A look back at Devin Booker and Luka Doncic's rivalry

As the NBA has seemingly gotten friendlier and friendlier through the years, Devin Booker and Luka Doncic have done their best to bring a little bit of that tension back into the game.

These two have had it out for each other through the last few years. It doesn't seem to go beyond basketball, but man. On the court? Things have gotten pretty nasty between the two of them.

Booker has poked fun at Doncic. Doncic has called out Booker. There've also been some brutal playoff losses on the Suns' part sprinkled in there that just make the interactions between the two of them even spicier.

They'll line up for the second time during the 2024-25 regular season on Friday night. Here's a bit of the background on their history together.

"The Luka Special"

Devin Booker is the one seemed to kick things off. During the Suns' playoff matchup with the Mavericks in the 2021-22 season, he called out Doncic after falling on the floor and laying there for a while. He was clearly playing things up to draw the attention of the officials.

Cameras caught him calling it the "Luka special."

Doncic fires back

After the Mavs got blown away by the Suns, 110-80, in that same series, Doncic called Phoenix (and maybe Booker, specifically?) out for talking trash while they had such a big lead.

"Everybody acting tough when they up," he said to cameras when the Mavericks were exiting the arena. He was clearly unhappy. From this point forward, it was on between these two.

The blowout

The Suns got whooped the rest of the way. Dallas didn't lose another game following the Game 5 loss. And, in Game 7 on Phoenix's home court, Doncic put up 35 points in the first half. The Mavericks won the game, 123-90, which led to that Suns team being dismantled.

Deandre Ayton? Gone. Chris Paul? See ya. Mikal Bridges? TTYL. It was done. The only core player left that next season was Booker, himself. But I'm getting way ahead of myself here. Going back to Game 7 and the beef itself, it gave us one of the greatest sports memes you'll ever see.

The Look.

That's just cold, Luka.

Things pick up next season

These two got face-to-face on the court the very next season in a game later in the year. The Suns were up 128-126 and Booker took exception to a late drive from Doncic on one of his teammates.

Doncic noticed and got right in Booker's face about it.

Was this more about trying to draw a technical foul in a late game situation to keep his team in the game for Doncic? Probably. But, regardless, the flames were stoked up a bit here.

Things calm down

During last year's Christmas game, things seemed pretty chill between these two. Booker congratulated Doncic on his newborn daughter. It was a pretty nice moment between these two that showed us it's really just about basketball between these two.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: A look back at Devin Booker and Luka Doncic's rivalry