The Golden State Warriors came up short in their bid to defend their NBA Championship last year. After defeating the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the playoffs, Steph Curry and company came up short against the Lakers in the second round, and there was plenty of blame placed on Jordan Poole for the team’s ultimate failures.

Jordan Poole Wasn’t To Blame, Says Former Teammate

Andre Iguodala says fans shouldn’t blame Jordan Poole for the Warriors collapse.

(: @GilsArenaShow)pic.twitter.com/xTNuvSiP0Q

— theScore (@theScore) August 18, 2023

The dark cloud that followed the Warriors all season was the issue between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole. A training camp argument quickly turned into a sucker punch being thrown by Green, which landed directly on Poole’s jaw, and ultimately affected the team in a negative way as they made their postseason push. After the loss in the Lakers’ series, head coach Steve Kerr acknowledged that the incident contributed to the team’s overall failures.

A decision was made during the offseason. The Warriors traded Jordan Poole away in favor of keeping Green, who they inked to a long-term extension. The move helps to keep Golden State’s core intact, but mortgages some of the future by parting ways with an up-and-coming volume scorer.

There have been plenty of quotes on the situation during player appearances on podcasts over the summer. Klay Thompson chimed in a couple of weeks ago, and Green himself is always candid with his thoughts on his own platform.

Poole Could Be A Top Scorer This Season

Andre Iguodala believes Jordan Poole will average 25+ PPG next season, per @GilsArenaShow.

Agree pic.twitter.com/0TL4kHvC9J

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) August 20, 2023

Long-time Warriors’ player Andre Iguodala appeared on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast recently, and gave his thoughts on the Poole saga from last year:

He averaged 20 last year, in a ‘bad’ year…He was the one getting to the line for us. He was the only one that got to the line for us consistently. People act like he had a bad year…Like ya’ll blame him for the year we had last year. He averaged 20.

While Poole had a productive regular season, his struggles in the playoffs were hard to ignore. After a solid first game in the Lakers’ series, he averaged 5.8 points per game on 5.9% shooting from beyond the arc. That is not a typo.

Poole will be the first scoring option on what should be a lowly Wizards team this coming season. Based on the praise that he’s gotten from his peers, he may be in for a career year.

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