Luka Doncic and Devin Booker got into a heated war of words during the Phoenix Suns’ 130-126 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
There’s been plenty of tension between the two teams since Dallas embarrassed Phoenix in Game 7 of last year’s Western Conference Finals, and that tension boiled over when Doncic and Booker started jawing in their latest matchup.
Doncic then had some more words for Booker in his postgame press conference.
“It’s a competitive game, it’s all good,” he said of the incident, which earned both players a technical foul. “Next time just don’t wait until it’s three seconds left to talk.”
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When asked what Booker said to him, Doncic replied, “I don’t think you can say that on camera.”
Booker, on the other hand, had this to say:
“You guys [in the media] always say you don’t want everyone to be ‘friendly-friendly’ so there you go, you got some smoke. It’s just two competitors going at it. Everybody speaks on how friendly the NBA is now and they don’t like that. I have no problem with Luka [Dončić] on or off the court, but when we’re competing, we’re competing.”
"You guys say you don't want everybody to be friendly friendly. There you go. We got some smoke."
Devin Booker on his exchange with Luka Doncic late in #Suns win over #Mavs pic.twitter.com/jI0ygEr27C
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) March 5, 2023
When Booker was asked what was said in the heat of the moment, he smiled and said, “I’m not here to tattletale.”
The Suns and Mavs are not scheduled to meet again in the regular season. But if they cross paths in the playoffs, you can expect some more heated exchanges, according to Mavs guard Tim Hardaway Jr.
“There’s some bad blood still there,” he said. “I think everybody saw that the last couple seconds of the game. I hope they’re ready for many more to come.”
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