HABOOB

Devin Booker got upset at Raptors’ mascot trying to distract him

Jan 11, 2022, 8:56 PM | Updated: Jan 12, 2022, 7:14 am

BY HABOOB BLOG
Arizona Sports

The Phoenix Suns (and the majority of us to be honest) thought we had moved on from fanless buildings.

But due to COVID-19’s latest surge, the Toronto Raptors have gone back to that reality we saw in the 2020 bubble and the opening stretches of the 2020-21 season. And that is where the Suns found themselves on Tuesday night.

This creates an awkward and quiet environment despite the arena’s attempt to avoid this by blaring the usual music along with fake crowd noise.

One certainty in this situation is a clear line of sight on free throws for both sides, with no fans behind the glass to throw anything off.

That is almost always the case, except in Tuesday’s Suns win.

With the Suns up one and 6.5 seconds left, guard Devin Booker was fouled and sent to the foul line.

During his first attempt with the game on the line, the Raptors’ mascot decided to make itself known by trying to distract Booker.

Booker made the free throw and then immediately brought it to the attention of the referees. The mascot seemed to understand that was a no-no and went to the corner of the building after that.

Devin Booker upset that the Raptors mascot, the only fan in the building, is behind the hoop distracting him with the game on the line. Refs send him to timeout in the corner. pic.twitter.com/F9zLGPPD5D

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 12, 2022

After his second free throw, another make, Booker went over to the referee to explain what had just happened and was laughing about it with his teammates in the huddle.

“We hashed it out. We homies now,” Booker said.

“I was trying to get him out the way,” he added. “It worked. I’m glad to be shooting it without him down there. We play shooting game all the time every day and [my teammates] do the same thing and I complain then. That’s just me.”

Good on the Raptors for retaining their mascot through the fanless games, and it was getting creative during the game to probably just entertain itself.