The defending-champion, top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder lead the eighth-seeded Phoenix Suns 2-0 in their first-round playoff series.
That is an expected outcome.
But Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker doesn’t care that the odds are stacked heavily in the Thunder’s favor. He criticized the referees for, in his mind, helping the Thunder during Oklahoma City’s 120-107 win over Phoenix on Wednesday night.
Booker was assessed a technical foul in the third quarter, and he was asked about it during his postgame press conference.
“It’s definitely something that has to be looked into,” Booker said. “I heard [Alex] Caruso tell them to call the tech, and he ended up doing it. 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.”
Booker continued, “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. This is 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.”
Booker will almost assuredly get fined by the NBA for his public criticism of an official, but Suns owner Mat Ishbia posted on X that he is “100% behind Devin Booker.”
“Last night was not a good look for our league,” Ishbia continued. “Let me be clear, we didn’t lose because of officiating, but that doesn’t make last night any less important. If the referees are going to demand respect from the players — as they should — then the players should demand respect from the referees.
“When a referee is missing calls and clearly disrespecting the players, almost mocking them, they must be held accountable. Nobody who loves this game enjoyed watching that last night. They want to see the players compete at the highest level. The league needs [to] be far more aggressive about this kind of thing. All players and all fans deserve it.”