Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker made his return from an injury quite earlier than initially suspected, and the organization has been fined $25,000 for the maneuver.
On Saturday, the NBA announced that they would fine the Suns organization $25,000 for failing to properly disclose Booker’s status ahead of Game 6 of the NBA Playoffs. Booker, one of the Suns’ most important players, had been out since Game 2 and it was initially believed that he would be out for much longer, but that clearly was not the case.
Last Thursday, ahead of the Suns’ Game 6 against the New Orleans Pelicans, Booker was officially announced to be out from the game with the injury. However, he was upgraded to ‘questionable’ a few hours later, and then eventually the team announced he was playing. The Suns are suspected of ‘rushing’ Booker back from his injury in order to avoid being eliminated.
The Phoenix Suns received a $25,000 fine for violating league injury reporting rules involving Devin Booker’s status for Game 6 vs Pelicans pic.twitter.com/5nVJ0jkATx
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) April 30, 2022
“I thought [Booker] was fine,” Suns coach Monty Williams said on Saturday. “When I talked to him, he was straight with me, like, ‘Coach, I’m fine, I feel strong.’…He hadn’t played in over a week, so that probably had a lot to do with it, but in the second half I thought I saw more of an effort to just play. And we needed it.”
And need it they did, as the Suns ended up beating the Pelicans in that game, 115-109. Booker ended up playing 32 minutes in the game, scoring 13 points with five rebounds and three assists. With that win, they eliminated the Pelicans and advanced to the second round of the playoffs, now taking on Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks.
What do you think of the Suns rushing Devin Booker back to win that crucial game, and their subsequent fine because of it?
