Devin Booker has a chance to “be legendary.”
The phrase, of course, refers to the tattoo on Booker’s arm in Kobe Bryant’s handwriting. It was something the Black Mamba told a rookie Booker back in 2016.
Facing an 0-2 deficit against Minnesota in a best-of-seven first-round playoff series, this would be a good time for him to take Kobe’s advice.
Book could open a new chapter by helping the Suns eclipse the Timberwolves, announcing himself as one of the league’s true greats.
Booker is close. He’s a four-time All-Star. He’s been All-NBA. And he was the leading scorer on a team that went to the NBA Finals. But if he wants to reach that next level, he’s going to have to do something no one expects – like coming back to win a series he’s supposed to lose.
To be clear, there isn’t a sane person in the sports world who expects the Suns to win this series.
They’ve had a flawed roster all year, without a true point guard to organize the offense and set the defense. They’ve cycled through role players like an old guy on a mountain bike. And they’ve dealt with injuries to everybody but Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic, it seems.
Minnesota, meanwhile, has been out cold. The Timberwolves were one of the top teams all season, and Anthony Edwards spent half the year howling at the moon after dunking on some poor center who rotated late.
Plus, there’s not a lot of precedent for NBA teams rebounding from an 0-2 hole. Coming into these playoffs, 449 teams had been down 0-2, only 33 (about 7 percent) had been able to come back to win.
Of course, Booker has been on the wrong end of a couple of those.
He was up 2-0 in the NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, before Giannis Antetokounmpo started playing like a Greek god in basketball shorts. And two years ago, Booker was up 2-0 on the Dallas Mavericks, before Luka Doncic’s magic made Phoenix disappear.
But that’s really the difference between Booker and those other guys, isn’t it? That’s why Giannis and Luka make the All-Star team on the fan vote, why they’re never overlooked by the worldwide leaders of sports highlights.
They’ve done things that no one saw coming, playing like they know that all things are possible for those who believe.
They didn’t complain about foul calls or turnovers or coaching. They didn’t wait for their teammates to get going first. And they didn’t let their guys quit on the head coach.
They just figured it out.
Kobe Bryant did it, coming back from an 0-2 deficit against the Spurs in 2004.
Charles Barkley did it against the Lakers in 1993 – and that was in a five-game series!
Bryant was one of Booker’s idols. I can close my eyes and hear the Lord of the Rings saying, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time given us – and win even if that means we must shoot the ball 60 times in the first half.”
Barkley has been one of Booker’s loudest critics. It’s a right that Sir Charles has earned as greatest player in Suns history. I can hear him cranking up the fishin’ boat on “Inside the NBA” and saying, “See! Tol’ y’all he was soft!”
For the record, I don’t think Booker is a paperback. I think he belongs in the class of the NBA’s most elite stars.
This is his chance to prove me right. It’s not on Durant, a two-time NBA Finals MVP whose legacy is secure and can only grow.
It’s on Book, who still has something to prove and can open a new chapter in Phoenix for Game 3 on Friday.
Booker can become legendary by beating the Timberwolves. This hole is a perfect setting for the Suns’ star to light up the NBA world.
