Devin Booker’s move from No. 1 to No. 15 has already created a little ripple inside the Suns locker room, and Mark Williams is taking it in stride.
Booker’s switch is tied to a personal tribute. He’s leaving behind the number that has defined his NBA career to honor his father, Melvin Booker, who wore No. 15 throughout his professional basketball career.
It’s also a nod that echoes the kind of change Kobe Bryant once made when he went from No. 8 to No. 24.
For Williams, the number shuffle comes with a bit of humor attached. When he arrived in Phoenix in 2025, he claimed No. 15, the same number he wore at Duke, after previously playing with No. 5 for the Charlotte Hornets. Now, after one season with the Suns and a re-signing in the 2026 offseason, Williams is set to wear No. 25 beginning in the 2026-27 season.
That opened the door for some light teasing when he spoke with Suns media.
"During the year, actually, at one point, he kinda said it in passing. At the end of the year, he said that will happen.
We're in negotiations; think of it as going upstairs and talking. We'll agree on something; I'm not worried about that.
He said he got me," Williams joked in an interview with the Suns media.
The exchange fits the mood around Phoenix right now. The Suns turned heads in the 2025-26 season by reaching the NBA Playoffs even after losing Kevin Durant, and Booker appears to have settled into the leadership role with teammates clearly buying in.
Williams’ comments had the feel of a player comfortable with the situation and amused by it too. With Booker now wearing his old number and Williams moving on to another one, the Suns head into 2026-27 with a locker room that sounds loose, upbeat and very much on the same page.
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