The Suns’ star player fumed after being assessed a third-quarter technical foul that confused everyone, including the broadcasters, in Phoenix’s 120-107 Game 2 loss to the Thunder to fall into a 2-0 series hole.
Booker attempted to save the ball from going out of bounds and appeared to be given a technical foul for hitting Oklahoma City’s Jaylin Williams with the ball in the process.
Devin Booker blasted referee James Williams and the NBA league office for poor officating. NBAE via Getty Images Booker claimed that the Thunder’s Alex Caruso influenced the ref into assessing the technical.
“It’s definitely something that has to be looked at. I heard Caruso tell them to call the tech and he ended up doing it,” Booker told reporters after the game. “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 the WWE if they’re not held responsible.”
Caruso could be seen yelling something toward the referees, while motioning for a technical foul call.
The ESPN broadcast team was baffled by the decision to assess Booker with a technical foul.
“They’re just calling it on that? Booker was trying to save it, and because of how he saved the ball, it hit Jay Williams. They’re calling a technical foul on that? He’s just trying to save the ball,” Dave Pasch said.
“Why is that a tech?” analyst Doris Burke added.
James Williams did a terrible job on Wednesday night, according to Devin Booker. NBAE via Getty Images “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,” Booker said. “It’s my first time in 11 years but it’s needed. Whatever, I get fined for it, everybody can pull the clips and see where the frustration comes from.”
Teammate Dillon Brooks told reporters “they should be interviewing the officials” and not the players, which reporters are not allowed to do aside from a pool reporter in certain situations.
Typically, an assessment of the officiating comes out after each game, though one was not available at the time of writing.
Social media has been ablaze with controversy regarding the refereeing in the game.
The Thunder — the No. 1 seed in the West and the defending NBA champs — have shot 48 free throws in the series compared to 40 for the Suns.
One social media post called out Chet Holmgren for getting a favorable whistle as he got a Suns defender to jump in the air on a pump fake, though the whistle was arguably unwarranted due to what the user described as Holmgren’s wildly “unnatural shooting motion,” which would negate the defensive foul.
Holmgren induced the foul call, but Booker was not given the same favor earlier in the game.
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has received widespread criticism for “foul-baiting” that some claim are bad for the sport.
Ringer founder Bill Simmons previously said the “ludicrous” tactics are “ruining the NBA product” and “not basketball,” a point Celtics star Jaylen Brown recently echoed.
