Jordan Poole scored a game-high 31 points at Capital One Arena in the Washington Wizards’ 104-130 loss against the Boston Celtics. But the 25-year-old still received a lot of flak for his embarrassing blunder with about six minutes remaining in the third quarter. Former NBA star Austin Rivers used the flub to underline exactly why the Golden State Warriors traded him to the Wizards.
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The 32-year-old was talking about the chances of Wizards star Kyle Kuzma’s potential return to the Lakers when his co-host brought up Poole’s blooper on Sunday night against Boston. This triggered Rivers to go into an impassioned rant on the unnecessary antics of the 2022 NBA Champion that has already hurt his image substantially in the league.
The former Clippers star thinks these kinds of embarrassing gaffes are the exact reason why he is not taken seriously in the league despite his talent.
“Silly sh*t. Silly sh*t. Silliness, bro…I saw the clip. The whole comment section is like, ‘This is why you’re not in Golden State anymore.’ This is why your career went from like this [gestures upward trajectory] to now you’re in DC doing something nobody even cares about,” Rivers said.
The play in question took place when the Celtics had a 79-63 lead over the Wizards. Poole came down with the ball from the right flank and pumped his brakes just outside the three-point line. This move managed to break Payton Pritchard’s ankles, who had anticipated a drive to the basket.
Jordan Poole just broke Payton Pritchard’s ankles and had a wide open three but had to pass it cause he pointed at Pritchard and allowed Hauser to contest
pic.twitter.com/4lovDwfOTz— Greg Finberg (@GregFinberg) December 16, 2024
But instead of shooting the uncontested three, Poole stood there pointing at Pritchard laying in the ground to sort of celebrate the smooth move. In the meantime, Sam Hauser closed in on the Wizards guard, forcing him to pass the basketball without converting the move into a bucket.
This humiliating move is not one of a kind, Poole’s stint in Washington has been adorned with many such bloopers. That’s part of the reason why he is often the target of online memes and jokes despite averaging a decent 20.3 points and 5.1 assists on 43.4% shooting for the Wizards.
Even though he had some sharp words to say about the 25-year-old, Rivers does think that JP is wasting his talent in Washington. He believes the youngster needs to go to a team with a strong system to revive his career, where he can be part of an apparatus that can discipline his whims on the court.
The retired NBA star suggested a team like the San Antonio Spurs or the Miami Heat, where he will be hurled into a rigid system with little to no freedom to operate based on his eccentricities. Rivers brought up the example of Tyler Herro to show what discipline can do to a young player.
Now it’s uncertain if Poole would leave the comfort and low expectations of Washington to endure the rigors of a strict team culture.
