Jordan Poole, formerly of the Golden State Warriors, reacts after a 3-point basket during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinal Playoffs at Chase Center on May 10, 2023, in San Francisco.
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Former Warriors forward Andre Iguodala agrees with the people who think Jordan Poole will thrive in his new environment in Washington, D.C., this upcoming season. He just has an unconventional reason as to why.
“He averaged 20 last year, in a bad year,” the 39-year-old Iguodala said. “He’s going to get to the line. … He’s the only one that got to the line for us consistently. People act like he had a bad year. I’m like, ‘OK, a bad year?’ Like y’all blamed him for the year we had last year and he averaged 20. … And then at home, you got to give him the whistle at home, he’s going to average 30 at home.”
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Then Iguodala shared the real reason he thinks Poole will thrive in the nation’s capital: “And it’s Chocolate City, so you know who’s going to be in the stands, they got all the memes. Every time he sees a bad chick, he’s going for 40.”
Poole became a bit of a meme two seasons ago when fans noticed he would have good games whenever there were attractive women sitting courtside. But that was a different era. Poole’s last year with the Warriors was one to forget: Draymond Green punched him in the face before the season even started, and when the games did get going, Poole was erratic and often underwhelming.
Things really came crashing down when basically every playoff performance was a Poole disasterclass. The Warriors were so ready to part ways with him by the summer that they traded him to the Wizards early in the offseason in exchange for longtime rival Chris Paul.
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Going from a San Francisco castoff to one of the more talented players on a team with no expectations does give Poole the opportunity to put all of the bad behind him with as little drama as possible. And while seeing “a bad chick” on the sideline in D.C. might be nice for the young guard, given everything Poole has gone through, having the support of an accomplished veteran like Iguodala might be a lot more helpful.