Booker and Durant shine at Summer Olympics, leading Suns to victory

All gold, no regrets. The Paris Olympics were a big win for the Phoenix Suns.  

Let’s count the victories:  

Kevin Durant is back on the mountaintop, a celebrated champion once again. While his legacy can be polarizing and complicated, Durant is also the unquestioned king of the rings, the most decorated men’s basketball player in U.S. Olympic history.

A fourth gold medal surely nourishes Durant, affirming both his historical greatness and his current relevance. He should be in a really good mood when training camp begins.

Devin Booker earned rave reviews for his maturity, his defense and his selflessness. He made big plays and big shots and willingly embraced the grunt work. For some observers, it was a revelation.

Before the 2024 Olympics, Booker was a player mostly hated and trolled by 29 opposing fan bases.

Many NBA types also believed Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards would steal Booker’s spot in the starting lineup. Many were convinced that Celtics star Jayson Tatum was a superior talent and on a different level than Booker. And yet Booker never lost his grip in the starting lineup while Tatum spent most of the tournament on the bench, much to the chagrin of his handlers and his fans in Boston.

Credit Booker, who changed much of the national narrative surrounding his game, converting many of the haters and most of the ill-informed.

The collective performance from Durant and Booker has raised the optimism, the stakes and the intrigue surrounding the 2024-25 Suns, a team that added a real point guard over the summer and will feature 40 percent of the Olympic lineup that closed out basketball games in Paris.

Before the start of the 2024 Olympics, Durant and Booker were the central figures of a joyless NBA franchise that was swept out of the first round of the playoffs. There were reports that Durant’s mood had become a problem in Phoenix, that he effectively shut out a coaching staff he did not respect. They were a top-heavy team and a waste of money and a cautionary tale to the rest of the league, evidence that super teams are no longer the fast lane to a championship.

Much has changed, from the scapegoating of Frank Vogel to the hiring of Mike Budenholzer, from the addition of Tyus Jones to the glow and glory that now envelops Booker and Durant.

The Olympics can be a dicey proposition. Many NBA owners cringe when sending their most valuable assets to a tournament that can be far more risk than reward, a tournament built on patriotism and not profit. We are proof to the contrary, and the 2024 Summer Games were a stroke of good fortune for Suns owner Mat Ishbia.

No one got hurt. His two best players bolstered their reputations and strengthened their personal bond with pillar-like performances in Paris. And when it was over, faith had been restored on Planet Orange, where hope is worth its weight in gold.

Reach Bickley at @arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

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