Devin Booker is the eternal MVP candidate who is never considered: a review of (another) great start with Phoenix Suns

There is an unwritten rule among the voters that make up the panel of experts who year after year elect the MVP which comes to say that a candidate must necessarily be on a winning team. That means, roughly speaking, that player must be part of a team ranked among at least the top five franchises in each conference. Exceptions have been. Nikola Jokic in 2022 and Russell Westbrook in 2017 they won the award despite the fact that their teams finished the Regular Phase in sixth position. Rarities that confirm the rule in short.

This means that, if there were a recipe to cook an MVP, it should meet the following requirements:

1. Being a front-line player, that is, a star (All-Star, All-NBA, All-Defense, etc).
2. Sign outstanding numbers in one or more categories.
3. Being on a winning team.

The NBA, fortunately, has many players who meet the first two requirements, but fall off the draft list when it comes time to make their team a winner on a regular basis. Only a handful of privileged people manage to meet all three conditions.

Then, what do we do with Devin Booker?

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Throughout the last three seasons (including the current one) his Phoenix Suns have finished in 2nd and 1st position of the Western Conference and while these lines are signed those of Arizona have the best balance. For his part, Booker has confirmed the high expectations that he left at the start of his career in the league. And not only that, but he has been taking steps forward and maturing as his have become a winning project. He is not only a better scorer, he is also smarter, he knows his opponents better and he is much more consistent behind.

And yet Devin Booker has received 0 first position votes in the last two elections for the MVP and 2 in the second position, both in the past year. For more inri, Derrick Rose He has added more support as a candidate for the award than the aforementioned escort.

His simple numbers in these three seasons have been the following:

• 2020-2021: 25.6 points with 54.3% shooting from two, 34% from triples, 4.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists
• 2021-2022: 26.8 points with 50.8% shooting from two, 38.3% from triples, 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists
• 2022-2023: 27.4 points with 51.5% shooting from two, 38% from triples, 4.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists

MORE | Jayson Tatum’s MVP candidacy has come in time for Boston Celtics ring aspirations

It is not that “only” he has been part of one of the best teams in the league in the aforementioned period of time, but that he has been systematically improving his averages year after year. A constant progression that is behind the collective success, but that has also been thanks to the development of other facets such as the triple where he was not particularly skilled.

How many players have managed to have multiple seasons with these records before turning 27? Just six: Bradley Beal (2), Luka Doncic (2), Donovan Mitchell (2), Kevin Durant (3), Jayson Tatum (3) and, indeed, Devin Booker. The difference with respect to the rest is that the Suns player is the one who plus accumulated courses reaching these numbers since from 2019-2020 it chains four campaigns meeting the requirements.

Booker’s problem lies in something more abstract, something that also plays into the MVP voting process.: the narrative. This is nothing more than what is said about the player, the story that accompanies him, the strength of his candidacy from a public and media point of view. In other words, how strong is his story to win the support of fans and press.

The Phoenix guard has accustomed to keeping a low profile from the moment the team took off in the bubble of 2020. Without big fanfare, without statements out of tune, without pretending to cover more than it really is and being someone sober. Booker does not have the innocent charisma of Nikola Jokicdoes not have the natural attraction of Joel Embiidis not a generational talent and perpetual candidate as Giannis Antetokounmpo and it’s not in a historically significant market like Boston in the case of Jayson Tatum.

However, he is one of the most important figures of his generation, one of the three American players with the greatest impact today along with the aforementioned Tatum and Ja Morant. And despite the numbers, the progression and everything exposed, his name appears as a footnote among the candidates for the award.

It is taken for granted that Booker has to perform the way he is doing because the Phoenix Suns is a perfectly oiled machine and prepared to win. But with Chris Paul beginning his physical decline as a result of seniority, he has been the one who has assumed a greater degree of responsibility as leader to keep the train on its course. All thanks to his exceptional work ethic, as the 26-year-old is a game obsessive, someone who lives for him. Which has made the engine in his particular rise to the elite of the competition.

“Being a student of the game has been my only path for my entire life,” recently said at a press conference. “It’s something I took pride in at a young age. Eating, thinking and sleeping with this game in my head. I wouldn’t want it any other way. This is when I’m happiest.”

“My older brother played this and my dad did it professionally. I think at a young age I realized what the game could do for you if you make sacrifices in your childhood.. I made some moves and played on some teams. I didn’t know anyone, but in the end it’s all worth it.” added.

While others wait for them to talk about themselves or for their words to define who they are, Devin Booker does it through the game, offering night after night the best possible version of himself. As his father taught him and as he later learned from Kobe Bryant, idol and mentor.

Devin Booker is the eternal MVP candidate who has been relegated to the background. Until now. Because his 2022-2023 season definitely deserves that consideration.

The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.