#DEVIN BOOKER NATIONALITY PROFESSIONAL#
His father played professional basketball in the NBA and overseas, and Booker spent his summers in Italy when his father was playing for Olimpia Milano. Just being here in Phoenix has made me aware of living in the culture."īooker is the son of Veronica Gutierrez and Melvin Booker. That wanted me to learn about myself because I just hadn't been around it that much. You look into the stands at the game and you see it. "When I was drafted to Phoenix, I finally got to see the Hispanic culture around me for the first time in my life," Booker said in a team video celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. There is no question, however, that in recent years Booker has more publicly embraced his Latino heritage, particularly his Mexican roots. Booker averaged a team-leading 27 points per game during the playoffs, in which the Suns defeated two Los Angeles teams, the defending champion Lakers and the Clippers, and in between swept the Denver Nuggets. The other is Golden State Warriors forward Juan Toscano-Anderson, who like Booker has an African-American father and a Mexican-American mother.īooker's sensational performance during the NBA playoffs has showcased his talents on the national stage. The 24-year-old Booker is one of only two players currently playing in the NBA with Mexican roots, Ochoa said. Everyone wants to watch the team and learn about the team," he said.Ī lot of that Latino excitement over the Suns, who are headed to the NBA Finals for the first time in 28 years, "has to do with the fact that Booker has Mexican blood, Mexican heritage," Ochoa said. "It's incredible how many Hispanic people are supporting the team now. His listeners have doubled to more than 60,000 during the playoffs, he said. "This is the most excitement in the team I've seen since I got here in 2004," said Arturo Ochoa, who is the official Spanish language broadcaster of the Phoenix Suns on La Mejor 106.5FM/1400AM. The Phoenix Suns have been trying to reach out to Latino fans on both sides of the border for years, with various degrees of success.īut there is nothing like a winning team with an electrifying star player in Devin Booker who has embraced his Mexican roots to give Latinos a reason to jump on the Suns' bandwagon and to provide a boost of Mexican pride to boot.
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