The Washington Wizards managed to get back on track last night with a dominant 113-106 win against the Memphis Grizzlies. In a game they led throughout, the Wizards had three players with over 20 points: Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole, and Corey Kispert. Poole was the leading scorer in the game with 27 points, on a diet of tough shots, deep threes, and regular trips to the free-throw line. However, his most memorable moment came on a missed shot, early on in the game.
Poole attempted to pay his respects to his former teammate Steph Curry. With seven minutes left in the first quarter, Poole received the ball in the corner, shot the three, then turned around to the Grizzlies bench before seeing the ball go in.
The ball, however, did not go in.
Jordan Poole recreated the Nick Young meme 😂 pic.twitter.com/6mXwSKUun9
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) October 28, 2023
Like all great scorers, Poole has the utmost confidence in himself. That’s what makes him the player he is today. He needs to have the faith in himself to take and make those shots.
Yet, it was still odd for Poole to do this in the first quarter of a game that he hadn’t made any shots yet. The Wizards were down and Poole had already missed a few shots to start the game. Furthermore, Poole is a less-than-impressive 33.8% shooter from behind the arc for his career.
It is one thing when Curry, the greatest shooter of all-time and a 42.8% three-point shooter, celebrates prematurely. It is another thing when a below-average shooter like Poole does it.
There will be plenty of memes, tweets, and comments about this viral moment. But the Washington Wizards need Poole to have the confidence and keep shooting. If you invested in Poole as a franchise, you must let him be himself. If there are going to be moments like this in the meantime, so be it.
Jordan Poole’s omission from The Ringer’s Top 100 list is shocking
The Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole didn't make the cut in The Ringer's Top 100 Player Rankings. That makes no sense.