Phoenix Suns star shooting guard Devin Booker took to Twitter Wednesday morning to fire back at his critics and haters in a seven word response.
The Suns shooter is coming off his best season to date. He earned his first All Pro selection, averaged a career best 26.8 points and 5.0 rebounds, and led the Suns to the best record in the Western Conference and the number one seed. After beating the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round, Booker and the Suns faced off against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in a hotly contested series. The Mavs came back from a 2-0 series deficit to beat the Suns in seven games. Booker caught criticism for his inconsistent performances in the series, especially in Game 7 when he mustered up a mere 11 points in the loss.
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Since the loss, Booker has been on the receiving end of criticism and trolling, due in part to his public breakup with fashion model and reality television star Kendall Jenner. Another reason is the recent rumors of his inclusion in this year’s upcoming installment of the NBA2K franchise.
If the rumors are true, Booker would join Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan and WNBA superstars Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi as the cover athletes for the 2023 installment of the franchise. Last year’s version of the game saw Doncic himself grace the cover for the first time.
But NBA fans were shocked and angered by the rumors, saying that Phoenix's collapse in the playoffs make Booker unworthy of the honor. 2K cover athletes have featured some of the best players in the history of the game. Hall of Fame point guard Allen Iverson starred as the game’s first cover athlete in 1999. Since then, stars like Damian Lilliard, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Paul George have been honored with the cover athlete status.