‘He wants to prove it.’ Ex-Cat Devin Booker in discussion for NBA Finals MVP.
Two games into the 2021 NBA Finals, former University of Kentucky star Devin Booker has put himself in serious contention for MVP of the series.
Booker’s Phoenix Suns have a 2-0 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks after Thursday night’s 118-108 victory in Arizona.
The best-of-seven series resumes Sunday in Milwaukee.
The 24-year-old Booker is averaging 29 points per game in the series, making him the second-leading scorer in the Finals behind only Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is averaging 31 points per game after scoring 42 on Thursday night. No player from the team to lose the NBA Finals has won the MVP award since Jerry West in 1969, the first time the award was presented.
Booker’s Suns teammate, Chris Paul, has averaged 27.5 points this series and, as a 16-year veteran playing in his first Finals, could be a sentimental choice for MVP if the balloting is tight.
Booker, appearing in the playoffs for the first time in his six-year NBA career, has also averaged 3.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 3.0 turnovers per game in the Finals. He’s made all 10 of his free throws and is 8-for-20 (40 percent) from three-point range. Booker played nearly 42 minutes in the opening game and 44 on Thursday night.
Booker scored 21 points of his 31 points in the second half Thursday night, continually making big buckets to hold off a furious Bucks rally led by Antetokounmpo.
Booker credited “team basketball” for his hot shooting down the stretch.
“I think a few of them were open and we prepared for these moments, like you said, nobody’s running from any action or any type of moment, like you guys are saying, and it’s not just me, it’s 1 through 5,” Booker said during his postgame press conference. “It’s like you said, setting my man up, Deandre (Ayton) hitting a screen, Chris (Paul) causing enough attention to get me open. So, it’s all the collective group, it’s team basketball and that’s why I feel like we have been successful for most of the year.”
The list of NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award winners through the years is a who’s who of Hall of Famers or players destined to get there.
Michael Jordan won the award a record six times. LeBron James has done so four times. Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan have three trophies apiece. Two-time winners are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Hakeem Olajuwon and Willis Reed.
Only two players ever to win the NBA Finals MVP award and be eligible for induction have not gone on to become Hall of Famers – Cedric Maxwell and Chauncey Billups.
“Devin wants to prove to everybody he’s one of the best players in the league, but not just from a stats, numbers perspective. He wants to prove it by winning,” Suns Coach Monty Williams said after Thursday night’s win. “And he’s getting the chance to do it on the big stage.”