NBA - Main

it shouldn’t be, booker has been a superstar for a much longer time and is a proven playoff riser

Much closer than shai vs ant.

Its close.

Im fine being in the minority here and saying Shai.

Everyone held it against Booker that he wasn’t doing it in the playoffs until he did. It’s fine to hold Shai to the same standard.

Even still, i never doubted Booker and I don’t doubt Shai either.

I think Booker is better but Shai will be on his level soon(I hope)

Shai needs to do it in the playoffs before he is in that conversation. Also Booker has become a pretty good defender. He plays both ends of the floor too.

Not yet. I feel like the OKC era is up next though, so I’ll get back to you in 5 years

You are debating with a guy who became a fan of a player based on him buying a car from him, who probably doesn't watch that much basketball

It’s not like they’re on different planets, but until Shai has a couple good playoff runs I’ll have Book ahead. Both are incredible though.

We’re comparing a 9yr player to a 6yr player. I find that a bit unfair on the surface. However let’s put them both on equal footing and start at their 5th season respectively. Both were considered All-Stars at this point in their careers.

These are the categories that SGA beats Booker in:

PPG, RPG, SPG, BPG, FG%, FT%, PER, TS%, and Win Shares.

Booker only bests SGA in APG and 3P%. Such is the case also at this point in their careers. So it’s safe to say that SGA is a better player than Booker.

When it comes to comparing the success in their careers however, Booker is more successful. But that’s about it.

I think anyone who actually has decent IQ knows that currently as it sits, Booker is the better hooper.

You could argue SGA has better on-balll defence but even then this is debatable as Booker's defence is pretty decent.

The only difference I see is that SGA currently doesn't have any all-star caliber teammates and this gives A LOT OF THE CASUALS the delusion that he's single handedly carrying the team like AI did back in the days.

This is not true where as Booker has had CP3 and despite my hatred, Deandre Ayton as a teammate (now KD and Beal) so makes it look like he's not single handedly carrying. Again not true when you look into the context.

Both top tier players and are in their own league but what separates them is like everyone here has already commented, shooting efficiency, playmaking, passing and proven Playoff resume.

And because of the above elements it naturally makes Booker the better scorer (not by heaps but still better).

In the end, I think comparing the two right now is immature and will need to wait another 3~4 seasons to properly say who was / is better player but when you're comparing the two right now, as in what the players have shown until today, Booker is clearly a better player.

Sga was 1st team all nba last year.

Sga is in MVP discussions this year.

Booker has had great scoring runs and has been in a great system (that he led to his credit).

You ask a GM which they start a franchise around and it's sga almost every time as the most recent polls would agree with.