NBA star Devin Booker is a Phoenix rising. The favorite sun of Phoenix brought the franchise back from the dead. With the help of veteran Chris Paul, there's nothing the young shooting guard can't do, including taking Phoenix to the NBA Finals in 2021 while putting up ridiculous numbers on a nightly basis.
It takes a special kind of player to drag Phoenix out of their playoff drought. But perhaps his most inspired work is off the court with the Special Olympics. The Suns star finds inspiration in the love of his little sister, who lives with chromosome 22 deletion syndrome.
Booker is a Special Olympics Ambassador inspired by his love of the game and love of other people. When he's not putting out triple-doubles or dating supermodels, Booker fights for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
More importantly than raising his stat line, NBA star Devin Booker raises awareness for the less fortunate.
Devin Booker's Sister Mya Powell and His Special Olympics Work
Devin Armani Booker was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Melvin Booker and cosmetologist Veronica Gutierrez. Melvin was a professional basketball player in the NBA, Europe, and other domestic leagues.
Devin was the only son of the couple, and when Devin's father Melvin retired from pro basketball, Devin moved with him from Grandville, Michigan, to Moss Point, Mississippi. Devin began building his basketball legend at Moss Point High School.
Though Devin was an only child of his parents, he had two half-siblings: a half-brother named Davon Wade and a half-sister named Mya Powell. But despite their different fathers, Mya means the word to her big brother.
Devin Booker's sister, Mya Powell, was born with 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome, aka DiGeorge syndrome, a chromosomal deletion syndrome. The syndrome causes poor development in many body systems, which can result in intellectual disabilities, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Booker's relationship with his half-sister Mya informs his off-the-court efforts today.
"I've celebrated the accomplishments and witnessed the challenges my sister Mya has experienced as a person with intellectual disabilities. She motivates me every day, and I'm humbled to be part of Special Olympics, a global organization with a mission to help spread awareness about the abilities of people with intellectual disabilities," Booker told the Special Olympics.
Devin Booker?s Inspiration...
As @DevinBook continues his hot play for the Suns, see how his sister, Mya, inspires him and how her love and support drives him to succeed. ??@Suns host Denver for Game 2 tonight at 9:30pm/et on TNT. #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/aRUC3PwXlT
— NBA (@NBA) June 9, 2021
Booker received accolades for all of his high school basketball career. He was the 2012 South Mississippi Player of the Year, 2013 Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year, and a 2014 McDonald's All-American. Booker was highly sought after and chose to play college ball with John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats. Booker left for the University of Kentucky in 2014.
Booker played as the sixth man for the stacked 2014-2015 Kentucky Wildcats team. Their roster included Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein and Tyler Ulis. They lost only one game that year and none in the regular season. The one loss came against Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament Final Four.
After a sensational one-and-done season, Book made the jump to the NBA. He joined a 2015 NBA Draft class even more loaded than his team at Kentucky.
Devin Booker's NBA Greatness Stems From Family
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
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The Phoenix Suns added All-Rookie Devin Booker with the 13th-overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft. Booker's Kentucky teammate Karl-Anthony Towns went No. 1 that year, but Booker has had the better career so far.
First, Booker got a seat at the All-Star table, even if he was just an injury replacement. Then, the pandemic happened. Ever since the coronavirus pandemic-inspired 2020 Bubble, Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns have been a force of nature.
Devin Booker forms a three-headed Phoenician monster with Chris Paul and DeAndre Ayton. The trio put the Suns back in the center of the NBA universe like Steve Nash in the 2000s. They finished the 2021 regular season with the second-best record in the West behind the Utah Jazz. Now with Kevin Durant on his squad, the young sun is a bonafide hoops star ready to go supernova.
The Phoenix Suns' guard learned to find comfort in discomfort from a young age with his sister Mya. She has inspired him to live a comfortable life off the NBA court, making others' lives more comfortable in the process, regardless of their medical condition.
Devin Booker's Efforts Off the Court
Off the NBA court, Devin Booker has dated Jordyn Woods and "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star Kendall Jenner (not Kylie Jenner - Kendall's her younger sister). The social media starlet has a thing for NBA players, and Booker isn't her first All-Star. But he is her current All-Star, so I'm sure "Bookner" will last forever.
More importantly, Mya's NBA All-Star brother Devin is a Special Olympics Global Ambassador. The superstar's work with special needs individuals extends beyond his family to fans to total strangers, thanks to the Special Olympic Committee and his Devin Booker Starting 5 Initiative.
He gives both money and time to the cause. He took Jenna Warren, a Phoenix superfan with down syndrome, to the 2016 Draft Lottery in New York. It was her first time in the Big Apple, but a small show of Booker's Olympic-sized generosity.
Booker joins an elite professional basketball team of Special Olympics Ambassadors, including Damian Lillard, Andre Drummond, Ricky Rubio, Dikembe Mutombo, Sam Perkins, Yao Ming and Elena Delle Donne.
If not for his professional basketball-playing father, perhaps Devin Booker wouldn't be such a great basketball player. But if not for his life-affirming sister Mya, maybe Booker wouldn't be such a great human.
