With the tumultuous season for Jordan Poole that was 2022-’23 now in the rear-view mirror and now in a new situation with the Washington Wizards, he looks ready to prove the doubters wrong. Every sign points to him taking the next step.
Following the trade that saw Poole join the Wiz in exchange for Chris Paul and the subsequent contract given to Draymond Green, a lot has happened to the rising star. He has also taken it all in stride and handled it like a true leader.
Draymond Green has unnecessarily dragged Jordan Poole and the Washington Wizards
First, in Patrick Beverley’s podcast, Green claimed that Poole went too far and said some things that he could not let slide. This came just weeks after he posted a Tik Tok video where he took slight jabs at his former teammate.
Naturally, this led to a strong response from the friends and family of the Wizards star. Anthony Poole, Jordan Poole’s father, took to Twitter to defend his son. He alleges that Green not only betrayed his son and refused to apologize, but also avoided the entire family in an explicit post.
Ralen Brown, a close friend of Poole’s took to Instagram to post on his story calling Draymond out for punching the former Warrior and asking him what caused his change in attitude in the past few years.
"He supposedly called himself our OG and LEADER... A lot of y'all hoop, how many times at practice you swung on your lil homie like that?... We rocked with you a lot which is why it's ALWAYS been weird you have such bad energy this way."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 19, 2023
Jordan Poole's best friend Ralen Brown… pic.twitter.com/aogyMMjYza
The legendary defensive specialist also took offense to a fake quote by Kevin Garnett regarding the situation. Posted by ‘NBA Centel’, a parody account designed to mimic ‘NBA Central’, the fake quote included Garnett making fun of Green for punching Poole and continuously talking about it.
While the flailing by Draymond Green has been hilarious to keep up with, you may be asking: where has Jordan Poole been in all of this?
In the gym.
He has been perfecting his craft and constantly working on becoming an elite scorer, a strong defender, and an overall better basketball player. This is a wonderful example to be setting for players like Johnny Davis and Deni Avdija, both of whom have started their careers slower than they would have hoped.
Other than refusing reporters and a post to his Instagram Story telling his former teammate to “get a hobby’, the Wizards star has not acknowledged the situation or his former teammates statements at all. At least, not in the public eye.
This resilience to fight through adversity and the dramatic situation surrounding him shows that Jordan Poole can be a leader in the locker room. All he needs to do now is become a leader on the court.
Put in the extra effort on defense, make the extra pass, cut off the ball, these are all things that Poole can do to set the example for a young team now looking up to him. Doing these things with enthusiasm will see immediate improvement with the culture of the franchise, both in the locker room and on the basketball court.
If Jordan Poole is truly ready to take that step to become a leader of a franchise, he will need to play that roll in the locker room as well. He is already showing signs of greatness in that department, now he just needs to follow through.