There was the technical foul he got that nobody could understand (more on that below, keep reading). Then there were the two offensive fouls he picked, the first because it looked like Oklahoma City’s Alex Caruso tried to slow him down off the ball on the break, they got tangled up, and Caruso went to the ground. The second was for an “unnatural shooting motion” on a play in which he just pivoted and tried to shoot over Caruso. After Game 2 against the Thunder, Booker didn’t hold back talking about those calls.
“It just feels disrespectful. I know I haven’t won a championship in this league, but I have been in it for 11 years now. So to get to this point to be treated like that, for me to even be saying something out loud, it’s bad… This is my first time (criticizing the officiating) in 11 years, but it’s needed. Whatever I get fined for it, everybody can pull the clips and see where the frustration is from.”
Booker got his wish, the league fined him $35,000 for “public criticism of the officiating.” In its release announcing the league added this little dig: “Following an investigation including multiple interviews and video review, the league found no basis to any claim of bias or misconduct by game officials.”
Booker also picked up a technical foul in Game 2 for trying to save with a behind-the-back pass of a ball going out of bounds. Notice Caruso lobbies for the technical and gets it.
“I heard Caruso tell him to call the tech and he ended up doing it,” Booker said. “In my 11 years, I haven’t called a ref out by name, but James (Williams) was terrible tonight, through and through. It’s bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as a WWE if they’re not held responsible.”
The real question is, will this work for the Suns?
Publicly calling out the officiating and taking the fine for it, trying to plant a seed in the referees’ minds for the next game, is a tried-and-true playoff tactic. Phil Jackson did it. Pat Riley did it. That trend has continued to the modern era, with mostly coaches but some players willing to see if it works.
Will the Suns get a whistle they like better at home in Game 3 on Friday night? They need it and every other break they can get in a series where they are down 0-2 to the defending champions.
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