Draymond praises Poole’s growth at Wizards, despite taunting exchange originally appearing on NBC Sports Bay Area
Programming Note: Watch “Warriors Now” with Bonta Hill and Dalton Johnson (live from Boston) today at 4:00 PM PT, streaming live on the NBC Sports app. Watch the show later YouTube And Facebook.
Even years after their heated altercation as Warriors teammates, Draymond Green and Jordan Poole still don’t seem to be the best of friends on different teams on different coasts.
But that didn’t stop the Golden State veteran from praising the growth of the young guard in his second season with the Washington Wizards.
“He’s playing better. He’s playing a lot better,” Green told reporters Monday after the Warriors’ 125-112 win over the Wizards at Capital One Arena. “I think his shot selection puts you in a new situation. I’ve never done it. But I’ve seen a lot of it. As a competitor, you just want to show everything you can. You want to show that you’re the man .
“And I think he put a lot of pressure on him last year, he just wanted it to happen so bad. And this year he’s a lot more comfortable. He’s not making some of the shots he made last year. They were bad shots I don’t think it was a matter of selfishness, I think it was a matter of wanting to prove so badly to people that I can have my own team, that I can come here and be successful, that in the end it goes against you. is going to work. But this year he does much better.”
Poole, who was selected by Golden State in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft, was traded to the Wizards during the 2023 offseason in exchange for veteran point guard Chris Paul in a blockbuster move that stunned the league – just one season after having his best statistical NBA campaign and two after undeniably helping Golden State win its fourth NBA title in eight years.
The shocking trade also came less than nine months after Green punched Poole during a closed Warriors practice, and video of the incident was leaked to social media.
Players and coaches admitted after the fact that the chemistry was never the same throughout the 2022-2023 season, when the then-defending champion Warriors fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
While Poole, Green and the Warriors seemingly put the situation behind them, Monday’s game might have proven otherwise. Poole and Green taunted each other during the matchup, with Poole first pointing at Green after he knocked down a 3-pointer. Green later returned the favor, pointing right back at his former teammate after a Steph Curry halftime buzzer-beater trey.
All the antics aside, though, Green acknowledged the growth of the 25-year-old, who finished the game with 24 points on 8-of-20 shooting, with one rebound, three assists, three steals, four blocks and one turnover in 34 minutes.
“He had one turnover tonight. That speaks to the patience he’s playing with right now,” Green said. “So I think he’s doing a really good job of settling in now and letting the game come to him, not necessarily chasing it like last year. But you’d much rather have a guy who goes after it and go for broke than someone who comes in and says, “Ah, I don’t get it.”
“So I think he’s starting to show more who he is and what he’s grown into in this league, unlike last year. He just wanted it so bad. I think he’s doing a much better job this year.”
While Green may not embrace Poole the way Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Curry and others do when they meet, his respect for Poole as a player is certainly there: deep, deep down.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast
