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Mike Budenholzer Shocked Devin Booker by Asking Him to ‘Tone It Down' in the Huddle

Stephen Douglas

Mike Budenholzer and Devin Booker earlier this season.
Mike Budenholzer and Devin Booker earlier this season. / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images
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The Phoenix Suns are not having a great season. With about a quarter of their scheduled games remaining, they're sitting in 11th place in the Western Conference and are currently 3.5 games out of the play-in tournament. They've lost three straight and 10 of their last 12 games.

It seems like the kind of situation where the team would want one of it's leaders to step up and take charge, but according to a new report from NBA insider Chris Haynes, coach Mike Budenholzer actually asked one of his stars to take a step back.

"I was told that weeks ago Mike Budenholzer called his star guard Devin Booker into his office to issue a complaint," said Haynes. "And that complaint I am told was that Booker was being too vocal on the court and during timeout huddles. He implored his star guard to tone it down to allow for the coach's voice to be heard. This completely shocked Booker, I was told."

It's unclear when this conversation took place exactly, but Booker's points, assists and all his shooting percentages have increased in the five games since the All-Star break so it doesn't appear to have affected his performance. Booker was not selected for the All-Star Game.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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