What Was REALLY Said In Devin Booker & DeAndre Ayton’s Beef! (Ft. Lakers)

What Was REALLY Said In Devin Booker & DeAndre Ayton’s Beef! (Ft. Lakers)

As we all know, DeAndre Aiden had a very dramatic run in Phoenix. He went from being one of the most promising big men in the league to being labeled as a quitter. Aiden often clashed with the coaching staff and teammates couldn’t stand him. This included Devin Booker, who hated his lack of effort. Aiden took it the wrong way, leading to a shaky relationship. Therefore, what did they actually say to each other? We’re going to break it all down in this video, including the before and aftermath. Let’s get into it. It all started in 2018. Aiden had just completed an impressive season in Arizona, averaging 20 points and 12 rebounds per game. He had all the tools to become a superstar, and the Suns gave him a chance. In a really talented draft class, they selected him with the number one overall pick. The Suns had three straight seasons with less than 25 wins. So Aiden was expected to bring some light to the tunnel. The team was previously led by Devin Booker, who was one of the league’s best scorers. He even had 70 points in a game, but his numbers never translated to wins. The Suns front office wanted to change that and also added veterans like Trevor Arisa and Jamal Crawford to the roster. They wanted to see progression and things started well. On opening night, they destroyed the Dallas Mavericks. Booker and Aiden looked really good as a duo, combining for 53 points. However, things went downhill from here. They lost seven straight games and had a 4 and21 record by December. This was mainly due to bad coaching as the team had the worst offense in the league. Aiden didn’t know where to be in certain plays and Booker had to correct him several times. that led to several shouting matches with things intensifying against Portland. After a 22-point loss, these two exchanged words in the locker room. Booker thought Aiden wasn’t playing like himself and the argument lasted for about 10 minutes. Aiden had this to say about the exchange. Quote, “I’m an emotional guy, too. I start to feel stuff. When I don’t sense it and the energy is not there, that’s when you start to hear my mouth. 19-year vet or 15 years, it doesn’t matter. Aiden also went further with his comments, telling The Athletic, quote, “This is my team. I feel everything. When we lose and stuff like this happens, I’m hurting.” As you can tell, egos were getting in the way. Both Aiden and Booker wanted to prove themselves, and their disconnection kept leading to losses. The Suns finished that season with the worst record in franchise history. They also fired their head coach and signed Monty Williams. This was Booker’s fifth coach in five straight seasons, but things finally looked promising. Under the new system, the Suns were able to win more games. Booker and Aiden were more involved in the pick and roll and they started to get along. Although they missed the playoffs, they made an impressive run in the bubble. This was exactly what the Suns had been waiting for years. The team finally had a direction with Booker and Aiden holding each other accountable. During an ESPN interview, Aiden shared the advice he and Booker gave each other. What kind of advice does Book give you? What kind of advice do you give back to him? Well, him, he just wants me to slow down and just keep competing and bring that approach to the game every time. And me, what I want from him is just how he leads the team, you know, uh especially when stuff aren’t going our way. and you know he just shows by example by taking over or you know just communicating in the right way and know each other person know who to yell at, who not to yell at. He does a great job. With that in mind, the Suns had a breakout season in 2021. They finished with the second seed in the West and even made it to the finals. Aiden had a solid playoff campaign averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds per game. Also, his relationship with Booker was at an all-time high. They shared this moment after going up two nothing in the finals. It looked like this was the year for Phoenix, but they lost their next four games. Aiden had several poor performances and Giannis was too much to handle. Booker was left speechless as he said, “Damn.” Still, the spirits were high. Even though the guys were extremely frustrated in the locker room, Aiden said this to Booker. You know, I walked over to him and said, you know, this is just the beginning. And um you know, now we know what now we know what what we need to do and you know um no no less you know um we’re going to keep each other accountable for the rest of our careers you know together and so is male and Jay Crowder and every all the other guys on the team as well. With that in mind the Sun’s future looked really bright. Players were bought in and it was just a matter of time before they won a title. However, things took a complete turn. DeAndre Aiden was allegible for a contract extension, but the Suns didn’t make an offer. Instead, they signed Chris Paul, Mikuel Bridges, and Landry Shamid to huge deals. This left a bad taste for Aiden since he thought the Suns didn’t value him. Aiden was forced to play the 2022 season on his rookie deal while becoming a restrictive free agent in the summer. Regardless, Aiden kept competing at a high level and the Suns had their best season in franchise history. They finished with 64 wins and Booker also had another impressive season. The Suns became the number one seed in the West, eliminating the Pelicans in the first round. However, the team crumbled against Dallas. They lost in the most embarrassing way possible with DeAndre Aiden only playing 17 minutes. He looked really disinterested on the court and Dallas won by 33 points. After the game, Monty Williams explained the reasoning behind Aiden’s playing time. Da only played 17 minutes tonight and so he didn’t play most of the fourth quarter. Is there any reason why is he hurt or internal? With that in mind, Aiden was mentally checked out. He was ready to move on and had his eyes set on Indiana. He signed a four-year $133 million contract, but the Suns matched the offer. Aiden remained in Phoenix and he didn’t seem too happy about it. May what was your initial reaction once the Suns matched the Pacers offer? I was happy. It was all done. I guess that’s it. Yep. Okay. You can tell he was still bitter about the contract situation and things kept getting worse. Not only did Aiden clash with Booker, but he also got into it with Mikuel Bridges. In a game against Washington, Phoenix was down five with a minute left. The Suns had to get a stop, but Aiden committed a foul. Bridges was frustrated since Aiden had just missed an assignment on the other end that led to this interaction. [Music] [Applause] Number 22, the fifth personal. Talk about Taj Gibson coming up with big [Applause] double double tonight. 13. As you heard, there was a lack of accountability within this team. Players didn’t respect each other and Monty Williams had to intervene. [Music] Booker knew what kind of season this was going to be, and Aiden’s attitude translated to the playoffs. Despite the Suns acquiring Kevin Durant, the chemistry never improved. In game five against the Clippers, Aiden called out Booker for not rebounding. [Music] [Applause] The fact that a center is complaining about rebounding to a guard is crazy. Just a play later, the Suns allowed another offensive rebound. The Clippers got another shot up, but Aiden didn’t even attempt to rebound. This led to a timeout by Phoenix and Booker was pissed. He looked straight at Aiden and said, “Pray out. Nobody come. [Applause] Then Aiden got in the huddle and said this. [Applause] Clearly, Boker didn’t want to hear any of it as he actually meditated after the timeout. He didn’t like where things were heading and Aiden was asked about his motor. Question your motor. I don’t know what that is, man. Motor. Come on, bro. I play both ends of the floor. My name is Dominated. I carry I anchor the Phoenix Suns on both ends of the floor. Motor? Really? Talk about a motor, man. Nope. I run Tesla battery. Full charge. Basically, Aiden didn’t take this situation seriously and he showed in the second round. Aiden was not giving his 100% effort and this play perfectly explains it. He didn’t even try to be in the play as Jokish kept getting every rebound. Then in game three, things reached a breaking point. Aiden was getting cooked on defense and after picking up a foul on Jokish, Booker called him out. [Applause] To make things worse, Aiden sat as far away from Booker in the huddle. He started whining on the bench as he wasn’t involved in any action. The Suns benched him for the final minutes and he was pissed. Aiden also ignored Chris Paul’s handshake and he was just out of it mentally. The Suns did win the game by seven points and Booker said this about Aiden. Book obviously uh DA kind of had a tough night tonight. Um you know as a leader and and somebody who’s kind of like what do you tell him cuz obviously you’re going to need him in the coming game. I mean that’s life you know. We we’ve been we’ve been around, you know, long enough to understand every night’s not going to be your night. You know, it’s just doing doing other things to make up for it. You know, if you make a shot, miss a layup, like you you don’t know what’s going to happen there. But energy and effort always has to be high, especially time around this time. You can’t get, you know, flustered. Um you can’t get in your own head. And, you know, I could see that a little bit with him today. So, you know, it’s my job to, you know, just pump them up. Like, it’s a it’s next possession. Like, you know, who cares how you play? All it comes down to is if you win or loss around this time of year. Basically, Booker was tired of his antics and he wanted Aiden to be at his best. Unfortunately, Aiden never improved. He kept showing lack of interest and only scored eight points in game four. Booker tried to coach him on the bench, but Aiden just didn’t care. After the game, he shared his perspective. Mainly just getting my head together again, man. Uh, it was game three. Game three, I didn’t have much mental stamina to where I just wasn’t focused, man. I don’t know. I don’t know. I know everybody seen it. We need checked out late, coach. We trying to win and that’s the best thing to do right now. And next man up mentality, man. This was really concerning to hear, especially since they needed a body to guard Jokish. In fact, the Suns had to rely on Jack Landel to close out games. That’s pretty embarrassing for Aiden since he’s a former number one overall pick. Regardless, the series was tied at two games a piece, meaning that the Suns still had a chance. Game five was expected to be a big game for Aiden, but he went missing. Although he had 14 points and nine rebounds, he committed many mistakes on defense. While Booker was coaching the team during a timeout, Aiden left the huddle. He went to the end of the bench as he was still in his head. Players tried everything they could to motivate Aiden, but he was out of it. The Suns lost game five, and Aiden ruled himself out of game six. This happened three days before the actual game as he was sidelined with a rib injury. That rubbed Booker the wrong way as he thought Aiden should have gave it a shot. At least try to warm up and see how it feels. However, Aiden didn’t even try to suit up as Phoenix lost by 25 points. Booker didn’t speak with the media and their season was officially over. During the summer, Aiden competed for the Bahamas and threw shots at his son’s teammates. I don’t even know how to feel. The most incredible feeling, you know, the best teammates I ever been around on and off the court. Um, just understanding everybody on the same mission was a phenomenal feeling. At this point, the Suns had to make a move. There were way too many distractions, so they traded Aiden to Portland. In return, they received Joseph Nerkish and solid role players. This concluded a dramatic era in Phoenix, and Aiden was excited for a fresh start. However, when asked about his first matchup against Phoenix, Aiden disregarded the question. Any thoughts about tomorrow night facing your own team? There’s no thoughts at all. Andre, you spent a lot of time though in Phoenix drafted by them. How could there not be? I don’t want to talk about They told me I was going to talk about the game I played yesterday. I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you. I thought we was talking about the game I played yesterday. In other words, Aiden didn’t mess with anyone in Phoenix. In fact, he unfollowed Booker and Durant on Instagram. Aiden clearly took offense to something, setting the stage for his first official matchup against Phoenix. It took place on November 21st, 2023. Aiden played like his old self, scoring 18 points and grabbing eight rebounds. With 3 minutes left, this happened tonight. Aiden also stared him down, but Booker responded. In the following possession, he hit a jumper over Aiden and shared some words. There was clearly no love lost, and Booker called him out after the game. You and BA were going back and forth a little bit there in the second half. How much do you enjoy getting out there and getting to compete against them again? Um, it’s fun. Um, that’s, you know, I think our first time in the regular season. Yeah. Um, you know, I’m happy we came out with the win. you know, he played extra hard tonight. I seeing that and you know, my challenge for him is to play like that every night. Did you talk to him at all? Uh, just on the court. Booker knew what he was doing by saying this, but Aiden didn’t listen. His game declined on both ends of the floor and didn’t show as much effort. In an interview, Aiden was asked about his decline, and he said, quote, “I got nothing to prove in this league. I’m a Max player and I’ll continue to be a Max player.” In other words, Aiden didn’t really care about the criticism. He had no expectations, so he did his own thing. Now, his next exchange with Booker would occur on February 3rd, 2025. This was one of Aiden’s best games ever, as he had 25 points and 20 rebounds. Meanwhile, Booker scored an efficient 34 points and became the Suns all-time leading scorer. The game was close all throughout with the Blazers having a three-point lead with 5 seconds left. Booker had a chance to tie it, but he got fouled on a three. Aiden couldn’t believe it as he said. [Applause] Booker made the first two free throws, but he missed the last one. Aiden grabbed the rebound and stared him down. He clearly took this game personally as the Blazers won by two. After the game, Aiden said this. Aiden really couldn’t stand Booker and the tension kept intensifying. On June 30th, 2025, Aiden was bought out by the Blazers. It was reported that Aiden was a locker room distraction, so they had to get rid of him. Just a few days later, he signed a 2-year deal with the Lakers. A lot of people had mixed feelings about this since we don’t know which Aiden we can get. In fact, Booker was asked about this and said something similar. DeAndre, when he was your teammate, you guys got knocked on the door of an NBA championship. What do you think at this stage of his career he can bring to this Lakers team? Um, I mean, I guess we’ll just have to see, you know. By the way, this was just a few hours before their preseason game against the Lakers. This was Aiden’s debut with the team. And after missing his first shot, Booker said this boxing him out. Good job of boxing him out. In the end, Aiden had a rough night with one point while Booker led Phoenix to a win. Of course, it was just preeason, but it shows that Booker doesn’t respect Aiden at all. With the Suns and Lakers playing four times a year, expect the trash talk to keep growing. And that pretty much concludes the video. What do you guys think of this beef? Do you think things will ever be resolved between these two? Lemoner thoughts down in the comment section below. I hope everyone has a great day. Peace out.

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