Thirty years ago today, Devin Booker was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Tonight, he celebrates that birthday on court, as his Phoenix Suns host the Denver Nuggets in their NBA Cup opener. 🏀
It is a fitting stage for a player who has spent his whole NBA life in Phoenix. Drafted as a teenager, Booker is now the Suns’ all-time leading scorer and the face of the franchise.
His story is not a tale of overnight fame. It is eleven seasons of steady, spectacular scoring — from a bench role at Kentucky to a 70-point night, an NBA Finals run and two Olympic gold medals.
Then: The Teenage Sharpshooter
Booker grew up around basketball. His father, Melvin Booker, played in the NBA and then professionally overseas, and Devin spent summers visiting him.
After moving to Mississippi, he starred at Moss Point High School, averaging 30.9 points per game as a senior. He chose Kentucky, where he came off the bench in his one college season and was named SEC Sixth Man of the Year.
Phoenix took him with the 13th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. He was still 18, the youngest player in his draft class, and he debuted two days before his 19th birthday, scoring 14 points against Dallas.
His rise was fast. On 24 March 2017, aged just 20, Booker scored 70 points against the Boston Celtics — a Suns franchise record, and the youngest 60-point game in NBA history.
The Middle: Finals, Gold and the Scoring Record
Booker helped Phoenix reach the 2021 NBA Finals, where the Suns fell to the Milwaukee Bucks. A year later, he earned All-NBA First Team honours after a franchise-best 64-win season.
He has since become a five-time NBA All-Star and a two-time All-NBA selection. With Team USA, he won Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 and again in Paris in 2024, where coach Steve Kerr called him the team’s unsung MVP.
In February 2025, Booker passed Walter Davis to become the Suns’ all-time leading scorer. That summer, he signed a two-year, $145 million extension keeping him in Phoenix through the 2029-30 season.
That Finals run put Booker on the stage where players like James Worthy made their names.
His scoring record also puts him among the great one-team careers, including Jerry West‘s with the Lakers.
Now: Thirty, Still the Suns’ Man
Booker enters his age-30 season in his 12th year with the same franchise — a rarity in the modern NBA. This summer he also switched jersey numbers, from No. 1 to No. 15, in honour of his father.
The new season has already swung wildly. Phoenix lost its opener 124-83 at Portland, with Booker scoring 23 points. Two nights later, he answered with 43 points in a 131-122 home win over Golden State — a Suns record for a home opener.
Then came the other extreme: just three points, on 1-for-7 shooting, in a 125-114 loss at Oklahoma City on Monday, though he still handed out seven assists. The Suns sit at 1-2 heading into tonight.
That is the Booker story in miniature: explosive, occasionally quiet, always central. Tonight, on his 30th birthday, the Denver game is both an NBA Cup opener and a chance to reset the season’s story.
At 30, Booker already owns the Suns’ record book. The question now is whether the next chapter — the one that starts tonight — finally brings Phoenix the championship that has eluded the franchise.