For the longest time, players have complained about the referees and their inconsistencies. This has been amplified by the Last Two-Minute Report, introduced in 2015, but has become more prominent lately. For the Phoenix Suns, this has become more relevant lately because Devin Booker was on the wrong end of a non-call.
The Golden State Warriors benefited from the non-call because it led to Stephen Curry scoring an easy layup at the rim. The Suns lost the game 119-116 after Booker's last-second attempt did not go in.
Booker is unhappy with the referees
Most NBA players will have bad experiences with the referees because they disagree with plenty of calls. Booker respects the referees for what they are doing, but it is fair to call them out when they make mistakes.
Booker also knows that the L2M Report is a good way to hold the referees accountable, but sometimes, he just disagrees with what was called. He tries to see it from a different perspective, but he can't find the best way to accept it.
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Like many other players, Booker only wants consistency from the referees. He does not want all the calls to go his way, but he wants better consistency, so he won't have to keep complaining about some of the same calls.
"Just consistency in the game. I think one of my big problems is I watch all the games, mostly every night, and expect to get similar calls to people that have the same usage rate as me, but that's not the case. But in the game, with the referee crew you have, I think if similar plays happen on both sides, they should be called or not called," Booker said after practice.
This could be an eye-opener for the rest of the league because Booker is a legitimate superstar. If he can call this out, other NBA players might be willing to speak about it as well. The coaches have done so recently, with the Denver Nuggets' David Adelman and Minnesota Timberwolves' Chris Finch getting ejections in recent games.