NBA players spend much of the offseason competing against each other in stacked pickup games and open gyms. It’s an opportunity for players to work on their games in a competitive setting. Plus, they make for cool YouTube videos when fans are desperate to watch basketball.
But apparently, there are some unwritten rules that Suns guard Devin Booker enforces with the tenacity of Circa 2013 Brian McCann.
There are no double teams in open gyms, which was news to everyone except for Booker.
Footage hit Twitter from a recent pickup game with Booker, Ben Simmons and Joakim Noah (to name a few). And when Booker caught a pass in the corner, he was hit with a double team and proceeded to stop playing so he could yell about it. (Warning: NSFW language)
Booker claimed that there weren’t any doubles in open gyms because he sees them all year and wanted to work on his game. But as Noah pointed out, doubles are part of the game. And since Booker gets doubled a lot, he would benefit from practicing against them.
That would probably be more productive than going iso against no defense.
Booker’s a great player, but his argument made little sense. Keep doubling him.
