Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker offered a scathing assessment of an NBA official following the team's defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. OKC took a 2-0 lead in the series after the 120-107 victory at the Paycom Center, with reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 37 points for the home side.
Despite the thrilling encounter, some fans were frustrated with a number of decisions made by officials throughout the game, before Booker voiced his own opinion on it.
'In my 11 years, I haven't called a ref out by name, but James [Williams] was terrible tonight through and through. It's bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport,' Booker said. 'People are going to start viewing this as a WWE if they're not held responsible,' he added during his fiery post-game rant.
Booker appeared to take issue with a technical foul called against him with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter. 'It just feels disrespectful,' he continued. 'I know I haven't won a championship in this league, but I have been in it for 11 years now. So to get to this point to be treated like that, for me to even be saying something out loud, it's bad.'
Booker, 29, wasn't the only Phoenix star to voice their frustration with the referees on the night, with forward Dillon Brooks also taking issue over the matter. In particular, Brooks fired back at Gilgeous-Alexander, who went 13-of-25 on the floor and nine-of-nine from the free throw line during Wednesday night's showdown.
Brooks took issue with officials after he was called for a foul on Gilgeous-Alexander after knocking the OKC star to the floor during the fourth quarter. 'You all should be interviewing the officials. That should be a new thing in the NBA. Officials got to explain themselves,' Brooks explained. '[Gilgeous-Alexander is] a little frail, and that's what the refs are going to call. I got to be smarter about it, but this is the playoffs. It's a man's game. I don't get why all the dropping and the falling and the flopping and the flailing and all this stuff is allowed when we get to the playoffs. Leave that for the [regular] season for the fans. Don't decide the games on free throws.'
Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, appeared to brush off Brooks' remarks when weighing in on the officiating after the game. 'I can't control what Dillon or anybody else on the other side is going to complain about. All I can do is try to go out there and win basketball games for my team. But Dillon's doing what he's supposed to do. He's supposed to bring energy to the game, rile up the game. And once again, he did a good job of bringing energy to the game tonight. It was super fun out there. I love playing against him.'
