Golden State Warriors: How Jordan Poole was carved by fire

Few players in the NBA were tossed into the fray quicker than Jordan Poole with the Golden State Warriors. His time being carved by fire has allowed him to emerge as one of the league’s brightest, yet vastly underrated, stars.

Jordan Poole’s introduction to the NBA was rough but his time with the Golden State Warriors has made him an upcoming star.

It is rare for a third-year player to be as battle-tested as Poole. While he does not have much experience playing under heavy pressure, aside from two Play-In games in his sophomore stint, Poole has faced intense adversity through his first two seasons.

A back-and-forth journey between the NBA and G-League saw Poole’s role with the Warriors hanging in the balance multiple times. Poole’s resilience allowed him to rise above the ashes and become a key player heading into next season.

But, how did we get here?

Poole’s roller-coaster development

A late first round pick, Poole never expected to be a fringe starter early on in his career — but injuries to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson left the young guard with no other option but to step up.

For the first half of his rookie season, Poole looked like the worst player in the NBA. He was atrocious defensively, erratic as a shooter and had zero confidence in his ability to handle the ball. Poole averaged 7.1 points on a measly 25.4 percent shooting clip from the field before being sent to the G-League in December of 2019.

In the G-League, Poole had an opportunity to regain his confidence and adjust to the professional level. He appeared in only three games for Santa Cruz, averaging an impressive 26.0 points per outing.

With this jolt of confidence, Poole was able to return to the main stage and finish his rookie campaign strong. He posted 14.3 points on near 50 percent shooting across the final weeks of the 2019-20 NBA season.

Then, a global pandemic brought everything to a screeching halt. Suddenly, Poole could no longer work on his craft in real-time next to his teammates. The isolation period of nearly 10 months could have been incredibly damaging to the tiny glimmers of development he was showing towards the end of his first NBA season.

What’s more, Poole did not exactly start his sophomore run with a bang. This time playing under more scrutiny with the return of Curry and an expectation of reaching the playoffs — Poole looked more like his previous self, hardly able to stay on the floor before eventually being sent back to Santa Cruz.

At this point, many young players would have been deflated. It was an uphill battle just to see his success in 2020 snuffed out. Back at square one in the G-League, Poole played 11 hard-fought games, gradually rebuilding his confidence and earning his spot back with the Dubs.

Poole finally breaks through

In his first night back, Poole wasted no time showing his gratitude. Poole scored 26 points, a career-high at the time, and drilled 10-of-16 attempts from the field. He’d go on to score 26 again later in the season and post a new personal best of 38 points in May.

Throughout the 2020-21 season, Poole showed he had talent as an off-ball threat who can navigate through screens and make lazy opponents pay. With the ball, Poole began to flash his craftiness as a dribbler and the minute details in his footwork made him a deadly scorer even without elite speed or athleticism.

Most of all, Poole finally started knocking down 3-pointers. He struggled to build any consistency for the first half of his career but has since rounded himself out to league average at 35.1 percent. Of course, he hovered around 40 percent during the final stretches of the season when he played his best ball.

Entering his third year, Poole will be the answer at the two-guard while Klay Thompson completes his rehab. He is the perfect balance of off-ball movement and on-ball creation that will match him perfectly with Curry in the backcourt.

Later in the year, Poole is expected to be a key member of the bench squad and lead the charge offensively for the second unit. He will be the first man up to inject the Warriors with scoring and playmaking.

This season is going to be a big one for Poole. He is already being listed as one of the top players poised for a breakout performance. But, those who have followed Poole this whole time understand the breakout has already happened.

Poole has weathered the storm and fought through early challenges to become the highly skilled player he is today. With a season full of high expectations ahead of him — Poole should have no problem rising to the occasion and letting the world know he has arrived.