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Suns’ Devin Booker on splitting up Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, his and Tatum’s shared Kobe Bryant fandom

justin quinn
·3 min read
28

Sometimes, the best window into the state of a team is from the outside, the eye of an opposing player giving a new perspective to the echo chamber-like coverage one often sees within a team’s sphere of coverage.

To that end, our own Cameron Tabatabaie got the goods on the Boston Celtics after their 2022 Finals run and build up to the looming 2022-23 season from Phoenix Suns star guard Devin Booker. The 2k23 cover star sat down with Tabatabaie to talk about everything from the newest iteration of the game his image now graces to the next car he plans to buy, but there was plenty of talk about the Celtics as well.

Booker, in particular, had plenty to say about Boston’s top-rated defense.

“They’re versatile,” offered the Suns star. “They have great length.”

“They have the ability to switch 1-5 and guard multiple positions. I think Robert Williams III helps out a lot around the rim, altering shots. Any team that can switch 1-5, your big isn’t a mismatch on a quicker guard. That’s important.”

Book also addressed the push to split up the team’s two star wings earlier in the 2021-22 season before Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum helped transform how the Celtics played in the second half of the season.

“It’s just the nature of the game, the nature of social media, and the nature of self-hate,” he explained. “It’s on full display, but that’s the beauty of sport at the end of the day, and everything that comes with it.”

“We’re not out there to prove anybody wrong, but that sort of stuff happens.”

Booker also had something to say about he and fellow Team USA member Jayson Tatum’s love for Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, which has drawn the ire of their respective fans in the past.

“We both love him a lot,” shared Booker. “The thing about that, I’ll elaborate on that.”

“I see (Tatum) getting hate just representing Kobe and being inspired by him. But Kobe always said his one job is to inspire the next generation — that’s what he’s done for us. He is going to live forever in this game and not even just in basketball. Just his approach to life and how he’s changed and shaped so many people.”

“I think it’s foolish for people to give hate to somebody like me or Jayson representing one of our idols,” he added.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire.

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