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Willard and Dibs discuss the idea of possibly bringing back Jordan Poole to the Warriors.
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00:00All right.
00:01Did you hear what Jordan Poole said last night?
00:05He was asked in the locker room.
00:06First of all, there was the pregame, I'm going to go out there and hug it up
00:11and dap it up with Steph Curry.
00:12And then Steph takes his glasses off and he puts them on and he shoots a three
00:16and there's all that.
00:18Jordan Poole went to Michigan, so did Yaxo Lendeborg.
00:20They did a jersey exchange after the game.
00:23Yaxo went in depth about how he used to, like Jordan Poole.
00:27Again, two weeks ago, Yaxo was like, I don't watch the NBA.
00:30And then last night, he's like, big fan Jordan Poole.
00:33He could have been a fan of Michigan.
00:35Who knows?
00:36But anyway, there was a whole lot of love.
00:40And so Poole, who is a free agent, not getting minutes with New Orleans,
00:46has been stuck in basketball purgatory since the Warriors dealt him,
00:50Washington and New Orleans.
00:52He played some decent basketball, though I found it to be wildly inefficient.
00:58And just, I think as he put it yesterday, there was a lot of basketball
01:02unhappiness there.
01:04So this came up.
01:05He's a free agent.
01:07Do you miss it here?
01:08Hell yeah.
01:10Obviously.
01:12I mean, once you put a lot of work, you've got hardware with an organization,
01:17with a team, with a city.
01:18We're kind of cemented in the history.
01:20So it's good.
01:22But do I miss it?
01:24Hell yeah.
01:26He starts and finishes the bite with hell yeah.
01:30Of course he misses it.
01:32It was good here.
01:33He developed here.
01:34He got paid here.
01:35They won a championship here.
01:37And, you know, the one thing he probably didn't love when Draymond Green's fist met his face.
01:41But beyond that, you played meaningful basketball in a place where the ball is shared and there's a lot of
01:47joy and it's a sellout crowd every time at home.
01:50And you're usually in the mix for the playoffs as opposed to you go to Washington and like right when
01:57they start to rebuild,
01:58they ship you out of town and they ship you to New Orleans and New Orleans is an absolute fire.
02:03Yeah.
02:05Okay.
02:05Thought exercise, Warrior fans.
02:08Just conceptually, would you welcome Jordan Poole back to the organization?
02:14888-957-9570.
02:16Is that even on the table?
02:17How would you answer that?
02:18Absolutely.
02:19Right?
02:19So, conceptually, forget the salary, forget is Draymond still here, forget the length of contract, all the rest of it.
02:27Just the concept of bringing back Jordan Poole to play with, you know, Yaksa Lendeborg and a younger core.
02:34And really, for me, it kind of speaks to like what would be happening in the post-Steph era.
02:40So, this to me, the concept is not so much like bring him back at this year's deadline and he'll
02:46help you get over the top and win a title.
02:48The concept of it, I'm open to it, absolutely.
02:51Just him wearing a Warrior jersey again.
02:53Absolutely.
02:54Okay.
02:54888-957-9570.
02:56Warrior fans, how does that grab you?
02:58He was directly asked, would you be open to a reunion with the Golden State Warriors?
03:05Yes.
03:06I mean, it just feels like home, though, you know?
03:09Driving into the arena, you know, crossing the Bay Bridge or wherever you're coming from, it definitely feels natural.
03:15And I think it's pretty evident, you know, the way that I play is very fitting to, you know, how
03:20I used to play here.
03:21Nothing's changed, you know, other than the systems that I'm in.
03:27And we won a championship, you know, so it works.
03:30And it did work.
03:31And that's what you ultimately want to do when you come out here and you play the game.
03:35So, can I answer your question?
03:37Definitely.
03:37Definitely.
03:38And it's, you know, this is my last year on the deal and I'm a pre-agent at the end
03:44of the season.
03:44So, you never really know what's going to happen.
03:47You got to just, you know, figure out things as they go along.
03:50But if there's any place that I'm comfortable, it's, you know, probably where I started.
03:54So, just got to find ways to, you know, keep learning and try to make the best decisions for, you
03:59know, my future.
04:01And, you know, figure out where that goes.
04:03Okay, I got to tell you, man, this, to me, this is a significant conversation for a few reasons.
04:10And when you say, in other words, like, okay, let's talk about conceptually,
04:15would you welcome Jordan Poole back to being a Golden State Warrior?
04:19And you were kind of like, of course he misses it here.
04:23Like, he won a championship here and everything.
04:25I get that in a vacuum.
04:28You would look at it and go, I'm sure Jordan misses it here.
04:31Let's not forget, though, that there were some pretty unpleasant experiences here as well.
04:37And I have not heard Jordan talk like this.
04:39This has been five years.
04:41And I have not heard Jordan talk like this.
04:43And I've heard Jordan talk in different ways many times.
04:47In fact, he has shut down conversations repeatedly when the Warriors and Draymond Green come up
04:54in interviews or public appearances or whatever.
04:58So, something, to me, has clearly changed.
05:02Maybe it is just his impending free agency.
05:06And so, I'm sure his agent loved this.
05:09And he's sitting in the Pelicans locker room openly flirting with the Golden State Warriors in their arena.
05:17That is not normal.
05:20Players do.
05:21I mean, there are teammates standing next to him.
05:23We are 10 games into this season.
05:27He's got 72 games to go.
05:29And he's in their locker room, surrounded by reporters, going, about to be a free agent.
05:36And, boy, I love it here.
05:39This is home.
05:41That's not normal behavior when you're not about to be a free agent.
05:46There are 72 games still to go before you become a free agent.
05:50But he doesn't play basketball for the Pelicans.
05:52Exactly.
05:53So, that's my point, is something has clearly changed because as he stands here,
06:00and I know he knows this, he's about to be a free agent, and so is Draymond Green.
06:05But Draymond was asked about this at his locker last night.
06:08And while we don't have the audio, I can sum it up by him saying,
06:12absolutely open to a reunion will kind of forever regret how I conducted myself at that time,
06:20and I would never get in the way of the Warriors trying to better themselves.
06:24So, with Draymond still in a Warrior uniform and Jordan Poole in another team's uniform,
06:30for him to sit there and kind of fawn over the Warriors and the experience and everything,
06:37listen, I have no idea if the Warriors are ever interested in this,
06:40but that to me, that's a change.
06:44Like something very much in his heart has changed in terms of the way he looks back on this experience.
06:52I think a lot of it is what he's gone through, and you mentioned five years.
06:56I think this is year four since he left, but the point is, is well taken,
07:01and I just was looking at the record of the teams on which he's played,
07:06and over the last three years plus this year, they are 63-194, winning percentage of 245.
07:14No, it's brutal.
07:15So there's that, and there's also the idea of, you know, you got to go to Washington and cook,
07:20and you got to be the one, or the 1A, or the 2, or whatever,
07:23and you put up big numbers and you lost every single night.
07:26Then you get shipped to New Orleans, and now you don't get to play.
07:29So I think there's some of the, the grass is not always greener part of it,
07:33but also he's grown up.
07:35You know, you've gone out now, and you've been in the league a long enough time,
07:38and you're getting closer to being 30.
07:40He's not super close, but part of the maturity of just going out there
07:44and being in new situations has you look at things in a different light.
07:47Yeah, and I think also, you know, they say time heals all wounds,
07:52and maybe that is the case here.
07:56You know, you said a little bit ago, like, okay, put whatever the contract would be aside.
08:01Yes, I agree with you just from a concept standpoint.
08:04At the same time, that obviously would have to be a part of the conversation.
08:09Like, I look at it now, and certainly watching Jordan Poole play basketball
08:14in his first year or two with the Washington Wizards,
08:18I was not a fan of the way he was playing, but he's also not wrong that part of that
08:23is just not being a fan of the way the Wizards play basketball.
08:26He's not being put in a position to succeed.
08:28He was asked there at times to go out there and be a one,
08:31and I know that when he left the Warriors, like many young players do,
08:36he thought he had the ability to be a one, and he's not.
08:40Jordan Poole's not a one.
08:41And so if we've arrived at a spot where Jordan is like,
08:47I could see myself, you know, at $12 million being a complimentary piece,
08:55whether that's a starter off the bench, could I be a scorer off the bench,
09:00asked to come in, Brandon Williams-type role, come in, give you 17 minutes,
09:05give you a lot of offensive pop, but not do all of the, you know,
09:10I'm coming up and I'm about to get a bag and all of this stuff,
09:15then hell yeah, there would be an openness, I think, from the fan base.
09:22And obviously he's drawn his line in the sand.
09:26Sure, and he's already in a spot where I think he's had like four or five DNPs this year,
09:31and then even last night it's a telltale sign of what a team thinks about a player
09:37when you're down by 45 and you're out there basically the whole fourth quarter
09:41and you're, you know, just kind of thrown to the wolves.
09:44And, you know, the Warriors had the majority of their end-of-the-bench guys out there
09:48for long stretches because that game was over and done with.
09:51And so Jordan Poole's out there playing against the third string,
09:54and that's not a great feeling.
09:56And I know he enjoyed coming home and I'm sure playing in front of his old teammates
10:01and the fans, but it's a little bit embarrassing when that's, you know,
10:05the playing time that you get.
10:07Career low in minutes and points and has only played in five games.
10:12Like some of the games doesn't play at all.
10:16So I'm sure he's open to going anywhere else but New Orleans next year.
10:21And so, you know, if he could come here and, yeah, the money, $12 million,
10:26maybe it's even like $6 million.
10:27I just threw that out there, maybe less.
10:29For me, it's more about the role.
10:30So if you just imagine him here next year and it's Stephanie Axel still,
10:36Draymond back for cheaper, maybe Jimmy's back, you still have pods,
10:40you're probably going to be like a seventh or eighth man.
10:42And that, if he could play that role, then I think Warrior fans would accept it.
10:47I wonder, and I know that it didn't go there, and in a way I'm glad it didn't,
10:52but I do have the follow-up question.
10:55And, you know, he's a free agent at the end of the year, and so is Draymond.
11:00So I don't even know if Draymond will be on the team next year.
11:05But while we sit here and just, again, throw this out as a concept,
11:09and you can weigh in if you want, 888-957-9570.
11:12As a Warrior fan, if you like the idea of a future that would include Jordan Poole again,
11:19I mean, the follow-up, okay, would you be open to a reunion?
11:22And he was a firm yes.
11:25You sort of want to ask, like, even if Draymond's on the team?
11:31Like, would you be open to a reunion if Draymond Green were still on the team?
11:36And I wonder where that interview would have gone if that follow-up question had been asked.
11:41Yeah, I wonder if he would have been open and honest with the fact that they have talked privately since
11:48then
11:48or the fact that they haven't talked at all since then.
11:50Because that, to me, would be the big determining factor.
11:53They may have had moments where they sat down and had a cup of coffee or broke bread behind the
12:00scenes
12:00that nobody knew about, and Draymond said what he had to say apology-wise,
12:04and Jordan, you know, they exchanged their thoughts and feelings.
12:07That may have happened, or they maybe have no relationship at all.
12:11Well, what strikes me about—I mean, you're absolutely right.
12:15What strikes me about this also, I have to share, is the way it hit me.
12:20When I heard him say it.
12:22And maybe that's partially why I said to you, this is a change.
12:28This is different.
12:29Because by no stretch, look, there's no way to sugarcoat what happened at practice that day.
12:37That is all on Draymond.
12:39Outside of that, I did, along with many Warrior fans,
12:44arrive at a spot where I was not in love with the way Jordan Poole played basketball.
12:47That continued when Jordan started playing somewhere else.
12:50He's an inefficient player.
12:52He was a young guy.
12:53I don't think he completely understood exactly how to best go about his business,
13:00but he's probably also not wrong that the teams he played on also didn't understand how to go about their
13:06business
13:06and, you know, did not put him in his best position to succeed.
13:10That's a way of me saying, the Jordan Poole that I heard talk last night,
13:17that's a different Jordan Poole than I've ever heard before,
13:20and that's a Jordan Poole that I would be open to seeing play for the Warriors again.
13:27Certain scenarios, certain concepts, what's the contract look like, all of that stuff.
13:34But at no point since Jordan Poole has left have I ever thought,
13:40yeah, I could see him in a Warrior jersey again until last night.
13:45Because the way he talked, I have never heard him talk that way since he left.
13:49And that suggests to me that that's a player that now sees his career
13:54and maybe even sees basketball and sees the experience he had with the Warriors through a different lens.
14:01And that I'm open to.
14:02Well, he's been humbled.
14:04He's been humbled in many ways, and I'm sure what happened with Draymond
14:08had to be incredibly embarrassing for that to get out
14:11and for, you know, everybody to think and say what they all thought and said
14:15about what he should have done or what they would have done if that was him.
14:18And, you know, he gets the bag, and the bag is not the end-all be-all
14:22because you go out there and you get $27 million, almost $30 million, $32 million.
14:28This year he's making $34 million, and it's great.
14:30I can't imagine that kind of money and how much that would be life-changing
14:35to so many different members of the Poole family, and that's all awesome.
14:38But then you go $15 and $67 million, $18 million, $64 million, $26 million, $56 million.
14:45You're getting shipped around.
14:46You're getting DNPs on New Orleans.
14:48And so it's definitely humbling.
14:50And now you don't really need to go out and make another huge bag.
14:56After this year, he will have made $133 million on the court.
14:59But at the same time, he's only 28.
15:02He still has a good, healthy career that can be ahead of him.
15:06I think actually he's 27.
15:0728 in June.
15:08So, yeah, 27 and a half.
15:10But, yeah, so you could still play another 10 years easy if you wanted to.
15:16And it just sounded to me last night that he missed the joy part of being here.
15:22And, you know, the way it all went down, it wasn't just he got punched by Draymond.
15:26I think that some of the other vets on the team were a little put off by the way he
15:30was carrying himself.
15:31No doubt, but at the same time, I think it's always caught people's eye that, like, when he comes back,
15:36Steph Curry is like, my guy.
15:38Like, Steph seems to – and I don't – Steph is not inauthentic.
15:43He seems to love Jordan Poole.
15:45So were they put off by him?
15:47Yeah, maybe.
15:48I don't know.
15:48Anybody ever been put off by an 18-year-old and then you're not put off by them when they're
15:5223?
15:53Like, this was four years ago.
15:56Like, he was 23 and he was looking for a bag and he wanted to be a one.
16:01And this is a very familiar NBA story.
16:03And I don't – maybe it's still that.
16:06And I'm getting caught off guard by one comment.
16:09But that Jordan Poole, I've never heard him sound like that before, especially talking about this organization since he left.
16:16925 says, I do not want Jordan Poole on this team.
16:19He would disrupt the chemistry they have.
16:22He has too big of an ego.
16:23I think my point is, first of all, we're not talking about him joining this team.
16:26We're talking about him joining next year's team.
16:29And there's a lot of unknown about that.
16:31But I guess that's part of my point.
16:33I heard a disruption of the ego, not the chemistry.
16:39That's what I heard last night.
16:41And to me, that's interesting.
16:43Yeah, I think that the ego, if you want to put it in that way, four years ago was a
16:48different story where, you know, he's screaming money time and money time.
16:52And he got the bag.
16:53And I think there was a little bit more of, yeah, I'm next.
16:55And I just got paid and all the rest of it.
16:57And then he got shipped around.
16:59And, yeah, you still got the bag.
17:01But you got embarrassed with the punch.
17:03And then you went out and you put up empty calories for a terrible team.
17:06And now you're getting DNPs.
17:08I think that your ego can get deflated by certain things that take place.
17:12Also, I'm just someone, I'm not really scared of ego.
17:15Like, sometimes I think it gets super demonized.
17:17I want people to have a healthy ego.
17:19I think professional athletes have massive egos.
17:23Like, you're scared of ego?
17:25All right, now do your team.
17:26They don't have egos.
17:27They don't have massive egos.
17:29And also, maybe I'm just in the mood.
17:31Right?
17:32Debo Samuel, Dre Greenlaw, DeForest Buckner.
17:36Like, that's kind of been the theme of the year around here.
17:39Look, coming home party.
17:42I don't know.
17:43I'm intrigued by it.
17:45There's a thousand things that need to happen first.
17:47Let's see which way they would go.
17:49So...
17:49We'll see which way they're going.