It’s turned out to be very expensive salt in the wound for Devin Booker. This follows a 120-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 22, a game defined by physical play and multiple disputed whistles that left the visitors’ locker room at the Paycom Center filled with fuming Phoenix Suns players and one furious team owner. The controversy centers on a veteran referee whom Booker singled out during an impassioned post-game press conference.

“In my 11 years, I haven’t called a ref out by name, but James [Williams] was terrible tonight through and through,” Booker candidly said. “It’s bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as a WWE if they’re not held responsible. It just feels disrespectful. I know I haven’t won a championship in this league, but I have been in it for 11 years now. So getting to this point, to be treated like that, for me to even be saying something out loud, it’s bad.” The Suns star anticipated a fine and confirmed he’d accept it openly, but also wanted the league to fix the refereeing issues.

And, as expected, the NBA has officially disciplined the Suns guard with a five-figure fine. Despite a vocal defense from Suns owner Mat Ishbia, the league announced on Thursday that Booker has been fined $35,000 for his “public criticism of the officiating.” James Jones, NBA Executive Vice President and Head of Basketball Operations, also stated that an investigation found “no basis to any claim of bias or misconduct by game officials,” although most of the hoops community on social media would beg to differ. But the NBA did offer a token consolation.

While the league upheld the fine, it acknowledged a partial error by rescinding a technical foul officials assessed to Booker at the 2:05 mark of the third quarter. This specific call was a primary point of contention, as Booker believed he was saving a ball from going out of bounds, while Thunder guard Alex Caruso appeared to influence the official into issuing a technical. They also rescinded the technical fouls on Dillon Brooks and Luguentz Dort that were issued with 8:15 left in the third.

Booker, usually the quiet type, has never been fined this much by the NBA. The Suns star’s last five-digit fine came for a technical foul while facing the LA Clippers back in January 2024. He was once penalized 25,000 after his altercation with Gorgui Dieng on the court in 2019. That means Booker was last fined for acting out of character seven years ago. A string of really bad calls had to have happened for someone like him to lash out directly at the officiating system in a public forum. So, let’s explore what pushed him to the edge and why there was so much scrutiny in the first place.

Game 2 between the Phoenix Suns and Oklahoma City Thunder was contentious for all the wrong reasons. Many online pointed out that the officials were heavily favoring the defending champions. Booker had at least two instances in which he accidentally made contact with an opposing player during natural movement and was called for an offensive foul. At one point, Dillon Brooks blatantly did the ‘flopping’ gesture when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fell to the floor, and later called him “a little frail.” However, the reigning MVP and OKC have been largely dismissive of the Suns’ complaints.

In one sequence, Booker’s elbow hit Alex Caruso’s face while going for a jumper, a visual most social media deemed natural motion, not intentional or worth a foul. The controversial one was when Book bumped into Jaylin Williams at the edge of the court. The ball hit Williams, and referee J.B. DeRosa assessed Book a tech. The Suns star and the fans weren’t the only ones outraged, and after that presser, Ishbia fired a lengthy rant.

“I am 100% behind Devin Booker here. Last night was not a good look for our league,” Ishbia wrote. “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. When a referee is missing calls and clearly disrespecting the players, almost mocking them, they must be held accountable. Nobody who loves this game enjoyed watching that last night. They want to see the players compete at the highest level. The league needs to be far more aggressive about this kind of thing. All players and all fans deserve it.”

While the outrage got the technical rescinded, this fine probably isn’t the outcome Phoenix wanted. Ishbia hoped for accountability from the referee and got none. Going into Game 3 in Phoenix, this incident could become a lightning rod in a significant rift between the Suns organization and the officiating standards. For now, though, the Suns have a steep uphill journey in their first-round series. Home advantage will be significant, and so would OKC’s key forward Jalen Williams, who will most likely be missing out.