Is Booker already the 3rd best player in the history of the Suns?

Waylay13 · Post #41 » by **Waylay13** » Fri Jun 4, 2021 2:16 pm

While KJ had some amazing basketball skills; I question that he should be in the ring or listed as one of our greatest players. Walter Davis never got on the ring doing drugs in age when everyone with money was. KJ likely sexually assaulted a minor and misused funds from his charity. why do we hold him up so high?

NapoleonII · Post #42 » by **NapoleonII** » Fri Jun 4, 2021 2:49 pm

He's somewhere between 5 and 7 now.

It's too early to say, though. Denethor is an OG Suns fans and we got some legends here. A win over Denver/LAC and a finals berth might seal 3rd or 2nd:

Calvin Klein · Post #43 » by **Calvin Klein** » Fri Jun 4, 2021 3:33 pm

Well, I think bumping this thread after every game is dumb, but he definitely made a case to climb the rank with this last game. Still not there I guess, but closer.

Ghost of Kleine · Post #44 » by **Ghost of Kleine** » Fri Jun 4, 2021 4:08 pm

ESPN (@espn) Tweeted:
47 points and sent the defending champs home.

@DevinBook deserves respect https://t.co/opCXpelKlj

Read on Twitter

?s=20

TRUTH!!!!! :nod:

SunsRback4Good · Post #45 » by **SunsRback4Good** » Fri Jun 4, 2021 5:14 pm

NapoleonII wrote:He's somewhere between 5 and 7 now.

It's too early to say, though. Denethor is an OG Suns fans and we got some legends here. A win over Denver/LAC and a finals berth might seal 3rd or 2nd:

^^^^^^^^^

Lebron & AD running for their lives after Suns scorched them.

NapoleonII · Post #46 » by **NapoleonII** » Fri Jun 4, 2021 5:22 pm

SunsRback4Good wrote:
NapoleonII wrote:He's somewhere between 5 and 7 now.

It's too early to say, though. Denethor is an OG Suns fans and we got some legends here. A win over Denver/LAC and a finals berth might seal 3rd or 2nd:

^^^^^^^^^

Lebron & AD running for their lives after Suns scorched them.

Yup.

That's also Drummond playing the pick n roll on offense.

SunsRback4Good · Post #47 » by **SunsRback4Good** » Fri Jun 4, 2021 5:28 pm

NapoleonII wrote:
SunsRback4Good wrote:
NapoleonII wrote:He's somewhere between 5 and 7 now.

It's too early to say, though. Denethor is an OG Suns fans and we got some legends here. A win over Denver/LAC and a finals berth might seal 3rd or 2nd:

^^^^^^^^^

Lebron & AD running for their lives after Suns scorched them.

Yup.

That's also Drummond playing the pick n roll on offense.

Wilber85 · Post #48 » by **Wilber85** » Fri Jun 4, 2021 5:42 pm

To be honest. I give Booker #3 right now.

Post #49 » by **bwgood77** » Fri Jun 4, 2021 6:53 pm

Saberestar wrote:Another step closer to this consideration.

Book was our leader in 3 of our 4 wins against the Lakers in first round.

In his first playoff game he played great, but he played even better in games 5 and 6, those performances are already legendaries in the franchise.

Tonight...47 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists. Shooting 15/22, 8/10 from three, 9/9 FTs. RIDICULOUS.

His game is tailor-made for the playoffs. I can not wait to watch what he is gonna do against the Nuggets.

I know people want to give Book all the credit for this series victory, but fellow first year playoff guy who is a couple years younger was equally important, and we also had an MVP candidate PG who is the best PG of his generation.

Yeah, but KJ, for example, in his 3rd year, knocked out a much better defending champion Lakers team in 5, with MVP Magic in his prime and outplaying him, and he averaged like 22, 11.2 and 5.6. In his 2nd year he took the team to the WCF and lost to the future champion Lakers averaging about 23 and 13.

He also averaged like 30 and 10 against the future champion Rockets in 95 including a 46 and 10 game and a 43, 9, 6 and 3 game. This AFTER leading them to the WCF in years 2 and 3 and helping lead them to the finals in 93.

Then you have all those guys from earlier, like Paul Westphal leading the Suns to the finals in 76 averaging over 20 and 5 with great D.

A few really good games for Book in the first round doesn't raise him that much I don't think. Now if he is by far the best player on our team and we go to the finals he will probably shoot up to top 5 or so but so many guys led teams in multiple playoff runs year after year with tons of huge games.

WeekapaugGroove · Post #50 » by **WeekapaugGroove** » Fri Jun 4, 2021 9:00 pm

I'm not going to get into all time rankings but last night's game ranks up there in one of the best performances by a suns player ever. Huge game on the road and he absolutely owned it. That was an 'Im the baddest MF'er on the court game' with LeBron on the other side. Legacy game

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Post #51 » by **bwgood77** » Sun Jun 6, 2021 12:27 am

I agree it is one of the best, but there are so many absolutely great playoff performances too. I assume most here were around for the Nash years, but for example, against Dallas in 2005 he had a 48 point game, a 39 pt and 12 ast game and another 34 and 12 game. Amare had a 40 and 16 game, a 37 and 14 game, a 33 and 18 game, and a 30 and 16 game.

Then Amare's point totals against the Spurs were 42, 41, 37, 34 and 31...and this is against Duncan.

He never really quite rose to that level again after surgery but those are 9 playoff games, and even in the first round he had 34 and 30 pt games...this is a young guy probably around Book's age, with like 10+ great playoff games in one year.

Some people may not remember Amare well.

I think with the Booker recency people forget what Nash did against Dallas that year and Amare did in those playoffs. But of course Booker's game is up there with those and many others from Barkley, KJ and others, particularly his play in that first quarter. AD may have been out, but he absolutely took advantage.

dremill24 · Post #52 » by **dremill24** » Sun Jun 6, 2021 1:32 am

bwgood77 wrote:
Saberestar wrote:Another step closer to this consideration.

Book was our leader in 3 of our 4 wins against the Lakers in first round.

In his first playoff game he played great, but he played even better in games 5 and 6, those performances are already legendaries in the franchise.

Tonight...47 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists. Shooting 15/22, 8/10 from three, 9/9 FTs. RIDICULOUS.

His game is tailor-made for the playoffs. I can not wait to watch what he is gonna do against the Nuggets.

I know people want to give Book all the credit for this series victory, but fellow first year playoff guy who is a couple years younger was equally important, and we also had an MVP candidate PG who is the best PG of his generation.

.

We get it man... you hate Booker and love DA lol

suns12345 · Post #53 » by **suns12345** » Sun Jun 6, 2021 1:35 am

Books place in suns history should be elevated by his loyalty and effort guiding us through the worst period in our history. I know we have contract control, but still, he aways remained dedicated and never pouted. That counts for something to me as a fan in his place in history for us.

Calvin Klein · Post #54 » by **Calvin Klein** » Sun Jun 6, 2021 1:58 am

suns12345 wrote:Books place in suns history should be elevated by his loyalty and effort guiding us through the worst period in our history. I know we have contract control, but still, he aways remained dedicated and never pouted. That counts for something to me as a fan in his place in history for us.

Absolutely. This is why I don't quite get the hate he gets some time when he has a subpar game. He's been the only thing that kept us going and hopeful that someday we would be in this situation.

NapoleonII · Post #55 » by **NapoleonII** » Sun Jun 6, 2021 2:09 am

suns12345 wrote:Books place in suns history should be elevated by his loyalty and effort guiding us through the worst period in our history. I know we have contract control, but still, he aways remained dedicated and never pouted. That counts for something to me as a fan in his place in history for us.

The maturity he showed in years 1-5 is really commendable. I've never seen anyone give him credit for that.

cberry78 · Post #56 » by **cberry78** » Sun Jun 6, 2021 2:21 am

This is why DB will be a top 3 player in Suns history:
https://arizonasports.com/story/2675956/what-we-learned-from-the-suns-series-win-over-the-lakers/

Everybody likes Booker’s game but he’s so much deeper than his game. What has always stayed with me was the night Al McCoy was inducted into the Suns Ring of Honor. As much as we love Al, most players could care less about a play-by-play guy. Booker came out of the locker room to watch the proceedings. He wanted to feel what it meant to be a Sun. He saw how many members of the Ring of Honor came back to be a part of the evening. He saw how, normally, crowds of under 10,000 people came out every night and, because of history and love of team, there was suddenly a regular season sell-out crowd for that night. It almost cemented Booker as a Sun in his mind, even before that was cemented in ours.

Post #57 » by **bwgood77** » Sun Jun 6, 2021 2:28 am

dremill24 wrote:
bwgood77 wrote:
Saberestar wrote:Another step closer to this consideration.

Book was our leader in 3 of our 4 wins against the Lakers in first round.

In his first playoff game he played great, but he played even better in games 5 and 6, those performances are already legendaries in the franchise.

Tonight...47 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists. Shooting 15/22, 8/10 from three, 9/9 FTs. RIDICULOUS.

His game is tailor-made for the playoffs. I can not wait to watch what he is gonna do against the Nuggets.

I know people want to give Book all the credit for this series victory, but fellow first year playoff guy who is a couple years younger was equally important, and we also had an MVP candidate PG who is the best PG of his generation.

.

We get it man... you hate Booker and love DA lol

No, just 3rd all time in Suns history is a bit much, though I know most who answered poll agree. I just feel sometimes people don't see any faults at all and pick on Ayton non stop despite his unexpected improvement. No doubt Booker is our greatest player we have drafted in a long while and I love his loyalty and work ethic, and his clutchness in that close out game against LeBron was a special game and our biggest playoff performance in years...at least since Amare in our first win against the defending champion Lakers in 2010 but likely further back to 2007 and/or the few years before that...and given the circumstances and it being a close out game, it was huge. Do I think it vaults him to 3rd all time Sun? Not yet.

SunsRback4Good · Post #58 » by **SunsRback4Good** » Sun Jun 6, 2021 6:21 am

Marion, KJ, Barkley, Davis, Westphal, Amundson, Amare, Hawkins, Majerle are ahead of him in no particular order. Give book few more nice years to get into top 5 of all time Suns players. 4-5 years likely.top 3 and 7-8 years top or top 2.

cberry78 · Post #59 » by **cberry78** » Sun Jun 6, 2021 6:40 am

SunsRback4Good wrote:Marion, KJ, Barkley, Davis, Westphal, Amundson, Amare, Hawkins, Majerle are ahead of him in no particular order. Give book few more nice years to get into top 5 of all time Suns players. 4-5 years likely.top 3 and 7-8 years top or top 2.

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Post #60 » by **bwgood77** » Sun Jun 6, 2021 6:47 am

cberry78 wrote:
SunsRback4Good wrote:Marion, KJ, Barkley, Davis, Westphal, Amundson, Amare, Hawkins, Majerle are ahead of him in no particular order. Give book few more nice years to get into top 5 of all time Suns players. 4-5 years likely.top 3 and 7-8 years top or top 2.
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Yeah, sub Nash for Amundson and take off Majerle. Majerle is a weird one though...3 all star games, 2 all defensive teams and a member of the 2nd Dream Team. He was certainly considered a top player overall for awhile...but Booker definitely feels ahead already.

Is Book the 3rd best player in the history of the Suns?