When Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov was asked about the difference between Booker and Lillard in the game, he cited the age gap as well.
“I would say in about seven years [Booker is] gonna be even better than Damian. With all respect to Damian — I love his game,” he said. “I don’t think [Lillard] had that kind of poise, when it comes to managing the game, I don’t think he was the same player when he was at the age of 21.”
In the loss, Booker reached 5,000 career points, becoming the fifth-youngest player to reach that accomplishment.
Booker has been racking up these types of accolades for his age and he’s over it.
“I don’t care anymore,” he said. “It’s like 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 — it’s almost the same thing. Now I’m just at the point in my career where I just want to be a winner.
“I’ve done the individual accolades countless numbers of times so for me now it’s figuring out how to win and we’re not doing that right now so until we start winning that’s when all those things will matter to me.”
That’s the type of mentality that will get him to the level Kokoskov envisions.