Devin Booker was left exasperated by multiple controversial calls during Wednesday’s 120-107 Game 2 road loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, with the Phoenix Suns star letting the referees hear about it postgame.
The NBA world was overwhelmingly on Booker’s side, fueling questions about the defending champions potentially benefiting from officiating bias.
Devin Booker Sparks Heated Officiating Discourse After Questionable Calls in Game 2 Loss to Thunder
The eighth-seeded Suns entered their first-round Western Conference playoff series against the No. 1-seeded Thunder with little chance of posing a legitimate threat. While the series has played out as expected thus far, with OKC cruising to back-to-back lopsided wins, Booker believes his squad deserves more respect from officials.
The five-time All-Star was left particularly vexed by a divisive late third-quarter technical foul. After getting bumped by Thunder big man Jaylin Williams and losing control of the ball, Booker attempted to save it from going out of bounds as he crashed into the sideline.
Flipping the ball behind his back, it ended up hitting Williams, with the officiating crew ultimately deciding the play warranted a technical foul after some lobbying from OKC veteran guard Alex Caruso.
Alex Caruso just told the ref to call a tech on Booker for saving the ball out of bounds and hitting Williams and the ref complied. pic.twitter.com/uLmw2IEAR3
— Mike Vigil (@protectedpick) April 23, 2026
The head-scratching call followed a contentious second-quarter sequence in which Booker was assessed an offensive foul on a shot inside over Caruso, with Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander promptly getting away with a similar move on the other end.
Doris Burke is FRYING the refs for the difference in officiating between Devin Booker and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pic.twitter.com/fpjIT6YusN
— CantGuardBook (@CGBBURNER) April 23, 2026
“In my 11 years, I haven’t called a ref out by name, but James [Williams] was terrible tonight through and through,” Booker said postgame. “It’s bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as the WWE if they’re not held responsible.
“It just feels disrespectful. I know I haven’t won a championship in this league, but I have been in it for 11 years now. So, to get to this point to be treated like that, for me to even be saying something out loud, it’s bad.”
Whoa…. Devin Booker just WENT OFF on the NBA refs right now in the post game press conference:
“It’s definitely something that has to be looked at. I heard (Alex) Caruso tell them to call the tech and he ended up doing it. In my 11 years, I haven’t called a ref out by name,… pic.twitter.com/lfc7UBBue5
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) April 23, 2026
The NBA community didn’t hesitate to support Booker, with many expressing disbelief over his bizarre technical foul.
“DEVIN BOOKER GOT A TECH FOR SAVING THE BALL 💀💀💀,” BrickCenter captioned the play.
DEVIN BOOKER GOT A TECH FOR SAVING THE BALL 💀💀💀 pic.twitter.com/L8WGwpC1pX
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) April 23, 2026
“WHAT THE HELL DID HE DO!??!?! No idea,” NBA personality MrBuckBuck pondered.
A longer version of Devin Booker receives a technical foul, and no one can understand why he got it.
WHAT THE HELL DID HE DO!??!?!
No idea. https://t.co/S1oPFk2Ype pic.twitter.com/YUDT8GqSDO
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) April 23, 2026
“They gave Devin Booker a technical foul for trying to save the ball. Can’t even make this stuff up lol,” Suns reporter Gerald Bourguet reacted.
“This might be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen,” Booker Muse asserted.
This might be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen https://t.co/39e2tOzTWW
— Booker Muse (@DevinBookerMuse) April 23, 2026
“Lmaooo, this officiating is terrible. That’s such a bad offensive foul call on Devin Booker,” ClutchPoints’ Tomer Azarly declared.
Lmaooo this officiating is terrible. That’s such a bad offensive foul call on Devin Booker.
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 23, 2026
Booker will likely face a hefty fine for his blunt officiating criticism ahead of Saturday’s Game 3 showdown in Phoenix. However, according to the 29-year-old, that is a sacrifice he is more than willing to make.
“This is my first time in 11 years, but it’s needed,” Booker continued. “Whatever I get fined for it, everybody can pull the clips and see where the frustration is from.”
