After his selection as the 13th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, Devin Booker instantly became the franchise player for the Phoenix Suns. He finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting and was in the top 10 for the Most Improved Player award in his very next year. But how did Book get so good right from the jump? Well, his father, Melvin Booker, broke it down when he appeared on The Extra Point podcast.
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Melvin dove into his son’s childhood and revealed how he grew up playing basketball with him. He also mentioned how competitive Devin had been since as far as he could remember.
A young Devin’s competitive nature led to a lot of trash-talking. Sometimes even Melvin had to bear the brunt of it.
“There was one time we was playing against each other back in Mississippi in high school. And he was playing me and my friends. And I thought this time I challenge him and hit him in the chest like ’Boom.’”
Booker’s father went on to add how he saw his son perplexed on whether he should be standing up to his father.
“And he kind of looked like, ‘My dad told me I need to fight back but I wonder if I should fight back against my dad.’ And he scored on me and the first thing he said was, ‘You can’t guard me.’ And part of that was a proud dad moment like he didn’t step down from me.”
Melvin did not display his emotions immediately to give his son any validation to keep him from losing his focus and drive. But that was when he knew that his son was destined to do great things in life.
“He accepted the challenge and he went at me even harder. And I knew then that the kid is built for it.”
Devin Booker’s father, Melvin, talks about the first time Devin trash-talked to him
“You can’t guard me” pic.twitter.com/XV9ccf8W91
— ☄️ Kath☄️ (@lookatmymood) August 30, 2024
The Suns guard has a lot of his dad’s genes, who is a former basketball player. D-Book was competitive from a very young age and the fact that he idolized Kobe Bryant makes much more sense. Since Kobe was never one to back down from a challenge.
How Melvin Booker turned Devin into a star
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Booker had already become the number one prospect in the area during his high school years. But his father wanted him to move to Mississippi to train with him instead, something Devin wasn’t on board with.
However, it did end up working well for him as his father once explained it during an interview with Andscape.
“I had to convince them that he had to move to Mississippi if he wanted to move to that next level. Sometimes I would go up to [Michigan] to watch him. Sometimes I would call and ask him, ‘What did you do after practice? Did you get extra shots up? Did you get to the weight room?’”
“He didn’t understand. He would say, ‘So you want me to practice for two hours and then you want to do more stuff?’ I said, ‘That’s what you need to be great.’ I kind of knew he didn’t have an idea, so that’s when he came to me.”
Booker has his father to thank for paving the way for him to make it to the NBA. But his father didn’t stop there as he wanted his son to be even better than he was back in the day.
Looking back, D-Book is a four-time All-Star, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and one of the premier shooting guards the league has to offer. So his father did a great job.
