A game that was quickly raising the ceiling of Cayden Boozer turned into an absolute nightmare. Amid all the outside comparisons with his top NBA prospect brother, Boozer was turning the tide in the do-or-die game against UConn. But all it took was one turnover to undo everything that he’d contributed to that game. Now, a former NBA champion has shared his two cents on the situation and raised concerns about how it could impact Boozer’s mental health.

“I reached out to [Carlos] Boozer to tell him he’s got to protect Cayden’s mental health,” 2007 NBA Champion Matt Barnes said on the All The Smoke podcast. “Because I know how nasty social media is and the way they’re gonna dog him. He had a really good game, if I’m not mistaken. He missed one shot… It’s just an unfortunate situation.”

“And with social media, it’s gonna be a bunch of f—g d—s who’re gonna try to tear his mental down and his character down. But I just want to tell you, bro, both you twins, I mean, Cam had a h— of a college career, I know you’re gonna be a top-3 pick in the NBA. And Cayden, use this situation as fire and fuel when you get back there.”

The moment unfolded in the dying seconds of the game. Boozer received the ball off an inbound pass, which he tried to pass to his teammates, Patrick Ngongba and Isaiah Evans. Unfortunately, the pass was poor, which led him to roll the ball over. Silas Demary Jr. inflicted the steal and gave it to Braylon Mullins, who scored a precise three-pointer to put the dagger into Duke’s hearts. Instead of Boozer emerging as the star, it was Mullins who became the showstopper of the game.

Nobody’s heart broke more than Boozer’s. “I ruined our team’s season,” he said after the game. “That’s the best I can put it.”

Fans were definitely enraged at how quickly it all happened. While they have reason to be angry at Boozer, there are always some voices who unnecessarily turn up the heat, without caring about the fact that Boozer is still a kid. At 18 years old, such a huge loss is already going to wear him down so much. However, fans have to acknowledge that Boozer’s stay on the court wasn’t just about a single turnover.

In this crucial game, Boozer scored an important 15 points in the 28 minutes he logged. His shooting from the field was hot throughout the game, scoring 4 of 5, along with 5 rebounds and 6 assists. He complemented his brother, Cameron, who led his team with 22 points. Cayden Boozer can still be proud of some things in the game.

Head coach Jon Scheyer has a completely different outlook.

Jon Scheyer Isn’s Buying That Cayden Boozer’s Mistake Was the Only Reason Behind Duke’s Defeat

Cayden Boozer’s turnover might have been an error that should have been avoided. But head coach Joh Scheyer feels there were several other playing sequences in which the Blue Devils couldn’t capitalize, which were also holding the team back at times.

“This is not about one play,” Scheyer said in his press conference. “It’s about every play that put us in that position, and that’s what you don’t want to do, where one play something could happen.”

Scheyer’s assessment does make sense. Duke’s game had several flaws, especially with its ball security struggles. In total, Duke rolled over the ball 13 times in a tightrope game and gave away 20 points. The Boozer brothers alone account for 7 of these turnovers and were also a major part of the Achilles’ heel, while also dominating the points column together for Scheyer’s team. Additionally, the Blue Devils left 6 points unused in the game, which, looking back, would have pricked Scheyer’s team even more.

The box score truly validates that Duke’s overall game itself was plagued with frequent errors. Boozer’s mistake was the most noticeable one, and easy for fans to pin the loss on.

But the young Boozer still has to take quite a few steps ahead in his long basketball career. With his brother, Cameron, most possibly set to leave the program in pursuit of NBA exploits, there is a fair chance that head coach Jon Scheyer will be trusting Cayden to turn things around when it actually matters, even after this loss. And till then, as Barnes said, Boozer will have to use this loss as motivation.