Devin Booker calls out NBA official James Williams by name after Suns' Game 2 loss: 'Terrible tonight'

In the NBA playoffs, all it takes are a few extra foul calls to determine the outcome of a game. When games are close and everything is on the line, players bristle when a bad call or bad decision by a referee potentially affects a contest.

Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker, however, took things to a whole other level following the team’s 120-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday. Booker called out NBA official James Williams by name after the contest, saying the ref had a “terrible” performance that would lead to fans questioning the “integrity of the sport.”

"In my 11 years, I haven't called a ref out by name, but James [Williams] was terrible tonight through and through. It's bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as a WWE if they're not held responsible.

"It just feels disrespectful. I know I haven't won a championship in this league, but I have been in it for 11 years now. So to get to this point to be treated like that, for me to even be saying something out loud, it's bad."

Booker went so far as to invoke WWE, where outcomes are predetermined before wrestlers take the ring, in his criticism. All of that should earn Booker quite the fine once the NBA reviews his comments. The league is unlikely to respond kindly to a player implying — even lightly — that game outcomes are predetermined.

Booker, in particular, took issue with receiving a technical foul in the third quarter of the contest. The foul occurred after Booker was bumped by Thunder defender Jaylin Williams near the edge of the court. As Booker was going out of bounds, he flipped the ball behind him, trying to save it from leaving the court. The ball, however, hit Williams, leading to referee J.B. DeRosa calling Booker for a technical foul.

In real time, it didn’t look like a nefarious action by Booker.

Booker claimed he never received an explanation for that foul. He also claimed that Thunder guard Alex Caruso told officials to call a technical foul on Booker, which was then granted. After the contest, Booker said, “It's definitely something that has to be looked into.”