SUMMARY
- Jordan Poole was removed from his starting position on the Wizards.
- Poole claims to be fine with the familiar situation.
Fans are not showing much sympathy or kindness to Jordan Poole after hearing his most recent statements about his new role on the Washington Wizards. As several members of the basketball community should still be able to remember, Poole started off his NBA career playing alongside Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
Although he was initially heralded as the third splash brother and expected by Dub Nation fans to take the keys to the team from Steph in the future, GSW decided to trade away Jordan Poole before the start of the 2023-2024 NBA season and ended up moving him to the Wizards. Now that the context has been provided, a closer look at his statements is certainly required.
Jordan Poole claims to prefer riding the bench
Jordan Poole joined the Golden State Warriors with the 28th pick of the 2019 NBA Draft. Since the team was still contending for a title at the time and was considered a dynasty, Poole was not given the role of a starter and was made to come off the bench. After all, the Warriors undoubtedly preferred their backcourt of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
While Jordan’s minutes on the court gradually increased as his play improved, he was never really a starter for the Warriors and came off the bench. After being traded to the Wizards and becoming a starter, Poole revealed that he was unfamiliar with his new role. Therefore, he was able to accept the Wizards’ decision to bring him off the bench due to a sense of familiarity he had with that role.
Jordan Poole has admitted that he wasn’t able to play his game as a point guard until Washington moved him to the bench
“I wasn’t able to do what I was accustomed to doing in terms of how I built my game.”
(Via https://t.co/96p70o63ad) pic.twitter.com/C5g4mrAWcc
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 15, 2024
Despite the fact that there is nothing wrong with being a bench player, as the majority of players in the NBA are, Poole’s statements generated quite a lot of criticism from fans on social media.
Fans mock Poole’s statements and demand accountability
Since Jordan Poole was reportedly traded by the Warriors due to his attitude, fans aren’t too impressed by his honesty and preference. Many took to social media and insisted that he be held accountable. Some even mocked him and questioned his abilities by interpreting his message as a sign that Poole wants to play against other bench players as opposed to starters.
Bro just admitted he’s a role player lmaoo pic.twitter.com/ldB2lWbglp
— Nuggets Run the West 🃏 (@Folkhero9) March 15, 2024
So you can play against Bench players
— 21 Million (@Blockchainwork5) March 15, 2024
At the moment, the Washington Wizards are one of the worst teams in the NBA and have no chance of making the playoffs. Consdering that the decision to remove him as a starter and bring him off the bench was quite recent, perhaps fans should wait to see how Poole and his team do next season before forming conclusions on this subject.