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Devin Booker Jayson Tatum Joel Embiid Luka Dončić Anthony Davis James Harden Kawhi Leonard

LeBron James Stephen Curry Chris Paul Giannis Antetokounmpo Kevin Durant Paul George Russell Westbrook

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Greg Bach

MASON CREST MIAMI

Mason Crest PO Box 221876 Hollywood, FL 33022 (866) MCP-BOOK (toll-free) www.masoncrest.com

Copyright © 2024 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN (hardback) 978-1-4222-4661-0

ISBN (series) 978-1-4222-4843-0 ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4222-7152-0 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Bach, Greg, author. Title: Devin Booker / Greg Bach. Description: Hollywood, FL : Mason Crest, [2024] | Series: Hardwood greats : Pro basketball’s best players | Includes QR codes and links to third-party content. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2023018512 | ISBN 9781422246610 (hardback) | ISBN 9781422248430 (series) | ISBN 9781422271520 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Booker, Devin, 1996---Juvenile literature. | Forwards (Basketball)--United States--Biography--Juvenile literature. | African American basketball players--United States--Biography--Juvenile literature. | Basketball players--United States--Biography--Juvenile literature. | Phoenix Suns (Basketball team)--History--Juvenile literature. | National Basketball Association--History--Juvenile literature. Classification: LCC GV884.B65 B33 2024 | DDC 796.323092 [B]--dc23/eng/20230627

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023018512 Developed and Produced by National Highlights, Inc. Editor: Andrew Luke Production: Crafted Content, LLC (www.craftedcontentllc.com)

QR CODES AND LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY CONTENT You may gain access to certain third-party content (“Third-Party Sites”) by scanning and using the QR Codes that appear in this publication (the “QR Codes”). We do not operate or control in any respect any information, products, or services on such Third-Party Sites linked to by us via the QR Codes included in this publication, and we assume no responsibility for any materials you may access using the QR Codes. Your use of the QR Codes may be subject to terms, limitations, or restrictions set forth in the applicable terms of use or otherwise established by the owners of the Third-Party Sites. Our linking to such Third-Party Sites via the QR Codes does not imply an endorsement or sponsorship of such Third-Party Sites or the information, products, or services offered on or through the Third-Party Sites, nor does it imply an endorsement or sponsorship of this publication by the owners of such Third-Party Sites.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Greatest Moments . . . . 7 Chapter 2: The Road to the Top . 23 Chapter 3: On the Court . . . . . . . 37 Chapter 4: Words Count . . . . . . . 51 Chapter 5: Off the Court . . . . . . . 63

Series Glossary of Key Terms . . 74 Further Reading & Internet Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Author Biography & Credits . . . 80

KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR:

Words to understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! Text-dependent questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Research projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series glossary of key terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND

albeit: although extravaganza: spectacular entertainment menace: a person who poses a threat or danger uncanny: unreal; exceptional; astounding

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Chapter 1

Greatest Moments Dynamic in the Desert When Devin Booker stepped foot in the desert to begin his first NBA season with the Phoenix Suns in 2015, many questions accompanied his arrival. Foremost among them: could a teenager with one year of college basketball experience—who didn’t start a single game for the University of Kentucky— help turn around a franchise that had detoured into hard times and hadn’t cracked the postseason in five years? Booker answered those concerns hovering around the Suns’ fan base in a resounding fashion, thanks to his uncanny ability to rack up buckets in bunches and change games in a flurry of spectacular shot-making. Bypassed by a dozen other teams during the NBA Draft, Booker has made many of them dearly regret their decisions through the years. Capitalizing on his potent blend of size (six feet, five inches) and quickness, he’s a menace for even the game’s best defenders. Capable of creating space to hoist long-range 7

Booker was named an NBA All-Star in consecutive seasons from 2020 through 2022.

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three-pointers or slicing into the heavily congested areas around the basket, he’s prone to stockpiling points in a multitude of ways. Nifty Numbers An obvious choice for the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team in 2016, a season in which he became the fourth youngest player to notch 1,000 career points, Booker has been trampling the NBA record books ever since. He torched the Boston Celtics for 70 points in 2017, just the sixth player in league history to reach that lofty mark. The following season he blew past 4,000 career points, the third youngest to do so behind only LeBron James and Kevin Durant. In 2019, he became the youngest player in league history to record back-to-back games of 50 or more points. During the pandemic, when the NBA shifted all its games to the Orlando Bubble, he was beyond brilliant, averaging more than 30 points a game while leading the Suns to the only undefeated record in the bubble (8-0). In 2021, he pushed Phoenix to the brink of an NBA title and then spent part of his summer in Tokyo helping Team USA win a gold medal. Words of Wisdom During Booker’s rookie season, he had a post-game conversation with Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant, who would close out his Hall of Fame career less than a month later. Bryant told Booker to “be legendary” and inscribed a pair of his shoes for him with that message. The conversation meant so much to Booker that he later got those two words tattooed on the inside of his right forearm. Judging by the numbers, Booker continues to put up and the trajectory that the Suns are on with him leading the way, he is certainly living up to those powerful words.

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Chapter 1: Greatest Moments

Booker’s Greatest Career Moments

Here is a look at some of Devin Booker’s career firsts and greatest achievements

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Chapter 1: Greatest Moments

1

Wins Three-Point Shooting Contest at 2018 All-Star Weekend

To stake a claim as one of the league’s greatest shooters, players must step up under the bright lights of the NBA’s annual Three-Point Shooting Contest and deliver on the court during All-Star Weekend. That’s exactly what Devin Booker did during the 2018 extravaganza at The Staples Center in Los Angeles. Competing against a fantastic field that featured the champions of the past three events (Eric Gordon, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry) along with other sharpshooters, the Suns’ guard posted the greatest final-round score (28) in the contest’s history. During that breathtaking final round, he went on a run to remember, sinking 20 of 25 shots to stamp an exclamation point on a night of exquisite shooting. Booker became the second Phoenix player ever to win the event, joining Quentin Richardson, who shot his way to the title in 2005 in Denver. The first Three-Point Shooting Contest was held in 1986 and won by Boston great Larry Bird.

Devin Booker won the Three-Point Shooting Contest at the 2018 All-Star Game at The Staples Center in Los Angeles with a final round record-breaking run.

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2

Golden Summer in Tokyo Like athletes in the rest of the world, Booker had to put his Olympic dreams on hold for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 Tokyo games were postponed for a year, and when they finally began, it was a rocky beginning for Booker in Team USA’s first game. He missed five of the six shots he attempted in a shocking opening-game loss to France but then ramped up his play and helped the American squad reel off five straight wins to claim a gold medal in Tokyo. Three days after that stumble against the French team, Booker was terrific with 16 points during a rout of Iran. Then, in the semifinals against Australia, he struck for 20 points in Team USA’s 97–78 win, as he connected on seven of the 10 shots he attempted. For the six Olympic games—he started in five of them for the talent-laden US squad—he averaged more than nine points and three rebounds while playing an average of just under 21 minutes a game. He shot 42.2 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from behind the three point line. He was also near-perfect from the free throw line, missing just once in 14 attempts.

Devin Booker and Team USA defeated France 87–82 to avenge an earlier loss in pool play and win the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

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3

Named to All-Rookie First Team Having watched a dozen teams pass on him during the 2015 NBA Draft, Devin Booker outplayed most of those picked before him that season and proved that No. 13 was indeed lucky for Phoenix on his way to being named to the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team. He averaged 13.8 points a game—the most for a Suns’ rookie since Michael Finley averaged 15 points a game back in 1995–96—while converting on more than 34 percent of his three-point shots. He scored 30 or more points six times during the season, including a torrid streak in early March where he had three games of 30 or more points in a seven-day span. He also set a Phoenix franchise record by stringing together 14 straight games where he made at least one three-pointer. Booker was joined on the First Team by unanimous Rookie of Year selection Karl-Anthony Towns of Minnesota (his former teammate at Kentucky), New York’s Kristaps Porzingis, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, and Philadelphia’s Jahill Okafor.

Devin Booker averaged 13.8 points a game and made a lot of great plays on his way to being named to the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team in 2016.

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4

Fabulous Fifty Twice! Within the span of 72 hours during the 2019 season, Booker put on a dazzling display of high-volume shot making rarely seen in the history of the NBA. Booker exploded for 59 points in a March loss at Utah, and two nights later, back home in Phoenix, he blitzed Washington for 50 more (in another loss), becoming just the 10th player in NBA history to post back-to-back 50-point games. At 22 years old, he became the youngest to pull off the feat, eclipsing Hall of Famer Rick Barry, who had set the record with games of 50 and 52 during the 1967 season with the then-San Francisco Warriors. Booker got rolling against the Jazz early, sinking a trio of threes in the opening quarter, and he finished five of eight from behind the three-point line for the game. Against the visiting Wizards, he was dialed in early once again, striking for 18 first-quarter points on his way to 30 at halftime.

Devin Booker became the youngest player in NBA history to score 50 points in back-to-back games during the 2019 season.

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5

Forty in the Finals: Back-to-Back In his first trip to the NBA Finals in 2021, Devin Booker joined elite company with a pair of dazzling performances in Games Four and Five, albeit in losing efforts. His 42 points in a six-point loss in Game Four, along with his 40 points in a 123–119 loss in Game Five, enabled him to join Rick Barry and Dwyane Wade as the only players to post back-to-back games of 40 or more points in the NBA Finals before turning 25. During Game Four, Booker was sensational during an epic third quarter in which he didn’t miss a shot on his way to 18 points, and he carried that torrid shooting into Game Five, knocking down 17 of 33 shots. The other players in NBA history to pull off this feat during their careers (regardless of age) were Jerry West, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, and, ironically, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who did so in Games Two and Three of this series against the Suns.

Devin Booker scored 40 points against Milwaukee in Game Five of the 2021 NBA Finals.

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