Devin Booker had Kobe Bryant in mind during his 47-point Game 6 performance

Kobe Bryant once told Devin Booker to be legendary and the Suns superstar delivered by dropping 47 points on the Lakers to eliminate them.

After facing the second-seeded Phoenix Suns in postseason, LeBron James’ flawless record of 14-0 in progressing from the first round of the Playoffs to the second round has been officially broken. The man of the hour, and unquestionably the man of the series, was Devin Booker, who finished with a season-high 47 points to defeat the reigning champions.

For the most of his career, Devin Booker has been labelled as a ‘good numbers, poor team’ player, and has been chastised for being an empty stats person. He has now demonstrated that he can be the number one offensive option for a club that has a realistic opportunity at making a run to the NBA Finals.

The two-time All-Star is one of the few young players in the league who got the opportunity to play against Kobe Bryant in the last days of his career, a matchup that meant more to Booker than most people now. After all, Devin Booker has Kobe Bryant’s encouraging phrases for him tattooed on his body.

According to Devin Booker, Kobe Bryant was a type of superhero for him when he was growing up. Once Booker made it to the league, the two became fast friends, and the Laker icon even handed him a pair of autographed Kobes with the slogan “Be Legendary” inscribed on them. This is the statement that the 24-year-old had tattooed on his body.

Let’s fast ahead. After a few years, D-Book has delivered his own Kobe-like effort in a key closeout game against the reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers. Everything about Booker’s game, from the pull-up 3s to the fadeaways on the baseline, is eerily similar to how Bryant would take shots. Booker would also mention Kobe in his post-game interview.

Devin’s game has grown significantly since his arrival in the league, owing in large part to the fact that he trained alongside Kobe Bryant in his early years. Booker believes he learnt how to draw cheeky fouls and his clever footwork from the 2008 MVP himself.

With Booker having become a superstar in these Playoffs, it’ll be interesting to see how well he matches up against the Nuggets and their depleted backcourt in the 2nd round of the Playoffs.  

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