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Earl Watson’s Devin Booker-Kobe Bryant comparison

Booker’s doing all these things without “grown man strength.”

NBA: Los Angeles Lakers at Phoenix Suns Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Devin Booker is doing things that no player in Phoenix Suns history has ever done before. 28 points in the fourth quarter last month. 27 points in just over 7 minutes last week. Suns head coach Earl Watson says these performances remind him of a player Phoenix fans loved to hate for two decades.

“What he did was pretty impressive in the fact that he’s only 20,” Watson said. “He still hasn’t gotten into his grown man strength yet. Eventually he will and those drives where he’s going to the basket will eventually be dunks.”

“The future is bright, and the future is happening now.”

I’m sure we’re all suffering from a little bit of a Super Bowl hangover. It’s cloudy in Vegas this morning and the office is putting me to sleep. I’d rather be at home with an Otra Vez watching a Slam Dunk Contest marathon. That’s a joke. I would never drink before 11a.

So it’s worth a discussion. Is anyone prepared to say Devin Booker is on his way to being the next Kobe Bryant? I’d respect the hell out of you for making the argument. Here are some numbers on Book so far:

Per Game Table
Season Age G GS MP FG% 3P 3PA 3P% 2P% eFG% FT% TRB AST STL BLK TOV PTS
2015-16 19 76 51 27.7 .423 1.3 3.8 .343 .464 .480 .840 2.5 2.6 0.6 0.3 2.1 13.8
2016-17 20 50 50 34.8 .424 1.9 5.1 .373 .444 .477 .831 2.9 3.2 0.9 0.3 2.9 21.2
Career 126 101 30.5 .423 1.5 4.3 .357 .453 .479 .836 2.6 2.9 0.7 0.3 2.4 16.7
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/6/2017.

And here’s how Mamba performed through four seasons:

Per Game Table
Season Age G GS MP FG% 3P 3PA 3P% 2P% eFG% FT% TRB AST STL BLK TOV PTS
1996-97 18 71 6 15.5 .417 0.7 1.9 .375 .437 .477 .819 1.9 1.3 0.7 0.3 1.6 7.6
1997-98 19 79 1 26.0 .428 0.9 2.8 .341 .456 .469 .794 3.1 2.5 0.9 0.5 2.0 15.4
1998-99 20 50 50 37.9 .465 0.5 2.0 .267 .494 .482 .839 5.3 3.8 1.4 1.0 3.1 19.9
1999-00 21 66 62 38.2 .468 0.7 2.2 .319 .489 .488 .821 6.3 4.9 1.6 0.9 2.8 22.5
Career 1346 1198 36.1 .447 1.4 4.1 .329 .479 .482 .837 5.2 4.7 1.4 0.5 3.0 25.0
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/6/2017.

I’m not good with advanced analytics, but I’m also considerate enough to save you the “back in my day” discussion. So chop it up. What’s the ceiling on Devin Booker?

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