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Jordan Poole has learned a lot from Draymond Green’s passion — even if he can sometimes become the target of it.
The third-year guard, who is in the midst of a breakout season with the Golden State Warriors, spoke this week about the lesson he’s learned from his veteran teammate and how Green has helped him to learn focus on the court. He also shed light on a viral confrontation between the two during a game this season.
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Green’s Influence
Appearing on the Dubs Talk podcast with Grant Liffmann of NBC Sports Bay Area, Poole said he appreciates how Green wears his heart on his sleeve and has learned a lot about playing with the same passion.
“What I appreciate most about it is that it’s who he is. He’s himself. And you can’t ask for anything more than that,” Poole said. “If that’s how he expresses his feelings, you know he is our defensive anchor, Defensive Player of the Year, he’s a huge part of our team and he has so much knowledge. I mean if the only way he can get that out is by yelling and screaming, ok. It is what it is. You just take what it is, the lesson is, and you keep it pushing.”
Green’s passion is often directed toward officials or opponents, but occasionally lands on his Warriors teammates. That was the case earlier this season when he was seen getting heated toward Poole.
Poole said this week that Green isn’t one to swallow his feelings, and if there’s an on-court issue with a teammate he would rather address it immediately so they can address it together and move on.
“[Draymond’s] obviously worked up about something, say what it is, tell me, I’ll fix it,” Poole told Liffmann. “If I don’t agree with it, I’m going to say something back, we figure it out and we keep it pushing. But you can’t dwell on it and you can’t do too much. If it’s in the game, if it’s on the sidelines, we got something else to worry about. We got another 20 minutes, we got another half, another quarter, you can’t hang your head on that. Let’s get it over with, fix it, we’re a really good team, we’re good players, let’s get it over with, learn, we’ll talk about it later and keep it pushing.”
Poole’s Fast Rise
After splitting time last season between the Warriors and the team’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz, Poole has taken on a significant role in his breakout third season. He has become a fixture of the starting lineup, averaging career-best 17.9 points, 3.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game.
Poole’s time in the starting lineup could be coming to an end soon, however. Teammate Klay Thompson appears to be in the final stages of rehab from a torn Achilles, and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he will return to a spot in the starting lineup as soon as he’s ready.
“Klay’s gonna start when he comes back,” Kerr said. “I’m not gonna mess around, bring him off the bench or any of that.”
While that may be good news for the Warriors and fans who have waited more than two-and-a-half years to see Thompson play again, it likely means that Poole is headed back to the bench.
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