Former UK teammates Devin Booker, left, and Karl-Anthony Towns were back playing together at the NBA All-Star Game. (NBA Photo)
Former Kentucky teammates Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns were reunited at last weekend’s NBA All-Star Game. The last time they played together was the Final Four loss to Wisconsin to end UK’s 38-0 season in 2014-15.
Booker now plays for Phoenix while Towns is with Minnesota.
“It’s great, man. Just listening to him, that’s what I’ve been doing since we met, listening to him talk. No, it’s fun, man. We’re just having fun with it,” Booker said before the game. “Our lockers are right next to each other.
” I know when KD (Kevin Durant) picked us both on the same team that the Kentucky memories started to flashback. It’s fun to be out here with him.”
Booker has been having a lot of fun the last two years. Phoenix made the NBA Finals last year and the Suns were leading the NBA Western Division with a 48-10 record at the all-star break and Booker is averaging 25.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game.
“I think that expectation regardless of our record or not is going to be there after falling short last year, going through what we went through last year,” Booker said. “I’d be lying to you if I said that wasn’t our goal from the beginning of the season, but I think we do a good job at celebrating these moments and celebrating the streaks that we’ve been on, at the same time understanding what the mission is and what we’re ultimately trying to do.
“We learned a lot through the season last year that benefited us later on in the playoffs, Coach stressing little details that you think isn’t a big deal at the time but can cost you a game in the playoffs, and you’re never going to want that.”
Booker had to deal with big expectations in his one season at UK when the Cats almost completed a perfect season. He knows what it takes to have a special team and special season.
“I’d say chemistry. We can just start there, just the culture, the environment we’re in, from coaching staff to training staff all the way down to the players. Everybody is locked in and everybody works extremely hard,” he said.
“It’s just a whole chemistry and aura about the team that we’re still trying to build on for later in the season, but so far, so good.”
