Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker, 2K team for court dedication at Chicanos Por La Causa
Duane Rankin
Phoenix Suns All-Star Devin Booker felt right at home on the bright, colorful court Tuesday afternoon.
"Let's get a ball out here and shoot," said Booker, while walking around in street clothes.
Booker was part of a court dedication project ceremony at Chicanos Por La Causa Community Center in Phoenix.
"It's a good time," Booker said before Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks. "That's what it's about for me. Try to make it authentic as possible and have the most natural conversations I can have. It's different than your standard meet-and-greet situation. It's kind of a free-for-all and I try to give every kid or every person that moment."
Teaming up with 2K Foundations for the project, Booker cut the red tape with Ronnie Singh, also known as Ronnie 2K, and Mister Cartoon, who came up with the court designs.
"Going to some underprivileged areas I would say, parts of Phoenix that I haven't been to or don't spend time to, but to shed some light on it, put some light on the court, it was a good time," Booker continued.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Mister Cartoon started out as a graffiti artist and did murals but has become known for his tattoos for celebrities. He did the court designs in Moss Point, Mississippi, in 2021 for Booker's court dedication project back where he played high school ball.
2K Foundations is the “philanthropic arm” of NBA2K that “supports and inspires underserved communities” by making investments in local enrichment programs. Booker graced the 2K23 video game cover.
Ronnie 2K was at Phoenix's 114-106 win Monday night over Toronto at Footprint Center.
Chicanos Por La Causa formed in 1969 to fight discrimination against the Mexican American community.
With 100s of fans in attendance Tuesday, Booker rolled up in his 1959 Chevy Impala, signed autographs, did the court presentation with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego in attendance, watched kids perform on-court drills and checked out classic cars before leaving a little before 6 p.m.
"Shout-out to Sophisticated Few," said Booker about the car club that lined up vehicles behind the community center on West Melvin Street in South Phoenix. "I went to their drive around Christmas time and they told me, 'Whenever you want us to pull up, we will.' We're aligned in the same ways. We just want to give back and understand our impact on the community. There's some hot rods out there that people usually don't get to see. It was a dope moment."
Still out with a left groin strain suffered in the first quarter at Denver on Christmas, Booker missed Wednesday's game against Atlanta. Sources informed The Republic that Booker was expected to return to action ''soon" as the Suns provided an update following a second re-evaluation, saying he "continues progressing in on-court activity and status will be updated game-by-game."
He’s been ramping up recently and participated in on-court workouts.
"I feel good," Booker said. "Rounding third."
Booker had fun with the kids at Tuesday's event and attempted a few shots and threw a lob pass off the backboard to Stephon Bell, who played at Carl Hayden Community High School, for a two-handed dunk.
"I had to throw a lob," Booker said. "I wasn't going to make a shot."
Booker did bank in a 3 off the backboard with the double rims that drew a rise out of the crowd and gave the kids lined up on the baseline fist bumps.
"A lot of those kids got the chance to be there off of good behavior, which I learned," Booker said. "I think it was a special moment. They didn't know where they were going and what they were pulling up to. They asked me where the rest of the team was. I could tell that Phoenix Suns is in their blood. To be able to shed light and be there and have some natural conversations was a good time."
The Suns are 8-10 in the 18 games Booker has missed since re-aggravating his groin against the Nuggets.
"Everybody is excited," Suns big Dario Saric said after Monday morning's shootaround. "He's our best player. He hasn't played in like a month. Every team in the league who has their best player out is going to have some hard times. We're happy he's going to come back soon to us. He's going to bring us to another level. It's going to be good for us for sure.
Averaging a career-high 27.1 points a game this season, Booker has missed a total of 23 games this season. He sat two with left hamstring tightness and three with groin soreness before this recent stretch of 18 in a row with the left groin strain.
"He's lifting a ton," Suns coach Monty Williams said before Monday’s win against Toronto. "He's been on the court a little bit. Each day, he's doing more and more, but as far as an official update, there's really nothing else to report, but you can use your imagination. He's getting to a place where he's doing more. He hasn't played 5-on-5 yet. So that doesn't even come close to checking that box and having his body respond to that stimulus or that situation, but he is doing a bit more, but all the guys are. They're ramping up trying to get back on the floor as fast as they can."
The Suns are also without Landry Shamet (right foot soreness) and Cameron Payne (right foot sprain). Shamet hasn’t played since Jan. 16 at Memphis while Payne hasn’t seen action since Jan. 4 at Cleveland.
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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