Usually, when any emerging player gets into a heated confrontation with a veteran teammate, it often becomes a turning point in their career. Moreover, when the incident is as severe as Jordan Poole‘s, when he instantly got knocked out by a Superman-punch from Draymond Green and later traded by the Golden State Warriors, many expected him to learn from that experience.
Yet, ironically, Richard Jefferson feels that the incident hardly changed Poole’s approach, as he noticed the guard to have the same no-care attitude even while representing the Washington Wizards throughout his two-year stint.
Advertisement
Jefferson felt Poole never improved
Recently, a viral post on social media claimed that Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr instructed Poole to stand up for himself and be a man against Draymond, who continuously instigated him during the team’s practice sessions.
While the former DPOY quickly shut down that rumor by posting ‘cap’ emojis to subtly deny all such speculations, the story resurfaced years later and reignited discussions on talk shows.
Reflecting on that matter on an episode of the “Road Trippin” podcast, Jefferson admitted how Draymond’s actions seemed justified. In his eyes, when Poole arrived in Washington and was expected to be their catalyst and drive the team out of their misery in the east, he looked anything but interested.
Advertisement
Be it waiving off teammates, taking ill-fated shots from long range, or showing little concern for winning, Jefferson sensed there was a huge lack of accountability from Poole, even when he was arguably the best player on the roster
“I think we’ve seen Draymond continue to navigate some of his frustration on the court in other ways, and we’ve seen Jordan Poole act out of pocket on a basketball court. That should be checked,” Jefferson said. “Even when he was with the Wizards, some of the things that he was doing on the court and his behavior are the behavior of a basketball player that needs to be checked, right?”
“Talented player, NBA champion, no question… But on the Wizards, we’ve seen some of the shots, some of the f—ry, some of the attitude. We’ve seen that,” he added.
Advertisement
Jordan needs to improve his demeanor
Although Poole posted a career-high scoring average of 20.5 points per game during the 2024-25 season, he showed there is still a lot of game in him. His efforts did little to lift the Wizards out of the NBA purgatory they had been in for a while.
“I definitely think that I’m an All-Star,” Poole said. “I play at an All-Star level. A lot of it can be political and situational. But performance-wise, I think that I’m an All-Star.”
Advertisement
As a result, it seems safe to say that for him to succeed with his new team — the New Orleans Pelicans — and truly reach his All-Star potential, he will need to change his attitude and embrace a team-first mindset, especially in the loaded Western Conference.
Poole needs to show through his behavior on the court that he cares about being one of the league’s best players. As Jefferson and other analysts see it, Jordan has shown little growth after his troubling incident.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 30, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.