In some ways, Devin Booker isn’t really a rookie; his smooth scoring game belies his youth. In other ways, it is painfully obvious that he’s still just a kid who can’t legally drink beer.
Look at his body language at 0:49. Is that a smile I see? A smile and some banter to an opponent? It is. No doubt about it. Did Devin forget where he was for a bit? Because that’s like NBA rule #1: don’t ever smile unless it is the psychotic Kevin Garnett kind of smile.
Smiling happily during an NBA game is pretty much saying to the other team “please do me in my tender heinie” and saying to your own team “I don’t want to win”. He’s young, so maybe he can be forgiven, this one time. On the other hand, what does it say about him that he would even consider smiling in the first place? Is this the significant negative affect that Jeff Hornacek had on his former team?