If you are having difficulty accessing any content on this website, please visit our Accessibility page. His completed his first season at the university with an average of 10 points and was sure about earning a respectable place in the NBA draft which was just around the corner. and people say this sub is not woke enough. But I had many conversations with my dad. Dad was also an assistant coach on his sons high school and AAU team. Devin ended the season with an average of 22.1 points per game. He's a former NBA player himself, born on August 20, 1972, and is the reason Devin is the star he is today. With Devin Booker falling in love with basketball as a child, he had an easy role model to follow in his father. By Vrushali Padia Published Mar 19, 2022. The only real time with communication I had with him were the two to three months out of the year when I would go down to Mississippi [in the summer]. Thats part of the reason I grind so much, Devin Booker said. Booker was raised by Gutierrez, a cosmetologist, in the predominantly white suburb of Grandville but spent his summers in a poorer, mostly African-American, inner-city setting in Moss Point, Miss., with his father, Melvin. PHOENIX Phoenix Suns' number one player Devin Booker is an inspiration to many people, but here in the Valley of the Sun, Booker has added a special moment of pride to the Latino community. His maternal grandfather was born in Mexico but migrated to Michigan. The Godfather game for PS3 @NikeMcDonalds . His father played professional basketball in the NBA and overseas, and Booker spent his summers in Italy when his father was playing for Olimpia Milano. Devin, a three-time NBA All-Star, is a professional . The Suns just in general, the whole Valley is behind the Suns, said Beltran. Phoenix didnt do well in his honor, losing to Dallas 111-95, but Booker provided an intriguing silver lining. Valdes says hes a diehard Suns fan, so finding out about Devin Bookers Mexican roots made him hopeful. Said Devin: He said, God had a plan, and it was for me to make it to the NBA. If youre Mexican and you made it to the NBA, I can too, So, just trying to inspire in that type of way and keep representing the heritage. Its something thats not too late to learn because, at the end of the day, this is what makes up me, said Booker. Being here in Phoenix has made me aware of living in the culture.. Vigil said he didnt think that the uniforms felt like pandering; rather, it was finally merchandise that represented the largest demographic in Phoenix. Latino fans, in particular, lit up when they saw it. Devin Booker hasnt disappointed. In March, Devin scored 34 points against Miami Heat to achieve yet another career milestone and his careers best performance to date. You drive around the city, you look into the stands at the game and you see it. If you just acknowledge it from that perspective, then, then maybe it is OK to make it a bigger deal.. Melvin Booker also believed that his son would be much taller than him. It increases the fandom, just because its someone you can relate to, said Jason Macias, a lifelong Suns fan who is a third-generation Mexican American. After his freshman year, he joined six Kentucky teammates by entering the 2015 NBA draft. Macias has seen Mexican-influenced murals of Booker and the Suns pop up around the city, including one the Suns commissioned with Los Suns jerseys and players painted as Dia de los Muertosstyle skeletons. Did you get to the weight room?, He didnt understand. So, that's my job.. 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Noting Bookers Mexican heritage is part of thatbut its also a responsibility Ochoa feels on a personal level. When Booker was 20, Kevin Durant said on The Bill Simmons Podcast that he wanted the Thunder to draft Booker in 2015. As a father, hed do anything I wanted to do. The preservation of a basketball legacy strengthened Melvin Bookers relationship with his son. Me taking my visits from Missouri from eighth grade on, just the love that he got there is something that Ive never seen before. He is the only child of former professional basketball star Melvin Booker, who is Devin's father. Booker is introduced last among the starters during Suns games; he gets the loudest cheers, and his jerseys are ubiquitous. He stated that he fully . He made his professional NBA debut against the Dallas Mavericks two days before his 19th birthday. With this, he became the third player in NBA history to achieve the feat. And he drove a 1959 Impalawhich he later said was named Pretty Pennyto Game 1 of the Finals. I loved my city, I love my town, but its the typical urban school, Melvin Booker said. He was very supportive of everything that I did and still do today. After his first day of high school in Mississippi, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker had his dad quite worried that he was going to pack his bags to go back to Michigan. When I was a kid, I was always on the go, either outside playing basketball or something, so when it was time when my mom wanted to go to the other side of Michigan to hang with my Mexican side of the family, it wasnt really a priority for me. If you have a dream and you have the work ethic to match that dream, anything is possible.. Its not one culture.. NoseBlind2 22 days ago. 18. The respect I received from my family and everyone in the city made me want to stay. But it was also quite challenging to build a relationship with his son from afar despite a couple of visits overseas. I think the moment everybody found out that I had Mexican in my bloodline, I got on social media and started seeing younger kids of the Hispanic descent reaching out to me and saying, 'You're my favorite player. The Suns cut the deficit to 10 before ultimately falling 130-120, but not before Booker became the youngest player in league history to hit the 70-point mark. Devin averaged 30.9 points per game as a senior despite being double- and triple-teamed during the 2013-14 season at Moss Point. My relationship with my grandfather was unbelievable, Booker said. After averaging at least 25 points over the last four seasons, he averaged 29.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg and 5.0 apg while shooting 48.8% overall and 42.9% from 3-point range in his playoff debut and Phoenixs 4-2 series victory against the Lakers the franchises first series win since 2010. He called his opportunity a blessing because he was able to see the world. Four seasons later, Booker became the Suns first All-Star since Nash. But once I got there, they embraced me, they took me in and I ended up getting more intact with that side of my family also, my dads side, it was a really important time., Looking back, Booker believes the diversity of his upbringing has made him more relatable to people and teammates of different backgrounds. He also taught his son some tricks of the trade he developed on the pro level. Their goal was to have it ready for Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, but getting it made wasnt easy. Booker has this charisma that people connect with, Ochoa said. Unfortunately, the NBA teams didnt love Melvin Booker during the 1994 NBA draft. Stuntin like his daddy: How Devin Bookers father paved his path to the NBA. Devin Booker scored a franchise-record and NBA season-high 70 points on March 24, 2017. Devin and Mya have become very close over the years and hes often seen sharing sweet moments with her. Who the f is this guy lmao. Isael Lugo didnt get 20 feet inside Phoenix Suns Arena before he was stopped last week. The two hit it off, and a year later, Devin was born. With his fathers influence, Devin naturally fell in love with the game of basketball as a child. Some of my favorite times as a child was my mom whipping up, you know, original Mexican dishes that she learned from her father or when we got the chance to visit my grandpa on the weekend.. Now, with Booker on the team, they have something even more singular to cheer for: an NBA superstar who, at least in one way, is actually like them. Melvin Booker also thought the fast-paced, trash-talking and tough style of basketball would make his . "I'm not going to say it's easy, there's going to be a lot of ups and downs, but just knowing it's possible. That was the only reason I put Devin there. Did you get extra shots up? They mostly talked about and bonded through basketball. I always say Im fortunate enough to live around it, see it around the stands, and see it around the city. Melvin Booker also believed that his son would grow as a person from being at a school where most students didn't have his blessings. I think all of this is even cooler because he has Mexican blood in him, and hes carrying that with him, Gerardo said while looking at a marquee that featured Booker in the center. That rose to 34 percent in the 2000s, and by 2018, that number had jumped to 43 percent, making Latinos the largest demographic in the Phoenix area. Hikaru has been surpassed for the number one spot on Chess.com's Blitz global leaderboard. The lowrider car is one of the fixtures of Chicano culture, having originated in East Los Angeles in the 1940s, and on the night Phoenix went up 2-0, a mini caravan of those cars driven by Suns fans paraded down 2nd Street, honking and playing Spanish language music. Devin once ran into controversy when he asked a fans girlfriend to sit on his lap. It was tough, Devin Booker said. He wanted his son to join him to not only grow as a basketball player, but as a young man in Mississippi and learn a better work ethic. At the time, I was treating it as going away to prep school and my father was going to be there training me. Maybe they didn't though, maybe they just smashed their sweaty, ugly, greasy, zit-covered faces all over their . And hes been loyal. But he said that me being drafted is better than him being drafted.. I dont think any kid can just make that move that I made but I understood the goal that was at hand and I just embraced the Mississippi culture, you know, the inner city and it was good for me, Booker said. I got to see the guys like Michael Jordan play up close, Melvin Booker said. The lack of representation within the league has encouraged Booker to carry the mantle for people of Mexican heritage. Booker's grandfather immigrated from Nogales, Mexico, to Michigan where the 2020 All-Star ultimately grew up. Bookers grandfather immigrated from Nogales, Mexico, to Michigan where the 2020 All-Star ultimately grew up. On November 2, 2014, Devin scored 16 points, playing for his college team, against the University of Pikeville. With that, he began a great college basketball career, which paved the way for his future career in the sport. It felt like a neutral game, but by the time we left after the second game, it definitely felt like home, Booker said of the breakout performances that merely set the stage for a 70-point effort the most scored in an NBA game since Kobe Bryants 81 in 2006 in Boston two months later. He's just not. Spend some time in Phoenixespecially latelyand that last sentiment rings true. In October 2017, he scored 34 points against the Portland Trail Blazers to finish his 21st career game with 30+ points. 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