PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker was fined $35,000 for public criticism of officiating following the team's Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
James Jones, the NBA's Head of Basketball Operations, made the announcement on Thursday.
The league said it found “no basis to any claim of bias or misconduct by game officials" despite Booker's pointed criticism of official James Williams.
The NBA also said that Booker's technical foul at 2:05 in the third quarter was “improperly assessed and it has therefore been rescinded.” The Thunder won the game 120-107.
Suns owner Mat Ishbia backed the five-time All-Star on social media earlier Thursday.
“I am 100% behind Devin Booker here,” the post on X read. “Last night was not a good look for our league. Let me be clear, we didn’t lose because of officiating, but that doesn’t make last night any less important. If the referees are going to demand respect from the players - as they should - then the players should demand respect from the referees.”
The top-seeded Thunder have a 2-0 lead in the series. Game 3 is on Saturday in Phoenix.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
Get ready for an exhilarating morning at the Third Annual Foster City 5k Fun Run on Saturday… Read moreFoster City 5k
Join us May 9th for the District 4 Toastmasters 2026 Conference - Eras of YOU: Renewing Huma… Read moreDistrict 4 Annual Conference - Eras of YOU Renewing Human Resilience in the Generative AI Era
guest792662073dcce25ebb0a5a75 said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
CoastalBoy said:
anna kuhre said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.