Devin Booker rips referees in epic postgame rant after Game 2 vs. Thunder

The Phoenix Suns are trailing their first round playoff series against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder 2-0 heading back home to the Valley of the Sun. After Wednesday’s loss, it appears Devin Booker has had enough of the disrespect from the NBA’s referees.

The game saw multiple controversial calls, from Devin Booker’s offensive foul for an “unnatural” shooting motion on Alex Caruso to the puzzling technical foul he received later in the game.

After the loss, Devin Booker was asked if he received an explanation for his technical foul. Needless to say, that opened the floodgates.

“I still haven’t gotten one,” Booker said. “It’s definitely something that has to be looking it. I heard [Alex] Caruso tell them to call the tech and he ended up doing it. That’s one ref. 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.”

When asked if he received an explanation for his offensive foul on Caruso, Booker continued his rant.

“Yes, they said unnatural shooting motion that hit Caruso, but Caruso’s moving forward on that,” Booker added. “If that’s an unnatural shooting motion compared to what guys are doing to get fouls nowadays. You can play them side by side and I’ll let you be the judge. Pull the clips, run it back, I’m surprised this is happening on national TV in playoff games.”

And if that wasn’t enough, Booker made sure to triple down while being fully aware that the NBA is going to fine him for his postgame comments

“It’s hard, but it just feels disrespectful. 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.

“It’s my first time [complaining about the referees] 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.”

The Thunder shot five more free throws than the Suns in Game 1 and just 3 more in Game 2, but the impact of the officials is going beyond free throw numbers, and Booker simply wanted to call it out.

The league likely won’t take long to fine Booker for his postgame comments, with the reasoning very likely being “criticism of the game officials,” and, “questioning the integrity of the game.”

Game 3 between the Suns and Thunder isn’t until Saturday, so Phoenix will have an opportunity to collect themselves and clean up as many mistakes as possible before playing in front of their home crowd in what will essentially be a do-or-die game.

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