Hot takes are the backbone of sports fandom, the division and connection between fanbases, and Bishop Gorman is filled with all kinds of sports fans with all kinds of hot takes.
Hudson Dannels ‘28 is the first on the new series No Chill, where students will give their sports hot takes, and I’ll argue for and against it, at the end rating the hot take 1-10 on a scale of how hot it is, and stating my opinion on whether I agree or disagree with it.
Dannels’ hot take is, “Devin Booker is a top three player in the NBA right now.” Booker is among the most elite scorers in the game today, he’s a two time gold medalist, four time all-star, two time all-NBA, and has been averaging 25+ points per game since the 2018-19 season. Booker was a starter on the 2024 Olympic team, among some of the greatest players of all time, including Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant. He has the respect of some of the greatest players of all time as well, the late Kobe Bryant was very close with Booker, training in mentoring him in many ways. This year, Devin Booker is averaging 25.0 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, and 6.7 assists per game. He’s done this on 45.7% from the field, and 31.5% from three-point range. Booker has had four 30 point games this season, and is perhaps the best equipped all around scorer in the entire league.
As good as Booker is, there’s no denying that the talent in the league is at an all time high. With what seems to be an all-star caliber player on every single team in the league, some may even have two or three. With this level of talent, Booker is a part of the cream of the crop when considering the entire NBA, however, there are more than three players who are clearing Booker’s talent this year. Booker is shooting a career low percentage from three, and 25.0 points per game barely cracks the top 20 in the league today. Booker has no argument for being better than the top 3-5 players in the league, being in no order: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, and Luka Doncic are the overall consensus top four players in the league. From there players like Tyrese Maxey, Stephen Curry, Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, and Cade Cunningham come to mind. Now, Booker has more of an argument when it comes to this group of players, but many would agree that all of these players listed are better than Booker today. That’s 11 listed players that are heavily considered to be better than Booker, and the list might even go beyond that, but it begins to become personal opinion at about that point.
My Hot Take: is maybe a top 15 player in the league today, he doesn’t crack top 10, and gets nowhere close to being 1st to 3rd. There’s simply too much talent in the league today for the level that Booker has been playing at to be top three. From Gilgeous-Alexander’s pure scoring talent, to Antetokounmpo’s dominance, Jokic’s statistical impossibilities, and Doncic’s all-around elitism, Booker simply has no argument to make that top tier of players. I would give this take a 3/10, technically it’s a take that almost nobody would agree with, but it’s so far-fetched that most wouldn’t even consider the take to be reasonable, making it more of a reaction-based take.