Devin Booker

BIOGRAPHY

Devin Armani Booker was born on Ocotober 30, 1996, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is a shooting guard in the NBA.

Booker was born and raised in Grand Rapids, living with his Mexican American and Puerto Rican mother while his father pursued a professional basketball career internationally. His father was named the 1994 Big Eight Player of the Year while a point guard at Missouri. His parents met while his father was playing for the Continental Basketball Association's Grand Rapids Hoops.  Booker was born and raised in Grand Rapids, living with his Mexican American and Puerto Rican mother while his father pursued a professional basketball career internationally. He visited his father regularly during the summer. Booker was taught by his father that having basketball IQ was just as important as natural athleticism. During his time in middle school, Booker became friends with future NBA players D'Angelo Russell and Tyler Ulis.  He averaged 30.9 points per game in his senior season and finished his three-year career at Moss Point with 2,518 points. After the season, he was named to the USA Today All-USA third team.

Booker would commit to play college basketball for the Kenutcky Wildcats. In 38 games for Kentucky in 2014–15, Booker averaged 10.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 21.5 minutes per game. He subsequently earned SEC Sixth Man of the Year honors and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and the All-SEC Second Team. On April 9, 2015, Booker declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final three years of college eligibility. He was joined by fellow Kentucky teammates Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Willie Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles and Karl-Anthony Towns.

On June 25, 2015, Booker, was selected with the thirteenth overall pick by the Phoenix Suns in the 2015 NBA draft. He went on to make his NBA debut two days before his 19th birthday, in the Suns' season opener against the Dallas Mavericks. He became the first player in NBA history to debut at 18 years old after playing at least one year of college basketball. On February 12, Booker scored 23 points in a close victory for Team USA in the 2016 Rising Stars Challenge. The following day, he competed in the NBA All-Star Weekend's Three-Point Contest, becoming the youngest contestant to ever participate in the event and only the fourth rookie to compete in the 30-year-old contest.  He finished fourth in the 2016 NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting and earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors.

During the 2016-17 season, on March 24 against the Boston Celtics, Booker became the sixth player in NBA history to score 70 points in a game, joining Wilt Chamberlain, David Robinson, David Thompson, Elgin Baylor and Kobe Bryant. It was the 11th 70-point game in NBA history. Booker finished 21-of-40 shooting overall, including 4-of-11 on 3-pointers, and 24-of-26 from the free throw line. He added eight rebounds and six assists in 45 minutes. Booker, 20, became the youngest player to score 70 (and 60) points in a game. He had the highest-scoring game in the NBA since Bryant scored 81 in January 2006.

On February 17, during the 2017-18 season, in Booker won the Three-Point Contest over Klay Thompson and Tobias Harris in the final round after setting a new record with 28 points.

Devin is a three-time All-Star and helped the Suns reach the NBA Finals in 2021. The following season, he was named to the All-NBA First Team and helped lead the Suns to a franchise record of 64 wins. Booker also won a gold medal on the 2020 U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo.