Devin Booker vs Luka Doncic is the Rivalry the NBA Needs
Down to it's nature, sports are driven by rivalry.
One side vs. another. Good vs. evil. Red vs. blue. It allows fans and spectators to pick a side for the sake of rooting interest and allows the participants to not only form a bond with their own, but a fuel to succeed against the other side.
The NBA has been one of the greatest stages for sporting rivalry. Bird vs. Magic, Bulls vs. Pistons and Lakers vs. Celtics are just some of the best that has drawn interest to the league from even the most casual observers of basketball.
In today's era, authentic bad blood between players/teams is rare despite the glaring presence of social media and how much larger the game has grown on a global scale. There's a narrative that players today are simply too friendly with each other.
Sometimes rivalries can be forced, and those narratives don't last very long. Yet if the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks maintain their current level of play for the foreseeable future, the NBA might just have struck gold.
Let's travel back to last season during the Western Conference Semifinals. Devin Booker hit the floor after a tough fall and stayed down a little longer than he probably needed to. He got up with a grin, citing the "Luka Special" as a shot to Mavericks guard Luka Doncic.
"Everybody acting up tough when they up" said Doncic walking out of the tunnel.
Later in Game 7, this incredible meme was born when the Mavericks were blowing the doors off Phoenix in their own building.
A rivalry was ignited, and that would carry over into the current 2022-23 regular season. Though neither Phoenix or Dallas run the West, both teams reloaded in talent via Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
Nothing significant happened in the prior three meetings between the squads this season, and it appeared round four was on the same trajectory until 3.5 seconds left when Booker/Doncic came face to face with each other.
Remember earlier when we talked about the narrative that players are too friendly with competition?
Booker isn't here for that.
"It's just two competitors going at it. Everybody speaks on how friendly the NBA is now and don't like that. I have no problem with Luka [Doncic] on or off the court but when we're competing, we're competing … I don't have a problem with anybody," he said after the game.
Doncic isn't here for that, either.
"It's fine. It's just a competitive game. All good. Next time, just don't wait until there's 3 seconds left to talk," he said in his postgame press conference.
Boom.
Time will tell if the two are destined to meet again in the postseason, but Booker-Doncic has provided a spark for the NBA and its fans to rally behind as the postseason quickly approaches.
Social media engagements. Storylines. Articles like this. The league welcomes it all. For younger generations, this could be a springboard for interest across the world. For older generations, it's nice to see the game return to the natural "we don't like them and they don't like us" stage.
Booker vs. Doncic isn't Magic vs. Bird. The same intensity can't be manufactured to simulate Michael Jordan driving to the lane and getting shoved to the ground against the Detroit Pistons. The stakes haven't been quite as high for either just yet.
However, this is the rivalry the NBA needs.
