Suns’ Jordan Ott keeps it 100% on Devin Booker all-star nod

Good news for Devin Booker: the Phoenix Suns’ all-time franchise scorer is a five-time All-Star. The NBA announced all reserves for the Western and Eastern conferences on Sunday, and he made the cut.

While Booker has been absent with an ankle sprain, the game he’s played in, his impact is there. They have a 26-15 record when he’s playing, along with a 117.7 offensive rating (which would be the sixth-best currently).

For head coach Jordan Ott, he’s always known how good Booker was, and is, as a player. In his first season, he’s consistently been raved about as coachable and a leader.

Even though his game isn’t overly flashy, everyone in the locker room knows that Phoenix is his team. Ott is simply glad that Booker received recognition for his play.

“The coaches get the vote on the reserves, which is a good thing, because we see how coaches prepare for him, especially this season,” Ott said via PHNX Suns on X (formerly Twitter). “The amount of bodies that he’s seen time and time again, and the impact he has on the court, in the locker room, on our entire city and organization.

“Again, not enough good things to say when you have a superstar that does all the things that no one sees and does all the stuff on the court. We’re glad he’s in there, and he deserves to be. I’m glad he’s recognized by the coaches, which is the group that you want to be respected by, the players and coaches. He obviously has that.”

Jordan Ott knows Suns’ Devin Booker deserves to be an all-star

In a complete turnaround, the Suns are taking the NBA by surprise. Many wrote them off before the season began. But through trust, with time, in addition to following Booker’s lead, they’ve ascended.

Phoenix is currently 30-19, and has nearly matched last season’s total before the all-star break. Much of the success has to do with Booker and his play.

The statistics won’t blow anyone away, but he’s likely having his most complete season. He’s handling double-teams and traps as well as being the initiator on offense.

He’s given guys like Collin Gillespie and Oso Ighodaro the confidence to be themselves and play to their strengths. Booker might not be overly aggressive, but he commands respect.

And like Ott said, the coaches vote on the reserves, and nearly every coach has described Booker’s evolution and how much of a challenge it is to guard and game plan for him every night.

Despite him still being out, this could push Booker to get closer to recovery in anticipation of the big game.

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