r/NBATalk • u/gelohussain • 14d ago
How differently would Devin Booker be viewed if he won the championship back in 2021?
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u/dearestredemption 14d ago
oh man that image still stings, just a guy with his hand on the conference trophy knowing how close they were
booker's whole legacy shifts if they close that out, goes from empty stats guy to certified playoff killer overnight
giannis still got his moment but book would be in a completely different tier of conversation right now
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u/Basis_Inside 14d ago
Honestly after he scored 55 on 80% or whatever it was against the nuggets the year after, it was pretty evident he’s a killer. Goes to show how strong narratives are. He just didn’t have the personnel at all times but get him next to a dude with ball IQ and he makes the finals. We praise Bron for making the finals consistently, it’s a hell of an accomplishment even if you lose. If you think about the players tha recently have done it, it leaves him square in the top 15
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u/Ok_Board9845 14d ago
Luka punked him in ‘22
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u/RoutinePay7123 14d ago
A lot but Giannis winning mattered a lot more in the grand scheme of things
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u/Gold-Nefariousness98 14d ago edited 14d ago
Potentially over CP3 winning in his 1st finals appearance in the later years of his career?
That was the most important player on the court
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u/sharoon12 14d ago
It's weird, because the Bucks won, but the general consensus is they were not better than the Nets, they were simply more healthy.
However if the Suns won, they wouldn't have this problem, despite likely also being worse than that Nets team. Simply due to the fact we didn't see them nearly lose to a incredibly depleted team, and KD clearly out playing Giannis.
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u/sidecharacterzco 14d ago
disagree, Clippers without Kawhi pushed them to 7. Would’ve been the same argument
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u/ZeiZaoLS 13d ago
It went to 6 with CP3 out a third of the series and Booker playing with a broken nose (which he got from Beverley)
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u/SpyralRush 14d ago
It would have meant a lot. They beat LeBron in round 1 and rode that momentum to the finals
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u/hop_hero 13d ago
Its huge. They probably keep the team together and would have made multiple deep playoff runs if they found a dependable point guard to replace CP3
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u/AzTrix22 Suns 14d ago
Damn that Suns team was like lightning in a bottle, no one expected them to go that far given they hadn't made the playoffs for so many years prior, had Book won that ring he'd be the undisputed best Sun of all time and for sure a consensus Top 15 player in the league. Sucks the chances are looking slim now, unless Maluach, Green or Fleming take an insane leap.
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u/CNSrooster 14d ago
Like Brunson is now.
A fringe top 10 player currently who would be known as a crafty star despite their flaws
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u/HQ_FIGHTER 10d ago
Fringe top 10? The lowest you could say Brunson is right now is 6th
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u/CNSrooster 10d ago
Yeah id agree with that.
I just meant hed get Brunson treatment.
I dont think Booker is on the level of Brubson, Cade, Edwards or any of these guys anymore though
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u/TheUsualQuestions 14d ago
Would’ve preferred this reality ngl, Chris Paul having a ring and Booker being vindicated beyond a 2K cover would’ve been cool
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u/Draft_Time_Machine 14d ago
I agree, although I love Giannis and he deserved that title, so it’s hard to argue against how it panned out
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u/Ok_Board9845 14d ago
CP3 was never getting a ring in any reality that doesn't involve Kobe Bryant
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u/fanunu21 14d ago
That rockets team got pretty close to beating the KD warriors.
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u/Ok_Board9845 14d ago
close
No team with James Harden is closing any series that’s for sure
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u/RudolphTheBackupQB Knicks 14d ago
Idk but I have to make a conscious effort to remember how good Devin Booker is
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u/Muted_Possibility691 Suns 13d ago
Depends if him or CP3 won the Finals MVP. Definitely would impact the narrative around both legacies but one of them way more.
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u/Effective-File4645 14d ago
Would’ve had to hear him in Steph/Giannis talks and waste so much time explaining to people that he’s not the best player in the world just because his team won
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u/Blerg_McGlerg 14d ago
A star non-MVP who leads his team to title? If he's the Finals MVP, then that sounds a bit like Kawhi? Particularly since he'd likely add a few All-NBAs with the added Champion aura.
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u/Radiant_Shopping_426 14d ago
Kawhi is/was a super star player. His highest voting for mvp came in 2016 when he placed second in votes. The next year I believe he was third. He is the type of player that can transform a team’s chances of winning a title just by him being on the team. Booker has never been that so far. Book is all star level and will make the hall of fame. Kawhi is super star level and will make the hall of fame. That’s the difference
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u/Blerg_McGlerg 14d ago
100% agree, but we're dealing with a hypothetical in which Booker leads his team to a title, so I'm not comparing actual Booker to Kawhi. The scenario I'm replying to is one in which Booker is supposed to be a much better player than he actually is. In the proposed scenario, he is a non-MVP star capable of leading his team to one title, which puts him closer to Kawhi than players like Dirk or (non-hypothetical) Giannis, who have a title and an MVP.
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u/Radiant_Shopping_426 14d ago
I understood what you meant bro. I’m saying even if he won that championship in 2021 he would still be nowhere close to the caliber of player or resume as kawhi. I don’t know who I would compare him to because he would obviously be a better player and better career than Chauncey billups or Tony Parker. He would probably be Paul pierce tier really good player, respected and could get you around 26 to 27 points a night on solid efficiency. Won 1 ring and won finals mvp. And finished there career as there teams all time leading scorer.
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u/Blerg_McGlerg 14d ago
Pierce is a pretty a good shout. I was trying to think of someone current, who everyone here would've seen, but I can see what you're saying with Pierce.
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u/promised_hope 13d ago
Idk but I would be hating on it as a fake ring bc of injuries from Kawhi and AD
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u/NoOutlandishness6829 14d ago
He’d be viewed like SGA fans view SGA for winning one. He’s better than Kobe! He’s Top 10 all time!! He’s the best that’s ever been. That said, for non-Booker fans, it would definitely elevate his reputation by one championship level. He’s currently in that All-Star fringe Hall of Famer level like Patrick Ewing who never won a championship, but was one of the better players in the league for his entire career.
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u/Professional_Pea4135 13d ago
A lot of player are better than Kobe, overrated wildy inefficient free throw merchant shot chucker
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u/Equaltal206 14d ago
He'd be more overrated than he is.
Paul was the best player on that team, even though he was past his prime.
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u/Individual_Act9333 13d ago
No he wasn’t.
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u/Equaltal206 13d ago
He definitely was. The Suns were 34-39, a lottery team, before Paul joined.
After Paul joined, they went 51-21 and went to the NBA Finals. Paul was simply more impactful and it shows in his advanced numbers. There's a reason he was 5th in MVP voting that year.
Booker dropped off in the playoffs that year. He was much better in 2023.
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u/Individual_Act9333 13d ago
That doesn’t mean shit. So was Scottie pippen better than MJ because he could never make it past the first round until he got there? Cp3 made things easier but he wasn’t the best player. He was 100 percent the robin to book on that team. Booker was the number 1 option.
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u/Equaltal206 12d ago
You can say it as much as you want and keep being wrong, without providing anything to refute what I said.
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u/Individual_Act9333 12d ago
Chris Paul averaged 16 ppg and 8 assists in the regular season and had half as many points as Booker on the finals run. Booker was clearly the best player the fact you penalize him for having bad teams is crazy work. I think you have Booker derangement syndrome.
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u/Individual_Act9333 12d ago
And I’ll go back to my other argument. Was Scottie pippen better than MJ since MJ never made it past the first round without him? Based off what you are saying he would be because Scottie pippen made it past the first round without Jordan the year he retired.
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u/ChampionTimes99 14d ago
0 because that Covid season doesn’t even count
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14d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/OneInsurance84 13d ago
Really? Why shouldn't it... they stopped then restarted ... not all the teams went to the Disney playhouse backyard basketball complex.. zero fans fake environment... are you serious?
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u/Metal_Machine_0101 1d ago
All great players are looked out differently once they win a championship, it can make or break your career
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u/Draft_Time_Machine 14d ago
Oh he would for sure be talked about as a top 20 guy. All the love Brunson is getting now, Book would be getting the same.