Hoops Habit
Fansided

Each NBA team’s most clutch player of all-time

By Josh Cornelissen

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images /
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Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker
Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker (Photo by Ashley Landis-Pool/Getty Images) /

Most clutch player in Phoenix Suns history: Devin Booker

The Phoenix Suns have a long history in the NBA, joining the league in the late 1960s. For a 35 year stretch from 1975 to 2010, they only missed the playoffs seven times. Twice they lost in the NBA Finals, another seven times in the Conference Finals. Very rarely have they been “bad” but they have also never won it all.

Then came the years in the desert (the metaphorical one), with ten straight years missing the postseason. While that period of sustained losing wore on the fan base, it also brought the team its next star, Devin Booker.

For the first four seasons of his career, Booker showed offensive brilliance without team success. He once dropped 70 points on the Boston Celtics, one of only six players in NBA history to reach that mark. It came in a loss, but with Booker the youngest to reach that lofty height, the future looked bright.

That future came knocking in the NBA Bubble in 2020. After an interrupted season, the Phoenix Suns came to play, led by the best play of Devin Booker’s career.

Key Moment: After a hot 2-0 start during the NBA’s restart, Booker and the Suns took on the LA Clippers. A high octane game was in its final seconds with the score tied at 115, and Booker had the ball at the top of the key. He drove inside of the arc, with four-time All Defense selection Paul George on his hip.

Booker stopped on a dime, and as George’s momentum carried him past, looked to have an open look. But two-time Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard was close enough to step up for the contest. Booker didn’t even blink, pumping Leonard into the air. With George now recovering Booker spun in place to shake him, and then launched a shot as the buzzer sounded.

Nothing but net. Playing one of the title favorites, guarded by two of the league’s very best perimeter defenders, Booker made them look silly and hit the biggest shot of his career.

Booker and the Suns stayed perfect from there, going 8-0 in the NBA Bubble and just barely missing the playoffs. Booker averaged 30.5 points per game, shooting 50.3 percent from the field. He stepped up in a major way for a Suns team with a bright future.