Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker might have a new beef, but it’s not with anyone you would expect.
The 25-year-old stirred up a comedic controversy on Tuesday night when he got into a verbal altercation with the Toronto Raptors mascot, The Raptor, while shooting free throws at the end of a 99-95 Suns win.
With 6.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter after a highly entertaining back-and-forth affair, Booker was sent to the charity stripe line for two key free throws that would all but seal the game for the Suns. But The Raptor did his best to sike Booker out during his first free throw—which he almost missed, by the way—by flailing his arms and jumping on the baseline… kinda like what any NBA mascot would with the game on the line. After Booker’s complaints, the referees ended up sending the mascot to the corner for a timeout during Booker’s second free-throw, which he also made.
But it’s hard to blame the Raptor for trying considering that Toronto is the only team in the NBA playing home games without fans for the foreseeable future. So, instead of fans, there he was, roaming the sidelines throughout the game, cheering on his team and using any means possible to help get them their seventh straight win.
In fact, The Raptor was a storyline all night for the people watching from home, who witnessed for the first time all season just how omnipresent he could feel at a home game without fans in the arena. There were multiple iterations of The Raptor that showed up last night, including the jumbo-sized Raptor, a rare sight usually reserved for special occasions.
The Raptor became an even bigger storyline following the game when Booker was asked about the altercation in his post-game press conference, when he said:
“We hashed it out. We’re homies now… we cool now.”
When pressed about what his problem was with a mascot seeming to do its job, Booker said:
“I was just trying to get him out the way. It worked. I’d rather be shooting without him down there. We play a shooting game all the time, everyday, and these two dudes (referring to Chris Paul and Jae Crowder), same thing, and I complain then, so that’s just me.”
On Wednesday, Booker changed his Twitter profile picture to a photo of The Raptor kneeling in the corner after being sent there by the referees, looking sad as ever as he watched helplessly as Booker and the Suns put an end to the Raptors’ five-game winning streak.
At least he’s in on the joke, right?
The Raptor fired back with a new profile pic of his own—a shot of himself distracting Booker during the free throws.
Yet another chapter in one of the great rivalries of our time.
