Devin Booker Called Out a Ref by Name and Got Fined $35K, But the NBA Just Admitted He Was Right

The NBA came down on Devin Booker's postgame rant with a $35,000 fine on Thursday, but here's the kicker: they also rescinded the technical foul that set him off in the first place, calling it "improperly assessed." Talk about vindication with a side of punishment.

After the Suns dropped Game 2 to the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-107 on Wednesday, falling into a 2-0 hole in their first round matchup, Booker let loose on referee James Williams. And he went there hard. "In my 11 years, I haven't called a ref out by name, but James was terrible tonight," Booker said postgame. He claimed he even heard Thunder guard Alex Caruso tell the officials to call the tech, and boom, they did it.

The League Investigated and Found Something Interesting

The NBA's executive vice president of basketball operations James Jones issued the fine, and the league's official statement said they found "no basis to any claim of bias or misconduct by game officials" after conducting their investigation with multiple interviews and video review. So the refs didn't do anything wrong on purpose, basically.

But then they turned around and said the technical foul itself was overturned. You can't make this up. Booker didn't back down either. "Whatever I get fined for, everybody can pull the clips and see where the frustration comes from," he said. Guy stood his ground.

Booker's Stats Tell the Story of a Tough Matchup

On Wednesday, Booker finished with 22 points and seven rebounds. He put up 23 points and six boards in Game 1 on Sunday. Over 64 regular season starts this year, he averaged 26.1 points, 6.0 assists and 3.9 rebounds. For context, in 11 NBA seasons all with Phoenix, the five-time All-Star has career averages of 24.6 points, 5.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds across 737 games.

The Suns are down 2-0 in a best-of-seven series, which means they're in deep trouble. Booker's frustration makes sense when you look at how this series is slipping away.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.