Perhaps only two NBA stars, Devin Booker and Luka Doncic, have a genuine rivalry that fans genuinely enjoy watching. Despite their animosity off the court, they have produced some amazing moments for us in the last few years.
Prior to the Suns versus Mavericks Christmas game, Booker discussed his rivalry with Doncic and stated that they both have respect for one another.
“I believe it demonstrates the purpose of social media and how people use it to stir up controversy and hunt for anything. Since he joined the league, Luka and I have had a mutually beneficial and high level of respect for one another. Every game in a playoff series intensifies the competition, and the world grabs hold of it. It’s advantageous for the game, traction, and views. But we just compete at a high level; there are no issues between us.”
When the Mavericks and Suns squared off in the second round of the 2022 Playoffs, Booker and Doncic’s rivalry was born. Everyone anticipated that the Suns would easily defeat the Mavericks, but Doncic pulled Dallas to an incredible seven-game series victory on his own. Throughout the series, Booker spoke a lot of nonsense, particularly after the Suns took a 3-2 lead. Doncic then famously said, “Everybody acting tough when they’re up,” and went on to win Games 6 and 7 to advance to his first-ever Conference Finals.
In one of the most dominant series victories ever, Doncic nearly became the only player to lead a series in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks, surpassing every Suns player in those categories. He also nearly tied LeBron James for the record.
Due to his disastrous performance in Game 7, when he finished with 11 points on 3-14 shooting and the Suns’ 64-win season coming to an end with a home loss in the second round, people don’t remember what Book did throughout the series.
In contrast to Booker, who averaged 23.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.6 assists, Doncic had an average of 32.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 7.0 assists. Because of his disastrous Game 7 performance, in which he finished with 11 points on 3-14 shooting and the Suns’ 64-win season ending with a second-round exit at home, people don’t remember what Book did throughout the series.
Doncic and Booker intend to open a new chapter during the holiday season.
Although Booker asserts that the two have mutual respect, it appears that whenever they meet, there are animosity between them on the court.
In February of last year, during a suspenseful Suns vs. Mavericks game, Doncic and Booker got into a tumultuous on-court altercation that also involved Kyrie Irving. Since Dallas was a terrible team the previous season, the Suns have emerged victorious in this rivalry.
For both teams, the Christmas matchup is significant. The Suns will have to contend with dropping below.500 and securing a spot outside of the 11th seed if they lose. The Mavericks are hoping to get back into the top four in the rankings after a difficult December marked by injuries. In addition to Kyrie Irving’s continued absence from games, they will go into Christmas without Josh Green and Maxi Kleber, two important rotational players. Dereck Lively II, a rookie center, is not very reliable.
With Bradley Beal out for the majority of the season and Jusuf Nurkic missing the game due to personal reasons, the Suns have also struggled with health. If both Kyrie and Lively end up missing the game, Dallas’ roster will be weaker, but at least they still have Kevin Durant and Booker.
It’s amusing to consider a scenario in which Doncic and Booker were teammates when reflecting on the 2018 Draft, since the Suns selected Deandre Ayton over Luka. Though we’ll settle for them having the only noticeable rivalry among young guards in the league, this would have been a championship-winning backcourt.
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