“He’s going to make $70M a year to dribble a stupid basketball” – Charles Barkley calls Devin Booker “the luckiest dude in the world” after his extension with Phoenix originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Charles Barkley has often said that players who are paid millions to dribble a basketball are the luckiest people alive. He doubled down on that take after Devin Booker signed a two-year, $145 million extension with the Phoenix Suns.
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Today’s NBA is one of the richest sports organizations in the world, generating billions of dollars in revenue. Additionally, the advent of social has opened the door for added revenue streams, making today’s players richer than ever.
The same goes for Booker, who committed to the Suns through the 2029-30 season.
“He should be the happiest person. He should just go around shaking people’s hands,” the NBA legend told Dan Patrick about Booker’s extension.
“Well, he gonna be happy twice a month, the 1st and the 15th. You know, God bless these guys for how much money they make. I made more money than Dr. J and Bill Russell, and those guys. But these guys should always be in a good mood. Think about it, Devin Booker, who’s a hell of a player, going to make $70M a year to dribble a stupid basketball. Why shouldn’t he be in a good mood? He’s the luckiest dude in the world,” said Barkley, who has a net worth of $80 million.
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Booker’s loyalty to the Suns
Booker has spent all ten NBA seasons with the Suns, averaging 24.4 points per game for his career. Although he is yet to win NBA championship, the star guard has had some iconic moments in Phoenix, including a trip to the NBA Finals in 2021 — they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games — and a 70-point explosion against the Boston Celtics in 2017, making him the youngest player at 20 years and 145 days to reach that scoring mark.
That said, the Suns are coming off an underwhelming season. Despite having Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal on the roster, they couldn’t even make the Play-in tournament, finishing the campaign with 36 wins.
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Durant was traded to the Houston Rockets. Beal is reportedly looking to waive his no-trade clause and sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. And Booker — he is here to stay.
The rising mental health issues among players
Booker enters another (rebuilding) phase with the Suns. But despite the money and fame, it’s hard to imagine he — or any other NBA player, for that matter — will always be happy.
Social media has taken pressure and public scrutiny to a whole new level. Fans now have more access to their favorite players than ever, making their personal lives more open for public consumption.
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Commissioner Adam Silver has been aware of that for a while. Even though today’s players are richer than ever, they still experience loneliness and melancholy.
“When I meet with them, what surprises me is that they’re truly unhappy. A lot of these young men are generally unhappy; there are pervasive feelings of loneliness and melancholy across the league,” Silver told Bill Simmons in 2019.
Kevin Love, DeMar DeRozan and Paul George are some of the big names who have come out and addressed the mental health issues among NBA players, opening up about their struggles with anxiety and depression.
While being an NBA player may appear enticing from the outside, it comes with challenges. Guys should still be thankful for how much money they’re making dribbling the basketball. But there’s so much more that goes into being an NBA player, and not everything puts a smile on their face.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 13, 2025, where it first appeared.