The Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns found themselves in a competitive battle on Sunday, and Luka Doncic and Devin Booker were at the center.
Doncic and Booker, indisputably two of the top players in the Western Conference and perhaps the best at their respective positions in the NBA, have a history of tension. Booker said it best when he said that they have “some smoke” with one another.
The two stars also clashed during the postseason last year, and Booker’s trash talk backfired before the Suns were eliminated from the playoffs.
They found themselves entangled once again on Sunday, and this time, the Suns emerged victorious. After the game, however, Doncic issued a warning to Booker.
Luka Doncic: “It’s a competitive game. It’s all good. Next time, just don’t wait until there’s three seconds left to talk.”
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) March 5, 2023
As noted by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, during his postgame press conference, Doncic told Booker that it is okay for tensions to run high during the heat of battle.
But he added that next time, he would prefer if Booker didn’t wait until the final seconds of the game to talk trash. It sounds like Doncic wants to use the competitive jabs to pump him up during the game.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard such a sentiment from Doncic, who also said “everybody acting tough when they up” against the Suns in the playoffs.
That shouldn’t be too much of a problem for Booker, though. You can check out this Twitter thread to see his history of talking trash even when his team is losing.
Here is a thread of Book trash talking when he's losing.
— Alex Fuentes (@aviatorinflight) March 6, 2023
NBA fans should absolutely want to see the Suns and Mavericks match up against each other in the playoffs.
Booker also got chippy with Doncic’s newest teammate, Kyrie Irving, during the game. (That’s a fascinating wrinkle considering the rumors that Irving may head to the Suns this offseason.) The two coaches, Monty Williams and Jason Kidd, shared some words as well.
But most of all, of course, this matchup would feature a fascinating battle between Kyrie and his former teammate Kevin Durant.
