At the very end of Thursday night’s playoff game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker was ejected for shoving Dennis Schroder.
At a different point in the game, the push wouldn’t appear to be terribly egregious, but with 30 seconds to go, it was a clear display of frustration from Booker. One that Fox Sports host Shannon Sharpe claims is a symptom of “light skin disease.”
See the foul by Booker below via TNT
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“I think the thing is, what Booker is suffering from is that light skin disease,” Sharpe told his Undisputed co-host Skip Bayless. “A lot of times, [their opponents], they say, ‘You’re soft.’ And so he’s trying to say, ‘I’m not soft.'”
“Okay, I got it. ‘Watch this,’” Bayless answered, seeming to show he understands Sharpe’s take.
European basketball players being “soft” is a tired stereotype that has been debunked by Dirk Nowitzki, Luka Doncic, Pau Gasol, Giannis Antetokounmpo and others. But a two-time All-Star in his sixth NBA season, the Michigan-born Booker doesn’t have much to prove in terms of toughness. Sharpe’s casual analysis that Booker’s shove was a symptom of “light skin disease,” rather than an irrational display of frustration, seems less justified than the actual foul.
The incident was Booker’s sixth and final foul, meaning he was going to be forced out of the game anyway. But with Lakers players upset over the mid-air shove, referees decided to call it a “flagrant 2” and remove the Suns’ All-Star from the floor.
Watch above via, Fox Sports