It’s been less than two years since Jordan Poole delighted the NBA in the Golden State Warriors jersey. He is considered Steph Curry’s heir. 140 million dollars, a resounding punch and a deportation to Washington later, the youngster has become a laughing stock.
The fans in the “Capitol One Arena” had seen enough – and booed their own player mercilessly. The game was close, with a few minutes left, the home Washington Wizards were only four points behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jordan Poole had just tried in vain to shake off his defender and fire a three-pointer, but instead found himself dribbling disoriented in the half court.
The throw clattered to the rim, Cleveland took the rebound and control. A little later, Washington’s highest-paid professional missed another long three-pointer, the boos rained down on him as the Cavaliers put the game away. Poole was on the floor for 25 minutes that evening, didn’t score a single point (0-5 from the field) and committed six fouls.
When he had to go to the bench after his last offense with 18 seconds left, one look at his face – and those of his teammates – was enough to realize the full extent of the “Jordan Poole Experience” in year one of his involvement with the Wizards. The performance against the Cavs was the low point of an increasingly shocking season in which the 24-year-old hopeful dug himself deeper and deeper into his own hole – with no prospect of improvement.
The third Splash Brother
Everything had started so well for the youngster. It’s been less than two years since Poole delighted the NBA in the Golden State Warriors jersey. His talent and his feather-soft lightness astonished, his creativity and his unshakable self-confidence were infectious. Thanks to his skills as a shooter, dribbler and scorer alongside Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, many saw Poole not only as a future All-Star, but also as the logical answer to the question of who actually took over from Curry & Co. would take over and seamlessly carry Golden State into the next glorious era.
In the 2021-22 season, during the Warriors’ championship run, Poole put up 18.5 points and 4.0 assists per game. He led the NBA in free throw percentage and finished fourth in Most Improved Player voting. During the playoffs, en route to Golden States’ most recent title, Poole scored 20 points or more seven times, hit at least two three-pointers 13 times in 22 games, and came within a whisker of 50-40-90 shooting splits (50 percent from the field, 40 percent three-pointers, 90 percent from the free throw line). It’s quite possible that without his electric performances there would be one less championship banner flying in the Chase Center.
The third “Splash Brother”, then only 22 years old, seemed to mature into the perfect complement and relief for Fixstern Curry and the Dubs dynasty. Draymond Green, the rough “bad boy”, took on him as a mentor because he recognized himself in Poole and his trash talk: the self-confident, fearless, sometimes irrational and arrogant manner came first between all the serious professionals in the long-term contender good. When he was hot, he was hard to stop – just like the legendary number 30 at his side. Golden State honored Poole’s emergence as a key player with an exorbitant contract extension: four years, $140 million. That’s more than $30 million per year between 2023 and 2027; only 35 players across the league earn better.
A punch and the beginning of the end
A few days before the extension with Poole in October 2022, an illegally filmed video from the Warriors training hall made the rounds: Green and Poole clashing in preparatory camp. Words are said to have fallen below the belt, Poole pushed Green, who knocked his young teammate to the ground with a punch out of nowhere. Golden State only fined Green, who apologized to Poole and the team. He returned to the team after a few days and was not banned. Both Poole and the club seemed to want to put the matter aside quickly – and kept quiet. After all, there was a title to defend. However, the damage was done.
The champs appeared unsettled both in the locker room and on the floor. Steve Kerr later spoke of “broken trust”. Poole increasingly tried to push himself into the foreground – and increasingly alienated the veterans in the squad. The initial support dwindled day by day. Poole’s efficiency plummeted and his shooting percentages and error-proneness became more and more irritating. In January, in a closely contested game against Memphis, he allowed himself to be carried away with a narrow-minded three-pointer from ten meters – even though Curry was standing right next to him and explicitly demanding the ball. The fact that the best shooter of all time then threw away his mouthguard in frustration and was sent off for unsportsmanlike behavior further increased the anti-Poole sentiment.
It shouldn’t be the last misfire. The massive problems during the mediocre regular season (44-38) served as a warning finger towards the 2023 playoffs, in which the Curry-Green-Thompson trio lost a series in the Western Conference for the first time in the Kerr era. Poole saw less and less playing time, culminating in a meager 20.7 minutes and 8.3 points per game in the series exit against the LA Lakers in round two. These were to be the last appearances for the former boy wonder in the Warriors uniform: In July he was traded to Washington in exchange for the third oldest player in the league, Chris Paul – including draft picks and cash, which underlines how urgently they need him wanted to get rid of San Francisco.
“Doesn’t belong in the league”
Actually, the situation in “DC” couldn’t have been better for Poole: The Wizards have been one of the league’s basement children for a long time; Over the past 35 years, no club has had a worse success rate than the team from the capital that is currently seeking a move to Virginia. So the expectations are zero; in a team that is rebuilding, Poole should actually be able to play freely and play to his strengths. Actually. But what has been a pitch-black season so far has raised even more question marks than were already swirling around him. The Warriors’ glory has long since faded, the bitter reality has long since caught up with it.
He is having the worst season since his rookie year, scoring fewer points, not defending at all, and making inexplicable mistakes. Among all the pros with increased usage rate, he is the most inefficient. His box plus-minus is one of the worst of all time. Washington is 377 points worse when he’s on the floor – an almost incomprehensible stat that has cemented him not only as a joke but as the biggest loser of the season – no matter what happens between now and April. Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, who had speculated that Poole would have a similar trajectory to that of James Harden after his move from Oklahoma City to the Houston Rockets, recently said clearly: “He doesn’t belong in the league.”
What’s becoming increasingly obvious is that Poole has rushed through the ups and downs of an NBA career. Its early success has masked its countless weaknesses. His careless, haughty manner on the floor seems to get in the way of his nature – shy, inquisitive, disciplined, respectful – and a more beneficial role in the NBA. The fact that the 24-year-old is causing as much frustration in Washington as he did with the Warriors is worrying. After weeks of quarrels, he was finally demoted to bench player – in order to perhaps save what could still be saved.
At this point, Washington no longer knows what they actually have in Poole. You are contractually bound to him until 2027, and his market value has reached an all-time low. Poole wouldn’t be the first to wash out of the NBA after just a few years just as quickly as he once swam to the shore of fame and potential.
2024-03-02 05:37:00
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