Devin Booker calls out reporter over postgame question to Suns teammates

Feb 25, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) drives against New Orleans Pelicans in the second half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Devin Booker felt a bit of secondhand cringe after Tuesday’s game.

The Phoenix Suns, playing without all of Booker, Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton, Cameron Payne, Cameron Johnson, Landry Shamet, and Jae Crowder, got a massive victory over the Golden State Warriors in a national TV contest.

After the final buzzer, Suns forward Mikal Bridges, who led the charge with 26 points, and Suns guard Damion Lee, who chipped in 22 of his own, were interviewed by TNT’s Chris Haynes. Noting he had posed the same question to Phoenix head coach Monty Williams earlier in the day, Haynes essentially asked whether the Suns’ championship window had closed.

Chris Haynes Mikal Bridges pic.twitter.com/LPGG1NyCWF

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) January 11, 2023

The Phoenix star Booker, apparently watching from home, was not happy with what he heard, tweeting, “What kinda question was that.”

What kinda question was that

— Book (@DevinBook) January 11, 2023

Indeed, no player will ever come out and say that their team’s championship window is over, so you already know the response that you are going to get by asking a question like that. By playing on Williams’ metaphor of a house with only one window, Haynes’ phrasing there was a bit awkward as well.

The Suns do have plenty of work to do since they are still a .500 team right now, having dropped six straight games before the win over Golden State. But for a team that made the NBA Finals just 18 months ago and then won 64 games last year, a healthy Phoenix side should still be a handful to deal with, especially with the recent dawning of a new era for the team.