Devin Booker appeared on D'Angelo Russell's podcast and the childhood friends were talking about NBA games against one another. Russell was telling a story about a game against Booker's Phoenix Suns while remarking about the whistle he had in Los Angeles. This led to a hilarious comment from Booker about that whistle not following Russell to the Brooklyn Nets or Golden State Warriors.
D’Angelo Russell : “One of my favorite stories bro, I was in LA and we playing Phoenix. I used to get the whistle, a nice little whistle. I used to get the whistle my boy in LA.”
Devin Booker: “In LA? Ain’t that convenient. You didn’t get it in Brooklyn or Golden State. That makes sense.”
Booker made a funny passing comment on Russell, but there's no data to suggest that D'Lo has benefitted from a more active whistle while wearing Lakers colors. His two seasons with the least free throw attempts per game are in LA, with the worst being his rookie season (2.4 FTA) and the second-worst being last season's 23-24 campaign (2.5 FTA).
Russell's best free throw shooting year, by far, came during the 2019-20 season where he split time with the Warriors and Timberwolves. Though he played just 48 games in the shortened season (33 on Warriors, 15 on Wolves), he averaged 4.4 FTA per game. Russell's best shooting year in LA was his sophomore season where he averaged 3.0 FTA per game.
Booker and Russell were joking about the large belief of fans and players that the Lakers have a more active whistle than any other team in the NBA because they're a big market and because of their star value. However, Russell's free throw shooting numbers over his career prove that might not be the absolute truth.
Devin Booker Thought The Miami Heat Would Draft Him
Booker and Russell entered the NBA Draft together in 2015, with Russell going No. 2 overall to the Lakers while Booker would slip to No. 13 and go to the Suns. However, Booker could have come off the board three spots earlier, as he revealed to Russell that he thought the Heat would draft him at No. 10 after Pat Riley directly told Booker he wanted to draft a 3-and-D player .
"I was hoping to go to Miami. Miami was my best workout and then Pat Riley came and did an interview and said 'We're looking for a Klay Thompson-type player, we need to up our shooting.' I just shot 40% in college I'm looking like 'Oh yeah I'm looking at spots right by the arena.'"
The Heat went with Justise Winslow instead. While Winslow was a promising wing prospect, he lasted just five seasons on the Heat before being moved. He hasn't played in the NBA since the 22-23 season.
Booker, on the other hand, has emerged as one of the best players in the league. He's started every game for a stacked Team USA squad at the Olympics , thriving in a purely 3-and-D role where he's perfectly supplementing his superstar teammates. In the NBA, Booker averaged 27.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 6.9 assists last season.
Related: Devin Booker Compares LeBron James To Captain America After Olympic Games Ceremony
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