JJ Redick hosted his friends Richard Jefferson and Tim Legler on a recent edition of The Old Man and The Three podcast. As former NBA players themselves, Legler and Jefferson dived deep into great NBA rivalries and how the league has failed to produce a noteworthy rivalry in the post-Golden State Warriors-Cleveland Cavaliers era. The conversation prompted Redick to unpack the budding rivalry between Luka Doncic and Devin Booker.
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During the sit-down, talking about the current state of NBA rivalries, Legler said, “We try to create em. If two teams are good and a guy gets fouled hard on a breakaway. We try to create a rivalry… Ahh, it’s getting chippy out there…No, it just does these men injustice.”
Jefferson also made the argument that rivalries, in general, might be dead, cause players are “nice” now. The 2016 NBA Champion also believes that real animosity is something that is missing in today’s players, mainly due to player movement. It’s hard to argue with either of the analysts, but there could be some hope on the horizon.
Redick, during the show, did give his two cents on the issue, telling his ESPN colleagues, “It would be nice if we could get multiple years over the next five, of conference semi-finals or conference finals matchups of the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks, with Devin Booker and Luka Doncic, cause those guys genuinely don’t like each other.”
While Legler and Jefferson provided a bleak view of the media desperately trying to manufacture weak rivalries, Redick pointed out that the league could really use the D-Book Luka rivalry going forward. With both teams doing well in the West, that could be a real thing in the next few years.
The Luka Doncic-Devin Booker rivalry
Luka Doncic and Devin Booker are pretty similar, in that they are primary scorers on contending teams in the West and they both can shoot the lights out. The duo’s rivalry first began back in 2022, when the Suns matched up against Luka and the Mavericks in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. The series lasted seven games, with Luka blowing out the Suns in game 7. The series had a bunch of moments which led to Booker and Luka going at each other.
Booker and Luka seem to also agree that something is brewing between them. After the Suns beat the Mavs back in March of this year, Doncic had words for Booker and the Suns, “It’s fine. It’s just a competitive game. All good. Next time, just don’t wait until there’s 3 seconds left to talk.”
Even Booker shared Luka’s sense of acceptance, as he told the media, “It’s just two competitors going at it. Everybody speaks about how friendly the NBA is now and doesn’t like that. I have no problem with Luka [Doncic] on or off the court. But when we’re competing, we’re competing.”
With new rivalries popping up across the league, it would be interesting to see which players besides Luka and Booker will start to beef. With rookies like Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama constantly going at each other, its safe to say that NBA rivalries aren’t going anywhere just yet.
