Devin Booker cites ‘no winning habits’ behind Suns’ struggles

“Just no winning habits,” Booker said.

The lack of winning habits shouldn’t be an issue. Budenholzer himself has won an NBA championship and understands a winning culture.

However, that culture is absent and has been missing since the beginning of the season.

Now, it has been analyzing excuses, and every possible way. Some of them, have been justified. For instance, Phoenix has had 33 different lineup changes.

They’ve dealt with injuries as well, and some unusual rumors. One of those being Budenholzer’s job security. While that was squashed as soon as it came out, there was another one that peaked interest.

Most notably, Budenholzer told Booker to tone it down vocally. After all, the Suns shooting guard has always been a vocal leader on both sides of the ball.

Perhaps tempering that fire has made things worse for Phoenix rather than better.

Does Mike Budenholzer see Devin Booker’s point?

For all of the twists and turns, and even nosedives the Suns have had this season, Budenholzer has remained optimistic. However, there are only so many times to remain upbeat and not acknowledge what is transpiring.

Even though Booker has expressed his support for the head coach, it might be coming to an end. Saying that there are “no winning habits” isn’t a promising sign.

After all, the guard had plenty of seasons on the losing side. However, he’s reached the pinnacle in the NBA Finals. He’s seen both sides of that particular spectrum.

In his postgame interview, Budenholzer detailed if he believes the team has given up at this point of the season.

“No, I mean, we didn’t play well, but I would never say that,” Budenholzer said. “It was a tough night for us. The guys were good this morning. We didn’t play well and give Golden State credit.”

Funny enough, Bradley Beal also feels a similar way to both Booker and Budenholzer. In the locker room, he explained how the amount of 30-40 point loss is beyond embarrassing.

“Oh, for sure. For sure. Nobody likes to lose, period, but losing by 30 and 40, that’s — we might as well have not showed up,” Beal said.”

Can the Suns turn it around before it’s too late?

For the Suns to secure a play-in spot, they would have to win out their remaining three games. Furthermore, the Dallas Mavericks would have to lose all three games. It’s safe to say that the latter is unlikely to happen.

Still, there have been crazier instances in the NBA. At the end of the day, though, not having Kevin Durant is a massive blow. The team seems a bit discombobulated when he isn’t on the floor.

There isn’t that go-to scorer and someone that can simply put the ball in the basket.

While Devin Booker has had an impressive two to three week stretch, it might be too little, too late. Either way, the lack of “winning habits” as he mentioned have shown for quite some time.

Unless a miracle happens, the Suns could be out of the playoffs for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Then, everyone will need to analyze what “winning habits” Booker is referencing for a successful season to occur.