Moore: Devin Booker can become the global face of the NBA by beating Milwaukee Bucks
Booker #Booker
Devin Booker has a chance to take over the world.
He and his Phoenix Suns teammates just have to win two of their next three games to secure the most globally significant NBA Finals in history.
The Suns and Bucks have a combined seven international players from six countries, including Deandre Ayton (Bahamas) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece). Their games are being broadcast in 215 countries and territories in nearly 60 languages. And the series immediately precedes the Tokyo Olympics.
“It’s a blessing,” Booker said of his opportunity to play for Team USA. But “all my attention is on the Phoenix Suns, right now, and trying to bring a championship home.”
Skeptics will say Booker can’t get it done. That he scored 42 points in Game 4, and it still wasn’t enough to prevent Phoenix from losing two games in a row in Milwaukee. They’ll say that Booker’s most important teammate, Chris Paul, is falling apart by the game, and that his most dangerous rival, Antetokounmpo, is getting stronger.
It’s on Booker to write his own story, and he’s got everything he needs for a Hollywood ending … and world domination.
‘I mean that in a good way’
His coach knows exactly what to say and how to say it.
“We are in this situation because we put ourselves in this situation,” coach Monty Williams said in the locker room Wednesday. “And I mean that in a good way. We’ve got three games to win two.”
And two of those are at home, at the newly renamed Footprint Center. (If you ask me, they’re calling it the Footprint Center because that’s what opponents will leave with on their rear ends.)
“We put ourselves in this position. We’ve got homecourt advantage,” Williams said. “You’ve got to keep your spirit high. That’s the deal. Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve talked about how everything you want is on the other side of hard. This is hard. This is freaking hard. So you’ve got to stick together.”
As Duane Rankin wrote in The Arizona Republic, “Chills. Freaking chills.”
Booker’s teammates know what’s up, too.
“This is the finals,” Phoenix reserve forward Cam Johnson said. “It’s the finals. You’re not going to get away with anything easy. You’re not going to coast to any victory. … It’s three more, you know? Three more, and you’ve got to get two of those.”
Are the Suns feeling the pressure? The eyes of the world are on them, after all.
Win, and Devin Booker becomes the international face of the league.
Fans across Latin America will tell anyone that Booker’s mother is named “Gutierrez” and that his granddad grew up south of the U.S.-Mexico border speaking Spanish. Kids from Belarus to Bahrain will wish they had curly hair and they’ll scream “Book!” shooting jumpers at the park.
It won’t stop there.
Win, and “Phoenix” becomes synonymous with “basketball” among kids from Singapore to Spain.
Win, and kids from India to Indonesia will debate whether Chris Paul is the best ballhandler of all time.
Win, and kids from Venezuela to Vietnam will be sporting black “Valley” jerseys.
Lose, though, and Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday become the instant stars of Team USA when they arrive in Japan just days after snatching the title from a team that had a 2-0 lead and homecourt advantage.
Lose, and the attention shifts to Antetokounmpo’s affable personality, supermax smile and Greek immigration experience.
It’s not much discussed outside of a Chris Mannix profile in Sports Illustrated, written when Antetokounmpo was a rookie in 2014, but Giannis and his brothers, including Milwaukee Bucks teammate Thanasis, weren’t recognized as Greek citizens even though they had been born in Athens. Before that, they were simply the children of Nigerian immigrants and at constant risk of deportation to a nation they had never even visited.
‘You’ve gotta embrace it’
The Suns don’t plan to lose, though.
They might feel the pressure, but they aren’t running from it.
“You’ve gotta love it,” Johnson, the Suns forward, said. “You’ve gotta embrace it. This is what we all dreamed of, being in this situation, right? … This is 2-2 in the NBA Finals. We have an opportunity to do something really special.”
They have the opportunity to play two of three at home for a chance to win a title.
They have the opportunity to elevate the franchise from midsized American market to iconic global brand.
They have the opportunity to help Devin Booker take over the world.
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