Devin Booker said the Suns reached the NBA Finals based on merit, rather than beating teams with bad injury luck. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Devin Booker responds to critics of Suns' NBA Finals run

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 7/5/21

Devin Booker is not apologizing for his Phoenix Suns’ NBA Finals run, not that he should be.

The Suns have been viewed by some as a team that’s taken advantage of their opponents' injuries to reach the Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers lost Anthony Davis due to a groin injury in their first-round series. Phoenix won that series in six. The Suns swept the Denver Nuggets in the second round. Denver was playing the last few months without Jamal Murray, who suffered a torn ACL in April. Then they beat the Clippers in the conference finals in six games. The Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard the entire series because he had a knee injury.

Booker met with the media on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s Game 1 of the Finals against the Bucks. He was asked about the injuries to opponents and dismissed the matter.

“We’re not here to justify what we’re doing to anybody else,” Booker said.

Devin Booker on the Suns advancing to the Finals on their merits as opposed to just beating teams that didn’t have some of their star players pic.twitter.com/SMKfdnqdT1

— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) July 5, 2021

Booker has no reason to apologize. His team was without Chris Paul for a few games due to COVID. More importantly, it’s not like any of those other teams laid down and quit just because they had some injuries. The Suns still had to win games. And they did.

Now they will face perhaps their toughest test when they take on the Bucks.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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