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Devin Booker is only alive because of his patriotic father
There’s no arguing that Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker is one of the league’s best young players right now. In his sixth season in the desert, the sharpshooting guard has averaged 23 points per game and helped the Suns become a real NBA title contender.
Booker recently guided Phoenix to their first postseason series victory in almost a decade, and he did so convincingly.
He averaged nearly 30 points per game against the Los Angeles Lakers and sank 47 (22 in the first quarter alone) in the series finale, knocking “The King” out of the playoffs in the first round for the first time in his illustrious career.
The frightening part for the rest of the NBA is that Booker is only getting started.
He’s played in the league for six years, but he’s still only 24 years old and hasn’t reached his prime years.
But, as you’re sitting there thinking about how he’ll only grow better, consider this.
Devin Booker is only alive because his father, former All-American point guard Melvin Booker, had his own NBA hopes dashed after graduating from the University of Missouri in 1994.
Melvin Booker was a Mizzou All-American point guard
Melvin Booker, a 6’1′′ point guard, was not actively recruited by the big college schools in Mississippi despite scoring 28 points per game as a senior at Moss Point (MS) High School and being voted player of the year in his class.
Or, for that matter, anywhere in the region.
He didn’t get a big-time scholarship offer until assistant coaches from the University of Missouri discovered him while recruiting other players.
As a freshman in 1990-91, Booker didn’t play much in Norm Stewart’s offense because the Tigers had future NBA players Doug Smith and Anthony Peeler on the squad.
Despite this, he averaged 8.3 points and 3.5 assists each game.
The next season, he received increased playing time and contributed to Mizzou’s 21-9 record and NCAA Tournament berth, averaging 11.6 points, 3.9 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Booker started all 33 games for the Tigers as a junior in 1992-93, averaging 15.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.4 steals, earning him First-Team All-Big Eight (now Big 12) accolades.
He guided the Tigers to a 24-2 regular-season record and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 1993-94, where they defeated Navy, Wisconsin, and Syracuse on their route to the program’s first Elite Eight appearance since 1976.
Mizzou lost to second-seeded Arizona in the regional championship, but one loss couldn’t eclipse Booker’s outstanding season.
In 32 games, he averaged 18.1 points while shooting 50.4 percent from the field, 40.5 percent from 3-point range, and 82.3 percent from the foul line, while also contributing 4.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals.
He was named Big Eight Player of the Year and was named First-Team All-Big Eight once more.
In addition, he has selected a consensus Second-Team All-American, implying that he was the nation’s second-best point guard, trailing only someone named Jason Kidd.
Melvin Booker was not picked into the NBA, hence Devin Booker is still alive
Melvin Booker waited and watched as 54 names other than his were called out during the NBA draft on June 29, 1994, an event he subsequently described as one of the darkest evenings of his life.
Even now, he has no idea why he was not taken that night.
With his NBA hopes dashed, Booker began his professional career with the Hartford Hellcats of the CBA.
He later played for the Pittsburgh Piranhas before joining the Grand Rapids Mackers in 1995.
And it was in Grand Rapids during this one season that he met Veronica Gutierrez.
Devin Booker was born on October 30, 1996, after the two got close.
What’s ironic is that by the time Devin was born, Melvin had already had his shot at the NBA, having played 11 games for the Houston Rockets in 1996.
In 1996-97, he appeared in five games for the Denver Nuggets and 16 games for the Golden State Warriors, making four starts. That would be the end of Melvin’s NBA career.
He averaged 5.2 points, 2.3 assists, and 1.2 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game in 32 games.
Melvin spent the following decade or so working with teams in Italy, Turkey, and Russia, all while attempting to maintain contact with his little son.
He and Veronica had never married, and Devin’s main contact with his father was over the summer when he’d leave his mother in Michigan to visit Melvin in Mississippi.
Devin would go to Mississippi permanently a few years after Melvin retired.
Also, read Giancarlo Stanton, Matthew Christopher Schnell, John Daly’s Married Life:
Devin Booker went to high school with his father, who was one of his coaches
Melvin returned to his hometown after retiring as a player in 2008 and eventually became an assistant coach at his alma mater.
He’d long attempted to persuade Devin to go to Mississippi, but the younger Booker was hesitant since he didn’t want to leave his mother and all of the friends he’d established growing up in Michigan.
Devin played on the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity teams at Grandville High School as a freshman, and it was evident that he was a great talent.
Melvin was emphatic that if his son was serious about becoming a professional basketball player, he needed to relocate to Mississippi so the two could collaborate.
It took some persuasion, but Devin, and more crucially, Devin’s mother, consented ahead of his sophomore season in 2011.
Devin rose to prominence while playing for his father at Moss Point, where he was selected as a McDonald’s All-American as a senior.
He subsequently spent one season with the Kentucky Wildcats (mainly because he had to play one year somewhere), garnering SEC Sixth Man of the Year honors, before being selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 13th overall choice in the 2015 NBA draft.
So, while Melvin’s name was never called in the NBA draft, he was right there to hear his son’s name called, an experience he says he’ll never forget.
And here’s how Melvin recounted his father’s reaction to his draft (h/t The Undefeated).
“He told me that ‘God has a plan,’ and that plan was for me to make it to the NBA.”
He is not experiencing life via me. But he claims that me being drafted is preferable to his being drafted.”
