An altercation between fourth-year guard Jordan Poole and Warriors big man Draymond Green appeared to be captured in a fan video that was uploaded on Saturday morning during Game 6 of the Dubs’ first-round playoff series against the Sacramento Kings.
As they make their way back to the bench, Green is seen giving his teammates high fives until he gets to Poole, who grabs his wrist and pushes him away. After witnessing the discussion, Steph Curry, who was walking just behind Poole, yells “Hey” at him. Poole looks around momentarily and then settles down on the bench. After a brief exchange of words, during which time Poole avoids making eye contact with Curry, Curry turns back to face Green and gives him a low five.
Although it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment of the interaction, Poole’s demeanor and the game clock in the backdrop appear to coincide with a Warriors full timeout at 8:45 in the second quarter. Poole had missed three straight jumpers and committed a personal foul before that timeout. just a little over two minutes of playing time after taking Andrew Wiggins’ place at 10:53.
Poole finished with 10 or fewer points in half of the Warriors’ playoff games, hit just 24% of his three-pointers, and shot 33.8% overall on Friday. It was a dismal start to the postseason for Poole. He received harsh criticism on the Ringer podcast after scoring just four points in Game 2, with Kevin O’Connor calling him outright: “He’s not a good basketball player.”
The video sent fans into a tailspin as they attempted to interpret a film that essentially just depicts a dissatisfied player being frustrated in great detail, assigning responsibility (somehow to Poole and Green), and reevaluating the preseason punch.
Curry responded, “We need him, and he’s more than capable, and he’s shown the ability to impact games,” when questioned about Poole in general following the game. The most crucial aspect for all of us, including JP, is maintaining the next-play mindset that is crucial at this stage. I have complete faith in his ability to accomplish that and understand how to bring the appropriate intensity to the upcoming game. Everybody has experienced the initial growing pains of a playoff season. It takes place. However, if we want to win on Sunday, we all need to play better and we all can play better.
Game 7 in Sacramento on Sunday is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m.
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