For those of you who don't want to read anything about the Lakers, and couldn't bring yourself to watch or attend the game last night, here are your Devin Booker highlights.
Booker posted 28 points and dished 7 assists, marking his third game of at least 27/5 this season. By doing so, he's got more 27/5+ games than all the other 2015 Draft picks combined, and only LeBron James has MORE 27/5 games as a teenager in NBA history.
D'Angelo Russell, drafted #2 overall and ranked higher (4th) than Booker (9th) on the latest NBA.com Rookie Ladder, had a terrible game and has not approached a 27/5 game this season while Booker has three such games. Russell is ranked 4th despite having a rough season in LaLa land, while Booker is being dropped because of his shooting percentages this month. Sure, let's ignore all the feats that Booker has reached and focus on shooting percentage, while giving a pass on that same problem to all the other guys in bigger markets. Nice work, Scott Howard Cooper.
If Booker posts one more 27/5 game in the next 11, or on opening night next year, he will be all alone in second place for 27/5 games by a teenager. Right now, he's tied with Carmelo Anthony and Stephon Marbury with 3 apiece.
Earlier this season, Dwyane Wade was effusive about Booker. Now it's Kobe Bryant talking about Booker in glowing terms.
"I think he's fantastic," Bryant said after the game. "I think he has the right attitude. He has the right competitive spirit. I think his footwork is extremely sound, his fundamentals are extremely sound and now it's just about him figuring out exactly what his game is and then he can go to that every single night and then make counters off of it, but he has the skills."