New Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole is still not keen on discussing former Golden State Warriors teammate Draymond Green despite being traded away from the franchise this offseason.
Poole, 24, swapped places with Chris Paul after enduring a tough postseason for the Warriors in which they exited to the Los Angeles Lakers during the Western Conference semifinals in six games. In shedding the 2019 first-round pick before his sizeable $123million (£105m) contract came onto their books, they enabled themselves to re-sign Green in free agency.
The two players continue to be inextricably linked ever since the four-time NBA champion decided to sucker-punch his younger teammate after they got into an altercation during a team practice last October, ten days before Poole signed the contract extension the Wizards are now saddled with. Following their early playoffs exit, the punch was cited as a reason, by Green himself, behind their downfall. Steve Kerr even said it contributed to a lack of trust within the team.
It quickly became apparent one needed to move on, and new general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr - after publicly stating they had plans to keep Poole for the next four years - struck a deal to send Poole to the DMV. With the trade finally becoming official earlier this month, Poole spoke at Summer League for the first time as a Wizards player.
Halfway through a 20-minute-long media availability in Las Vegas, the topic of Green came up. One reporter asked the beaming player whether he had heard from his former teammate since moving away from the Bay. Almost as soon as those words left the person asking's mouth, the new arrival swivelled his head in the opposite direction. Ignoring the query, he continued taking questions from others among the assembled journalists.
During the same huddle, Poole spoke freely about other ex-colleagues, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. "Well, those are the two greatest shooters of all time, in my opinion personally," Poole said about the 'Splash Brothers'. "It's just things that you learn in practice, in the game, on the road, that you wouldn't be able to not learn in the mix. I'm thankful for that, grateful for that. You learn, and you apply it to your skill set. [I] also built a relationship to ask them; I can text Steph. I can text Klay. I can call them and just have a conversation. That doesn't leave, that doesn't go anywhere. If anything, I just know the plays that they run."
Despite declining to comment directly about Green, Poole did suggest he does not think their preseason drama diminished any hopes of defending the championship they won together in 2022. "I mean, we made it to the second round of the playoffs. We had a good season, guys stepped up and had a lot of exciting moments. I don't think there was anything that was changing any of that," he added."
