Draymond Green praises Jordan Poole’s play this season: ‘I think last year he was pressing’

Jordan Poole and Draymond Green played together on the Golden State Warriors, but now Poole is in Washington following a trade before the 2023-24 season.

Green and Poole played against each other in Monday night’s matchup between the Washington Wizards and Warriors.

Poole looked motivated to show out against his previous team, as he totaled 24 points and three assists while doing his best Green impression on the defensive end. He finished with a whopping four blocks and three steals in a contest the Wizards lost by 13 points.

After a rough maiden season in Washington, Poole is averaging 22.5 points, 5.0 assists and 2.8 steals per contest so far in the 2024-25 regular season. Green spoke highly of Poole’s level of play in his second season as a Wizard following Monday’s contest.

Poole’s relationship with Green at the tail end of the former’s tenure in Golden State was marred by a 2022 incident in which Green threw a punch at Poole during a practice. Footage of the punch was leaked to the public, and in light of the altercation, Green announced that he was stepping away from the squad for a brief period.

Green punched Poole just months after the Warriors won the 2022 NBA title. The Warriors couldn’t rekindle their success from the season prior in the 2022-23 campaign though, as Golden State came up well short of its goal to repeat. The team lost to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

Then, in the 2023 offseason, Golden State traded Poole to the Wizards in a deal that also sent Chris Paul to the Warriors.

What makes Poole’s start to the season from a scoring standpoint so impressive is the efficiency with which he’s put the ball through the hoop. While a small sample size, he is shooting an impressive 45.3 percent from 3-point range and 92.0 percent from the charity stripe.

Green’s recent complimentary words regarding his former teammate suggest that he has put the punching incident behind him and wants to see Poole succeed with the Wizards.