Collin Gillespie didn’t waste time jumping in when Devin Booker took heat from a Suns fan.
Gabe Guerrero, a Suns podcaster, argued on the Players Choice show that Booker doesn’t do enough to drive winning at the highest level, saying he doesn’t lift teammates the way Chris Paul does and only impacts the game through scoring.
“Book doesn’t make his teammates twice as good as they normally are,” Guerrero said. “Chris Paul does.
Book affects one part of the game very strongly: scoring. He doesn’t do that in defense.
Doesn’t do that in playmaking to the level that it takes to take your team all the way. He can affect one phase of the game, not all three.”
Gillespie, who spent the 2025-26 season alongside Booker, responded on X on Tuesday night with a blunt two-word dismissal.
“Bad take,” Gillespie wrote.
👎🏼 bad take https://t.co/XbAOxRMI9F
- Collin Gillespie (@Colling1021) August 26, 2026
The Suns guard has plenty of reason to back Booker. Gillespie had a breakout year in Phoenix after going undrafted in 2022, averaging 12.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game. That performance earned him a four-year, $48 million contract this offseason.
Phoenix also appeared to back its star after Gillespie’s post drew attention. The team’s X account highlighted Booker’s playmaking from last season, noting how often his passing created points.
“Book generated 1,053 points off his assists last season,” the Suns wrote. “It was the 5th time in his career he’s eclipsed 1,000 in a season.”
Book generated 1,053 points off his assists last season 📚
It was the 5th time in his career he’s eclipsed 1,000 in a season. pic.twitter.com/dJdxkCzl9n
- Phoenix Suns (@Suns) August 25, 2026
Booker’s 2025-26 numbers backed up the case for his all-around value. He averaged 26.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game, and he helped push a Suns team that had been dismissed after the Kevin Durant trade to a 45-37 record and the eighth seed in the playoffs.
The postseason didn’t go far, though. Oklahoma City swept Phoenix in the first round, and Booker’s production dipped in the series to 21.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game.
Even with that exit, the Suns have now won just two playoff series since reaching the NBA Finals in 2021, when they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.
Booker doesn’t deserve all the blame for that, but the broader picture is clear enough: he remains a high-level scorer and a strong playmaker, with defense that’s better than he’s often given credit for, yet he’s not quite in the tier of superstar who can carry a team to a title by himself. That’s a hard standard, and only a handful of players ever clear it.
Phoenix isn’t expected to chase a championship next season either, but repeating last year’s surprise success would still count as a strong result.
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The bigger picture in the Western Conference makes that possibility more intriguing, since several rivals are also trying to sort out their own next steps. For Phoenix, the path to a real jump will come down to how the new additions absorb the jobs left behind and how smoothly the roster balance comes together around its top scorers. [Read more 🡒]