NBA News From The Athletic The Athletic: Inside the Booker-Brooks friendship, a bond powering the surprising Suns The Odd Couple of Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks have not only blended on the court; they’ve become friends off it.
Jason Quick, The Athletic
March 2, 2026 3:25 PM
“I got under his skin a couple times. And he got the best of me a couple times,” Dillon Brooks said of Devin Booker.
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PHOENIX — For years, in various arenas around the NBA, they were foes. Dillon Brooks antagonizing, Devin Booker feigning indifference. Brooks, an in-your-face wing with Memphis and later Houston, was the wild one. Booker, the silky shooting perennial All-Star with Phoenix, the calm one.
When they would meet on the court, Booker said Brooks was always the “naggy” or “annoying” opponent. “I would always talk s—,” Brooks said. “And he would always be the composed guy. He would never want to say it, but I got under his skin a couple times. And he got the best of me a couple times.”
So when the Suns made a blockbuster trade with Houston in July, which in part shipped out Kevin Durant and brought in Brooks, the former foes were united. It was a curious experiment to see if the calm waters of Booker and the volatile oil that can be Brooks would mix.
More than halfway through the first season together, Booker and Brooks have authored one of the surprise stories in the NBA on the court — leading the Suns into the thick of the Western Conference playoff hunt — while becoming one of the unexpected stories off the court.
The Odd Couple have not only blended on the court; they’ve become friends off it.
“I’ve always made it a point to develop relationships, and sometimes it might just be when you see each other at the gym. But that’s not the case with us,” Booker said. “We hang out outside of the court, outside of practice.”
Their relationship started the day of the trade, when Brooks phoned Booker. The bond grew in August during a teamwide retreat to Booker’s summer home in Flagstaff, which included talks late into the night in front of a fire pit. Their connection was then cemented in the preseason, over a probing conversation while playing blackjack in a China casino. And ultimately, the two knew they had found the perfect teammate when they were together in a gym training for the upcoming season.
“Watching him work, the way that he works, is second to none that I’ve seen in this league,” Booker said.
Today, after a surging first half of the season, times are trying for the Suns (34-26). Brooks broke his left hand Feb. 21, and Booker is sidelined with a hip injury. But the anguish is nothing like what the organization endured the past two seasons, when a roster loaded with star power never seemed to fit, align or reach its potential.
And perhaps that’s what makes this Odd Couple pairing so rewarding. The foundation for success in Phoenix is secured, and it is not rooted in status, salary or seniority. It’s based in work ethic, respect and cooperation.
“Ultimately, when you have two leaders who are working together, it gains everyone else’s confidence,” Brooks said. “You don’t have two alphas banging heads or trying to figure out how to coincide. We have that down pat now.”
And it started with a phone call.
Brooks was in Toronto (he grew up in nearby Mississauga) when he learned he had been traded to Phoenix. He immediately went to his phone. “First call I made was to Book,” Brooks said.
Booker was in his offseason home in Flagstaff, Ariz. and when he picked up Brooks’ call, he was still processing the move. “All the speculations of the trade … Dillon’s name was never brought up,” Booker said. “So, you know, (Brooks) was never a thought in my mind until the day it happened.”
Brooks saw immediate potential. Ever since the second-seeded Rockets had been eliminated in the first round by Golden State last spring, he had been working on his offensive game, and he envisioned being a nice complement to Booker. “We both thought we could be good,” Brooks said, “that we could be a sleeper team.”
Booker chuckles while recalling their first phone conversation. All those images he had of Brooks as an opponent — cussing, bumping, pinching, trash talking — didn’t fit what he was hearing on the other end. First, there was Brooks’ Canadian accent — “they have this little twang, a different, different accent,” Booker said — and then there was his delivery.
“It doesn’t catch me off-guard anymore, where you know, you see somebody on the court and they act as a totally different person … so him being a naggy person, the annoying person to play against, then you meet him, and he’s soft-spoken and humble,” Booker said. “And to me, those are the types of guys who want to go to war with, the guys who can turn it on.”
Brooks said he told Booker their contrasting personalities could be a benefit. “I always thought the 1-2 punch would be good in the NBA,” Brooks said. “With his composure, his knowledge for the game, and my passion and my charisma for the game … it’s a good balance for a team. I told him I thought there could be two different types of leaders — the one who leads by example, pulls guys to the side and talks to them, and the leader who yells, screams, freaking bitches and complains …”
The duo immediately saw the potential in their union. “We both thought we could be good, that we could be a sleeper team,” Brooks said.
Booker, who is renowned throughout the Phoenix organization for his work ethic and attention to detail, liked what he was hearing about Brooks’ offseason workouts and his fervor for getting better. He could sense the Suns were getting a hungry and passionate player with a lot to prove. He let Brooks know that was the spirit for which he was hoping.
“He was excited,” said Brooks, 30. “Those last two years were pretty dog years, so I guess to have a fresh player who was going to come in and work his ass off … he was impressed by that.”
On the spot, Booker invited Brooks to join him to work out in early July, when Booker makes his annual trip to the forests of Northern Michigan, where he spent part of his childhood. “He said he was unable to make it,” Booker said. “Understood.”
Booker’s next invitation would not go unfulfilled.
To escape the scorching Phoenix summers, Booker three years ago bought a home in Flagstaff, which is about three hours north of Phoenix. “It’s my getaway spot,” said Booker, 29. “I wanted to beat the heat, and it’s just beautiful land.”
In August, he invited the Suns roster to a team-building retreat amid the Ponderosa pines and pristine golf courses that are tucked in the valleys of the town that sits at 7,000-foot elevation. Over the course of three days, there would be five-on-five pickup games at Northern Arizona University, golfing excursions and gatherings around Booker’s fire pit while playing Mafia, a card game made for large groups.
“It was special,” Suns guard Collin Gillespie said. “Great bonds, great relationships were formed. That’s Book being a leader, welcoming all the new guys. It was really important and crucial for the development of our team at that point.”
Most of the team stayed in four-person villas that were on a nearby golf course resort. Brooks was one of the few who stayed at Booker’s home.
Booker was everywhere that weekend. He brought his 10-handicap to the golf course, where he squared off against Gillespie (6-handicap), Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale. He played in the five-on-five games and took note of how youngsters Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro led the Mafia games.
“We must have had 14, 15 guys around the fire playing Mafia … and it was fun, because one conversation leads to another,” Booker said. “It was a nice setup.”
It was also a perfect setting for Booker and Brooks to learn more about each other. “I think (in Flagstaff) we found we are on the same page,” Booker said. “We talked about how we have a lot of kids around us and how it changed quickly from us being the young guys to now our voice is gonna hold weight. So we talked about how we gotta make sure everyone’s on the same page. And that’s how we came into the season … and it’s been like that ever since.”
Gillespie and others on the team couldn’t help but note the developing bond between their two stars. “Both had great respect for each other after playing so many years in the league, so that’s part of it,” Gillespie said. “But I mean, they’ve gotten close. They have a really good relationship.”
Before Flagstaff, Booker knew that Brooks had the work ethic and the passion to get better. After Flagstaff, he saw he was a good teammate, a person others enjoyed being around. But Booker still had one test he had yet to give to Brooks.
Two months later, while in China for two preseason games, Booker would administer that test. He calls it the Background Check.
In July, when the smoke had cleared from the blockbuster trade, new Phoenix general manager Brian Gregory arranged to meet Brooks in Toronto for a workout. Gregory left with his jaw agape. “Non-stop,” he said in describing Brooks’ workout. “Three hours. Going hard. Dripping sweat.”
Gregory already knew the scouting report on Booker: the ultimate worker. He didn’t know yet whether Booker and Brooks would mesh personally. But if Gregory had any questions about whether Booker and Brooks would connect professionally, they were drowned right there as he stood next to a puddle of Brooks’ sweat. “I knew right then, there would be no issue,” Gregory said. “None.”
In the buildup to September’s training camp, Booker said he did what he has been doing for the last 11 seasons in Phoenix: Be the first one at the gym. “I got to the gym early,” Booker said. “And he was already in a full sweat.”
Booker was thrilled. “He works for hours,” Booker said. “Even myself, I’ll do like 30-45 minutes hard on the court. He’ll do an hour and a half, hard, training. I haven’t seen that much in the league … at all.”
Every conversation, every meeting, every observation Booker made with Brooks, he became more impressed. So when the team went across the world in October to play two preseason games in China, Booker knew it was time to see if Brooks could pass his ultimate test.