Devin Armani Booker - The Hero of basketball

Devin Armani Booker

Devin Armani Booker ▪ Twitter: @DevinBook                        

(Book)

Position: Shooting Guard ▪ Shoots: Right

6-6, 206lb (198cm, 93kg)

Team: Phoenix Suns

Relatives: Father Melvin Booker

College: University of Kentucky

High School: Moss Point in Moss Point, Mississippi

Recruiting Rank: 2014 (23)

Draft: Phoenix Suns, 1st round (13th pick, 13th overall), 2015 NBA Draft

NBA Debut: October 28, 2015

Experience: 1 year

 He (born October 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended Moss Point High School in Moss Point, Mississippi and played in the 2014 McDonald's All-American Game, before spending one season playing college basketball for the University of Kentucky.He was drafted 13th overall in the 2015 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns. On March 24, 2017, Booker became the youngest player to score over 60 points in a game, finishing with 70. His father, Melvin Booker, played for three different teams in the NBA

Professional career

On June 25, 2015, Booker, was selected with the 13th overall pick by the Phoenix Suns in the 2015 NBA draft. On July 13, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Suns, and in seven subsequent Summer League games, he averaged 15.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He went on to make his NBA debut two days before his 19th birthday, in the Suns' season debut against the Dallas Mavericks. He became the first player in NBA history to debut at 18 years old after playing at least one year of college basketball. In 21 minutes of action against the Mavericks, he scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in a 111–95 loss. While he began the season as a solid backup shooting guard off the bench throughout the early portion of the season, including starts on November 23 and December 21, a late December injury to starting guard Eric Bledsoe on December 26 against the Philadelphia 76ers led to Booker's elevation to the starting line-up for the rest of the season. Before his teammate's injury, Booker was producing averages of 5.4 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 14.1 minutes of play.^[71] His production began to increase with the move and his scoring prowess became a lot more noticeable throughout the second half of the season.

2016–17 season

During his first offseason, Booker trained with head coach Earl Watson and former NBA player Baron Davis at UCLA; was invited to be on the select team that practices against Team USA in preparation for the Summer Olympics; and played two games for the Suns during the Las Vegas Summer League. With teammate Eric Bledsoe returning from injury in 2016–17, Booker was retained as the starting shooting guard while Brandon Knight was moved to the bench. In the Suns' season opener on October 26, Booker scored 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting in a 113–94 loss to the Sacramento Kings. With Booker playing alongside rookies Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender, the Suns became the first NBA team to get three teenagers on the floor in the same game. On November 4, Booker scored a career-high 38 points in a 112–111 overtime win over the New Orleans Pelicans. He bested that mark two days later, scoring 39 points in a 119–108 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He became the first Suns player to record consecutive games of 38 or more points in the regular season since Tom Chambers 28 years earlier.

On January 12, 2017, Booker tied his career high with 39 points in a 113–108 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Mexico City. His 28 fourth-quarter points set the Suns franchise record for most points in a quarter. The record was previously held by Stephon Marbury, who had 26 in the fourth in 2002. Two days later, also in Mexico City, Booker had a second straight 39-point effort in a 108–105 win over the San Antonio Spurs, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to record consecutive games of 39 or more points in the regular season. Later that month, he was named in the U.S. Team for the 2017 Rising Stars Challenge, and was invited to take part in the 2017 Taco Bell Skills Challenge. With 31 points against the Milwaukee Bucks on February 4, Booker became the youngest player to score at least 20 points in 16 consecutive games. Booker did it at 20 years, 97 days. His 16-game streak is the second-longest by any first-year or second-year player in the last 20 seasons—Vince Carter had a 23-game run as a second-year player during the 1999–2000 season. His streak ended at 16 after scoring just 14 points on February 6 against the New Orleans 

On March 24, Booker became the sixth player in NBA history to score 70 points in a game, accomplishing the feat in the Suns' 130–120 loss to the Celtics at TD Garden. Booker joined Wilt Chamberlain, David Robinson, David Thompson, Elgin Baylor and Kobe Bryant as players to reach 70 in one game. It was the 11th 70-point game in NBA history. Booker finished 21-of-40 shooting overall, including 4-of-11 on 3-pointers, and 24-of-26 from the free throw line. He added eight rebounds and six assists in 45 minutes. Booker, 20, became the youngest player to score 70 (or even 60) points in a game. He had the highest-scoring game in the NBA since Bryant scored 81 in January 2006. The Suns' previous scoring record was held by Tom Chambers—he had 60 points on March 24, 1990. With 21 points against Dallas on April 9, Booker passed Kobe Bryant to move into fourth place on the NBA scoring list of players before their 21st birthday with 2,774 points, trailing only Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and leader LeBron James. Booker ended the season averaging 22.1 points per game, a near 9-point increment from his 13.8 points in 2015–16.