As the Golden State Warriors look to build around the new iteration of their team, one that is largely bereft of dynamic young talent, many fans have looked back to the Jordan Poole era, which brought them in a championship in 2022, in order to see what went wrong.
Now, in an exclusive interview on the Tom Tolbert Show, The Athletic writer Tim Kawakami has revealed that internal strife with Klay Thompson was a major reason for that era coming to an end.
"They [Warriors] had to move off of Jordan for two reasons, Draymond [Green] and Klay [Thompson]," Kawakami said, "I've heard this more and more, that Klay was not comfortable with this guy [Jordan Poole] pushing him and pushing him and pushing him and Klay thought 'I've earned this starting role. Why does this guy keep saying he should be the starter?'"
While Poole's animosity with Green has been well-documented, any rivalry between him and Thompson is something that has largely been unexplored, and, if Kawakami's description of the situation is accurate, it turns out Thompson was not unfounded in his concerns.
Poole's tenure was the beginning of the end for Klay Thompson in The Bay
Poole, who was drafted 28th overall by the Warriors in the 2019 NBA Draft, came on strong immediately upon his arrival to the team, earning significant minutes in his first two years as the team's bench complement to their tumultuous backcourt situation.
However, as Kawakami reports, Poole very quickly believed that he should be the starter alongside Curry, and, as Thompson missed two and a half seasons due to injury, Poole steadily improved, solidifying his belief in this fact.
To begin the 2021-22 season, Golden State held an 18-2 record with a Curry-Poole backcourt, and, during this span, Poole averaged 18.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
Upon Thompson's return later in that season, the starting spot went back to its original owner, but a lasting impact had been made on Poole's ambitions, causing strife betwen him and Thompson.
Poole, throughout his career, has played better as a starter than as a reserve, averaging 19.9 points per game on more effective shooting when he plays in the starting line-up.
Thompson's fears were then solidified during the 2023-24 season, in which ascendant rookie Brandin Podziemski's performance relegated the struggling Thompson to the bench. As Podziemski averaged 9.2 points per game, collecting votes for Rookie of the Year, Thompson must have felt increasingly threatened and betrayed by the organization, culminating in his high-profile departure to the Dallas Mavericks that offseason.
While Thompson's career continues with a starting role in Dallas, insights like Kawakami's help the NBA world to understand just where the Warriors' previous core fell apart, and, in hindsight, it looks like Thompson's fears, which contributed heavily to this downfall, have been validated.