
On Friday, Russell Westbrook took the court with the intention of recording his record-breaking 42nd triple-double of the season. While he was ultimately unable to reach the benchmark (he did reach another one), the atmosphere around the event was enough to annoy at least one player on the opposing side.
As the Phoenix Suns blew out the Thunder, fans in the Suns’ home arena began cheering for Westbrook to reach the triple-double mark. It’s not the most difficult thing to believe; the Suns were not going to lose and fans want to watch history happen live.
But Devin Booker wasn’t having any of it. The young Suns’ guard spoke about feeling disrespected by the adoration of Westbrook as well as the Thunder’s attempts to pad their PG’s stats after the game:
The Phoenix crowd cheered Russell Westbrook's triple-double pursuit. Devin Booker took it personally. pic.twitter.com/LguMAlWx3p
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) April 8, 2017
I can see what Booker is saying. No athlete likes hearing his home fans cheer for the opponent (see: Crowder, Jae).
But at the same time, the Suns haven’t exactly given their fans much to cheer about this year. They are 23-57 and firmly entrenched in tank mode. Plus, their crowning achievement – Booker’s 70 points in one game – came as a result of extreme stat padding in the fourth quarter. Oh, and by the way, Celtics fans cheered him on during that blowout as well.
Booker’s argument is standing on egg shells, mainly because of the hypocrisy.