Tension in the Warriors locker room after the blur of Jordan Poole
They are not being the playoffs of the Golden State Warriors nor those of Jordan Poole. The most fascinating young man of the new batch of talent promoted by the San Francisco franchise signed his worst game in the final phase of this NBA season. The shooting guard ran out of minutes and intervention in the loss that left the defending champions on the ropes (1-3) against the Los Angeles Lakers, a fact that caused the player’s disappointment and anger in the visiting locker room.
“You could see he was frustrated. He was looking at his locker, his back to us,” explained Kerith Burke, a reporter for NBCS, from the Crypto.com Arena in LA “All the players were listening to what he was going to say, all eyes and ears. They were all over him.” The journalist used the word “tension” to define the scene after Poole was elusive when it came to addressing the media.
“My shot, I don’t know if I knew, I would tell you,” he commented on his poor shooting streak in this tie and, in general, the rest of the playoffs. The player averages 8 points and 4.3 assists in 19.5 minutes of play against the Lakers, but last night he was left scoreless in 10 minutes on the court (0-4 TC; 0-2 3L). After committing one of his two turnovers as soon as he appeared in the third quarter, Steve Kerr decided to remove him from the game permanently. After launching several evasions about his bad streak, Poole recalled that the important thing was that they had a new game in two days, a key date for the entire group, perhaps definitive.
.@KerithBurke describes a tension-filled locker room when Jordan Poole talked to the media pic.twitter.com/VCWpciaq3C
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 9, 2023
“My shooting routine hasn’t changed, my work ethic hasn’t changed either. Maybe opportunities change, but you can only control what you can control,” he launched cryptically, perhaps pointing to Kerr’s lack of confidence and minutes in this tie. The truth is that the contribution of the guard differs a lot compared to last season. So, in 22 playoff games, the guard averaged 17 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists (50.8% TC; 39.1% 3P).
Even his numbers against the Sacramento Kings, in the first round, were lower than in any other playoff of the championship campaign. Between the first and the second, his success averages are leagues away from Poole who played a key role in achieving the ring: 34.2% in field goals; 27.8% in triples.
"There's no sense in isolating [Jordan Poole] in this situation."
Steph explains that everyone on the Warriors needs to play better to get out of the 3-1 hole pic.twitter.com/CpsiivaqL1
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 9, 2023
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“They ask us a lot of questions about him, but it’s something for the whole team. We are together to understand how to win games in these playoffs. We all have to improve and make adjustments, taking into account that we are in a good hole. It does not make sense to isolate him in this situation,” Stephen Curry defended him, tired of the narrative focusing on Poole’s apparent lack of fit and connection to the locker room heavyweights.
The question is pertinent, and more so after the Warriors’ title defense started with a controversial punch from Draymond Green to the second unit guard during preseason training. The event, which was resolved with a financial penalty not publicly shared, a full-blown sweep under the rug, still has a tail and can have more consequences than the mere elimination of the current champions in the playoffs.
