Suns’ Devin Booker jokes with John Calipari about lack of shots at Kentucky

Kentucky head coach John Calipari said Suns guard Devin Booker poked some fun at him about the amount of shots current UK guard Malik Monk takes for the Wildcats this year.

As in, why didn’t Booker get as many attempts as Monk when he played for Calipari?

Speaking on Saturday as the Wildcats prepared for their Elite Eight match-up against UNC, Calipari mentioned a conversation he had with Booker via text.

“Now, Devin hit me today and said, could you have imagined if you’d have let me shoot like you do Malik, what I’d have been doing?” Calipari said. “He hit me with that this morning, and I told him — I won’t tell you what I told him.”

Booker, 20, averaged 7.6 attempts per game in a year under Calipari. The former 13th overall pick has a much longer leash at the pro level in terms of volume. Meanwhile, Monk is averaging 14.8 shots per game, and put up 17 attempts to score 21 points in Kentucky’s Sweet 16 win over UCLA.

The same day as Monk’s big game, Booker had a historic showing. He scored 70 points for the Suns, a franchise record, in a 130-120 loss to the Celtics. Calipari praised Booker’s monster game and talked about what drives him.

“Miss Veronica, Devin Booker’s mom hit me last night, and we went back and forth, and she even mentioned, I think Devin being your sixth man helped him and it’s driving him,” Calipari said. “He was the sixth man. He scored 70. He scored 70. And he wasn’t even a starter here, because he accepted that you have to do this together.”

Booker, after celebrating his 70, congratulated his alma mater on advancing.

Way to handle business fellas @KentuckyMBB 👌🏼

— Devin Booker (@DevinBook) March 25, 2017