Suns guard Devin Booker named Western Conference Player of the Week

Well that didn’t take long.

When Devin Booker earned the Western Conference Player of the Week award on February 15, it had been 367 weeks since a member of the Phoenix Suns had done so. Goran Dragic won the award in February of 2014.

On Monday, Devin Booker received the award again. This time it took only two weeks in between POTW honors for a member of the Suns.

Week 10 of the 2020-21 season saw Booker play in 4 games (the Suns went 3-1) and average 33 points on 53.8/33.3/84.4 splits. He added 4.3 assists and 2.8 rebounds.

What is impressive is that he posted these numbers on 32 minutes a night. He didn’t play in the 4th quarter against the Blazers and only played 4 minutes in the 4th against the Wolves. If you view his numbers through the per-36 lens, his averages jump to 36.8 points, 4.7 assists and 3.1 rebounds.

Amazing what winning does for the national recognition, eh?

His performances have assisted in fortifying the conversation relative to his initial All Star snub earlier this month. He ended the month of February averaging 27.9 points (9th best in the NBA), with 52.3/39.5/85.2 splits. More importantly, the Phoenix Suns went 12-3 in the month, trailing only the Utah Jazz (12-2) in winning percentage.

Could Devin Booker be the first Sun to win the Player of the Month award since March of 2010? It has been 569 weeks since Amare Stoudemire brought the award home to Phoenix.

Congratulations to D Book for an award well deserved. He has turned it up this past month, most notably in the first quarter. He has averaged 9.3 points in the opening frame (3rd in the NBA behind Steph Curry and Dame Lillard), laying the foundation for the team to jump out to early leads. He continues to grow as a player and display offensive versality that deserves recognition. It is nice to see him receive the recognition he deserves, although I’m sure he is happier with the 12-3 record.

Not bad for an All Star alternate.