Colorado's Askia Booker strikes up friendship with Lakers' 'Swaggy P'
SAN FRANCISCO – Returning home to Los Angeles one summer, Askia Booker was told by his older brother Rene Johnson to hoop with him; there was somebody Rene wanted him to meet.
That somebody turned out to be Nick Young, former USC Trojan and current Los Angeles Laker.
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“Ever since then, that day we hooped, we kind of talked,” Booker said Thursday at 2014-15 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Media Day. “Ever since then, we’ve been pretty good friends.”
This year, Booker will be called upon to do a lot more now that Spencer Dinwiddie is off to the Detroit Pistons. He has certainly had his moments in his first three years at Colorado, most notably hitting a three-pointer off a Euro-step (how do you even do that?) at the buzzer to knock off Kansas last season.
The senior guard is hoping to get to the free-throw line with more frequency in an attempt to lead the Buffs to their fourth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. If he does bring Colorado back to March Madness, he will be the first Buff in program history to have played in the NCAA tournament all four years in Boulder.
If the road gets bumpy in the upcoming season, Swaggy P will have his back.
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“I asked him about what it takes to get to the next level, the highest level to play at,” Booker said of the Laker. “He gave me a lot of good advice.”