SAN FRANCISCO — Tears welled up in Jordan Poole’s eyes as his tribute video blared over the big screen. He’d lived a few NBA lives in just four years with the Warriors.
The tribute video showed the highlights: the moment Golden State drafted him 28th overall and his career breakthrough as a star of the 2022 championship run. But the video couldn’t capture his fight to stick in the rotation early on in his career, or the trying 2023 season that began with Draymond Green punching him during training camp and ended with an offseason trade to the Washington Wizards.
As Poole watched the tribute from the visitor’s bench, fans stood for an ovation with “Poole Party” banners in tow, but Poole kept cool. Since the punch last October, Poole deflects all questions about the punch and and refuses to dive into the tension that lingered in the tumultuous season that ensued.
“Just have to come in here, even-keel, and be appreciative of the moment,” Poole said. “Everything I’ve accomplished here. Embrace it and go out there and compete against my close friends and other teammates.”
The trade was, in part, to stop that tension with Green from rolling into this season. The potential for animosity to boil over into Friday’s game was lessened with Green, indefinitely suspended, out of the building for the Warriors’ 129-118 win over Washington on Friday night.
Many wondered not only how Warriors fans would react to Poole’s return, but how he’d interact with his former teammates who are the only other people who understand best how that tension felt after the punch. The scenes that played out showed as much truth as any quote from a podium could.
Poole took to the court hours early before tipoff and well before most players were out on the court for warm-ups, throwing a few shots up as he patrolled the sidelines to greet his former teammates he won a championship with. He gave Kevon Looney a bear hug, laughed with Gary Payton II and Steph Curry and chatted up Klay Thompson. Thompson said the tribute video gave him chills.
“It was like walking down memory lane watching that video,” Thompson said. “It was special.”
Poole’s trade to Washington for 38-year-old Chris Paul gave him the reins to a franchise in flux. And while he’s had some 30-point games and strong shooting nights, his slap-stick turnovers and head-scratching shot selection have made Poole the butt of the joke on the national TV junket. Even TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal briefly renamed his “Shaqtin’ A Fool” segment highlighting the biggest NBA blunders to “Shaqtin’ A Poole.”
Many wondered which version of Poole might show up — the inefficient or explosive one?
It was a little bit of both as he scored 25 points scoring an inefficient 3-of-12 from 3 and 7-of-21 from the field.
“It was really weird playing against him,” Curry said. “But it was fun.”
Turns out a game against the struggling Wizards was exactly what the Warriors needed to extend a win streak to four games. Curry’s 30-point night, shooting 8-for-13 from 3, inflated the Warriors’ first blowout win of the year, allowing him to sit the entire fourth quarter. Other starters sat out for the majority of the fourth.
Chase Center turned into a mini lob city against the Wizards’ poor defense with Jonathan Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis feasting at and above the rim. Kuminga had 22 points on 8-for-11 from the field and Jackson-Davis recorded a consecutive double-doubles with 10 points with 15 rebounds. Paul had 10 assists and was a plus-27 in 25 minutes.
Poole found coach Steve Kerr after the for a long embrace and swapped jerseys with Looney, a fellow Milwaukee native he grew especially close with as their careers intersected in Golden State.
“He’s been my right-hand man ever since then,” Poole said. “He’s probably the person I’m closest with, he’s always had my back and I love that guy. I told him as soon as I saw him I’d get the jersey. We talk all the time and we chop it up. That relationship means a lot to me because he helped me my entire time here.”
The Warriors finish this home stand against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday before heading to Denver to play the Nuggets on Christmas.
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